Miner del Mundo: Cooking up a storm
Miner del Mundo
What makes those mouth-watering gastronomic pleasures of Days Hotel, Bourbon Street, Floyds and Ciao! special? The ingredients and special care put into them, of course. And these yummy treats were created by Miner del Mundo, a food consultant who hails from Manila.
He started in the food industry at age 19, with his first stint as chef de partie at the Legend Hotel, Palawan. The hotel groomed him to be Food and Beverage Manager, thus, was sent to the United States for studies. He also worked for Makati and Shanghai Shangri-la. Then, he had a project study in Italy where he worked for a while. He became the sous chef for Gualtierro Marchesi. This led him to travel in Portugal, Lisbon, Paris and Milan.
In 2005, he went home to the Philippines and established his consultancy firm. As they say, the rest is history.
But wait, this writer found out more about this chef extraordinaire, who happens to be the new food columnist of The News Today. Here's more ...
Kathy M. Villalon (KMV): What's your comfort food?
Miner del Mundo (MDM): Filipino food like dinuguan, lechon paksiw, pinamalhan or anything that's sour. If I go out, Italian. I like spicy food. I always 'retoke' a food if it does not suit my taste.
KMV: Do you cook your own food?
MDM: Yes. In fact, I have this bad habit of cooking my own food even in my clients' restos.
KMV: Are you a healthy eater?
MDM: No (laughs). I have bad eating habits. I don't take breakfast; I eat lunch, snacks and a heavy dinner. I feel weak if I don't take a heavy dinner.
KMV: Are you resourceful?
MDM: Yes. As a chef, I was trained to be one. If we lack ingredients, we make do with what's available.
KMV: Can you determine a food's ingredients just by tasking it?
MDM: Yes. I could even remember and replicate the taste. I put my personality in every food I create.
KMV: Speaking of personality, if you were a food entity, what would you be and why?
MDM: Tabasco sauce because I have a spicy personality. I'm a perfectionist so I tend to be hot-tempered. Tabasco also adds zest to life --- it's like me to the life of others.