Tags: Food Establishments, Food Preparation
By Lawrence Casiraya
BOLINAO, PANGASINAN – The best place to go to if you want to sample German cuisine is the German Club in Makati. Interestingly, the chef manning the kitchen is a Filipino.
Chef Dionisio “Dennis” Caampued, a Pangasinense originally from the northern town of Bolinao, is the Executive Chef at the German Club Manila. He started working as a cook in 1980 and just five years later, became the master of the kitchen.
Even without proper culinary training, Chef Dennis proved that with the right skills and proper attitude, he was able to master a foreign cuisine.
“I was able to learn from different (German) managers who came here,” he says. He also learned a lot from observing chefs (and various international cuisines) in different hotels.
For more than three decades now, Chef Dennis has been in-charge of the German Club’s in-house banquet functions and catering services. Of course, patrons include German expats who often long for their native cuisine.
Apparently, German and Filipino cuisine are worlds apart. While we Filipinos are used to food that is extravagant, literally bathed in sauces and teeming with spices and other ingredients, Germans have almost the exact opposite in taste.
“German food is on the sour side, like sauerkraut, for example. Or creamy, with a lot of gravy,” describes a soft-spoken Chef Dennis when I asked him what distinguishes German food.
“It’s a lot easier to prepare actually. There’s a lot of marinating and curing of meats,” he adds.
When you say German food, more often than not, people will think of sausages. In fact, they have more 1,500 varieties of sausages, from the more familiar Frankfurters and Hungarian to not-so-familiar like Nuremberg (described as roasted) and Bavaria (white)
“Sausages are either meant for grilling or simply boiled. It can also be put in soups,” says Chef Dennis.
The German Club comes highly recommended if you want to try some of these sausage varieties. Of course, best paired with a mug of German beer. Or, if you must, watching a game of football while simply shooting the breeze with a couple of German expats at the bar.
(You can check out food stalls selling German treats and beverages at the Mabuhay Germany Expo, organized by the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on October 7 to 9 at Bonifacio High Street in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. There will also be a bazaar featuring Made in Germany products, car expo, fun and games and performances by German and local artists.)
Get more information about German Club Manila
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