For most chefs, their stories are told not in words but in the food they cook—among them is Chef Roseller Fiel II, winner of a nationwide cook-off.
Competing against hundreds of chefs in the country in Solane Kitchen Hero, Chef Roseller prepared dishes handed down to him by his family, leading to his win.
Hailing from Lanao del Norte, Chef Roseller is a professional chef for almost 10 years now. He is currently the executive chef at Soy Café and Diner and a culinary instructor at Sweet House Pastry School.
His love for food developed, he says, because of his parents. “They are my kitchen heroes,” he shares. “It’s because of them that I learned how to love food, how to love the kitchen.”
Armed with a story to tell, Chef Roseller whipped up a winning three-course meal with his creative interpretations of iconic dishes from his region: a salad of Kilawin na Baboy with butter-poached lobster, grilled talong and ampalaya, and coco-cream vinaigrette; the main dish of Humba Bisaya with brown rice pilaf; and a dessert of Dodol with caramel-tisa sauce and peanut-ginger brittle.
“The dishes that I served for this competition are my family. The kilawin represents my father because he is that one who cooks it in the family. Meanwhile, humba is our family dish. Every time I ask my mom to cook dinner, she would make humba.”
He adds, “I may have made very simple and very safe dishes for the competition but the difference I made is that I cooked with my heart, I cooked with passion, and I kept true to my advocacy which is to make local global—using local flavors and ingredients of Mindanao, incorporating them in the dishes that my family used to make.”
His mission to share his family recipe and to bring local food to the global stage is now made possible with the prizes he took home from the competition: P100,000 cash and a culinary trip to Japan with customized stops at different food and drink destinations.
“I will be flying to Canada soon to help my brother open his Filipino restaurants there. The prize I will receive will really go a long way in helping me achieve my advocacy of making local dishes global.”
