Fusion-ably late, but Madrid confusion resolved

Madrid Fusion Manila is promoted to the international culinary audience.

What a week!

On Easter Sunday, we broke the news that per Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Chief Operating Officer Cesar Montano, Madrid Fusion Manila 2018 had been canceled.

This was confirmed on Tuesday by Maricon Ebron, officer-in-charge of the TPB marketing and promotions sector, who said that due to the lack of an agreement with the Spanish organizers on the venue and date, and due to the further need for a bidding, Madrid Fusion would no longer push through this year.

In an interview with the Philippine News Agency, Ebron said, “Most probably, the event would be next year (2019) because Foro de Debate (the Spanish organization organizing Madrid Fusion Manila) has to give us a date. At the same time, we need to check our venue,” she noted. “’Pag wala silang maibigay sa amin, talagang maka-cancel nga ’yon (If they could not give us a date, MFM 2018 would indeed be canceled). It may be next year.”

On Wednesday evening, Montano himself released an official statement confirming in the first paragraph that indeed TPB had decided to cancel Madrid Fusion 2018: ”… the Tourism and Promotions Board … considered the deferment of Madrid Fusion Manila to 2019 due to the non-availability of participating chefs and exhibitors.”

Backlash

But the food world wasn’t going to allow this to happen.

Like dogs whose food bowls were being taken away from them, angered foodies barked (“what? no!”), whimpered (“sayang!”) and some were even inclined to bite with below-the-belt comments against Montano.

The shocked operating partner for Madrid Fusion Manila from the Spanish side revealed through a comment on my public Facebook post (which shared the link to last Sunday’s column): “We have not heard anything officially from the TPB or DOT (Department of Tourism). … We were negotiating a postponement that was requested by the TPB who took over from the DOT in January. On our side, everything has been ready since last November. This is news to us.”

Board decision

Montano then messaged me to clarify that the decision to cancel Madrid Fusion Manila was not his alone but the decision of the entire TPB.

He also said that it had not been made clear to the TPB that the contract for Madrid Fusion Manila was for five years as it was a contract entered into by former Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., not that of incumbent Wanda Teo.

It seems that in the turnover of the project from the DOT to the TPB, the latter was not apprised of the fine print of the contract especially with respect to the five-year commitment of the DOT.

Resurrection

On Easter Sunday, after announcing the cancellation, I closed with this statement: “As for Madrid Fusion Manila, in the spirit of Easter … let’s still hope. Let’s hope that projects like Madrid Fusion Manila that have been crucified and declared dead are able to come alive again. Who knows, like Christ, there might be an amazing, miraculous resurrection.”

Can you believe it—on the third day, Madrid Fusion Manila rose again!

This paragraph in the statement released by Montano on Wednesday evening was met with much cheer: “In light of new developments and changes in logistical requirements which are advantageous to the government for the International Gastronomy Congress and the Fusion Manila International Gastronomy Expo, the TPB is assessing the possibility of staging the fourth edition of Madrid Fusion Manila this year.”

On Thursday morning, Montano confirmed over a phone interview that the TPB and Foro de Debate were in talks again.

Montano emphasized, though, that as far as they were concerned, there were still bidding processes that must be fulfilled, hence the words “assessing” and “possibility,” avoiding the word “confirming.”

Nevertheless, as far as the Spanish are concerned, it’s a go.

Chef Tatung Sarthou takes the stage and presents Mindanaoan cuisine such as this sea urchin dish to an international audience of chefs, traders and media at Madrid Fusion in Spain in 2017.

Fusion Manila

The new dates for the gastronomy congress are Sept. 25 to 29. The new venue will be Marriott Manila. It is still unclear who the Philippine organizer will be.

After the events of the past week, though, I’d like to give Montano credit for three things: (1) he was humble enough to reconsider pursuing Madrid Fusion Manila instead of insisting on shelving the project altogether; (2) how fast he acted on communicating with the Spanish organizers to come up with a new date and venue; and (3) this declaration in his statement: “TPB Management continues to recognize the impact of Madrid Fusion Manila in the promotion of our country as a focal point of gastronomic interest worldwide.”

I also appreciate that they are considering renaming the event to Fusion Manila. Personally I like this branding better, so as not to confuse it with the Madrid Fusion in Spain. Anyway, people already know the event originated in Madrid. In fact, when we attended Madrid Fusion in Spain, I remember chefs like Elena Arzak would call our event Manila Fusion, not Madrid Fusion Manila.

Karinderya redefined

Buhay Carinderia Redefined, which was to take the place of Madrid Fusion Manila had the latter been shelved, will push through as well. The launch will be on April 11.

Personalities aside, I have to confess that I like the idea of highlighting karinderya (eatery) food. I don’t know how Linda Legaspi of Marylindbert plans to execute Buhay Carinderia Redefined, the pet project of TPB for culinary tourism. We have yet to see what she envisions.

But theoretically, using the food served in a karinderya as a way to introduce Filipino food to the world, I think, is a good idea.

In fact, that is exactly what Jordy Navarra is doing at Toyo Eatery, which has been much praised by those in the Asia’s 50 Best clique. I find it odd that people would bash the karinderya concept while praising Jordy’s eatery because that’s exactly what he is serving—karinderya food albeit made to cater to the sosyal palate.

Even the Michelin Guide has been giving stars to karinderyas aka hawkers in Singapore and Bangkok.

The challenge, though, would be making sure that the project is not embarrassing—after all, there are also many bad karinderyas.

If Legaspi will present 150 stalls serving gross karinderya food like “spa-ketchup,” forget it.

But if she will be able to identify and curate great karinderya kings and queens, present these karinderya cooks and their specialties, then even the world’s best chefs will be so excited.

I remember how Andoni Aduriz of Mugaritz during the first Madrid Fusion Manila got so excited over bagoong (fish or shrimp paste).

Now imagine an entire trade hall with authentic karinderya food. Even we Filipinos would be crazy with excitement. It would be like World Street Food Congress (that’s another story), albeit all-Filipino.

While Linda Legaspi is pushing to promote the humble karinderya, Montano is seeking to do branding for the islands.

He hopes to promote the regions through film tourism and the arts. Now that Fusion Manila is set, I hope he will be able to do this island branding and film tourism highlighting not only fiestas and beaches but Filipino regional food, too.

I think that he has it in his heart to be as enthusiastic as we are in promoting Filipino food. Remember that once upon a time, he was a restaurateur himself, creating the menu and personally serving guests at Bellissimo, an Italian restaurant on Tomas Morato.

Given all this, it seems that things are now looking up for TPB and our culinary tourism.

I guess sometimes we just need to have faith!