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More than 40 guests from the Philippine government, business sector, and the culinary industry attended the special event that brought together suppliers, importers, wine connoisseurs, and food and beverage experts to showcase the many quality products available from Nova Scotia.

We were happy to see some of our friends from the industry like celebrity chef Sharwin Tee and Trade Commissioner Louise Pasadilla from the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines. I was also excited to see Trade Commissioner Angel Cachuela who I have known for a long time.

Guest were greeted at the start of the evening with a welcome drink called the PhilScotian Sour. This was a specially-curated cocktail made with Nova Scotia's Glenora Distillery 12-Year Single Malt Whiskey, Philippines mangoes, and calamansi. It was quite refreshing and a good start to the evening's festivities. Lobster Canapés with housemade brioche, chives, and caviar were also served.

I also met the evening's guest of honor. The dinner was organized on the occasion of the visit of Nova Scotia’s Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Honorable Kent Smith. Nova Scotia is located at the edge of North America and the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean, making its waters cold, clean, and pure. As a result, their seafood catch is always fresh and is of the highest quality.

The program started with His Excellency David Hartman making his opening remarks and welcoming all the guests to the Savour Nova Scotia Seafood Dinner. “Tonight’s dinner symbolizes the strong people-to-people ties that bind our countries together and the great things we can accomplish when we work together. There is a growing population of Filipinos living in Nova Scotia, and we are so proud to know that this vibrant community is thriving in beautiful Nova Scotia and across the country," said Ambassador Hartman.

The Honorable Kent Smith also took to the stage for his remarks. “Nova Scotia seafood has earned a global reputation for freshness, quality, and great taste. We were pleased to share our premium-quality products during the recent Asia mission. This was also an opportunity to celebrate the relationship between Canada and the Philippines and for Nova Scotia companies to build on these existing ties and explore new opportunities in the global market,” said Minster Smith. Nova Scotia is Canada's number one seafood exporter, exporting to over 60 countries. Nova Scotia's dedication to food safety, innovation, and sustainability is driven by a commitment to quality at every step along the value chain.

Ambassador of the Philippines to Canada Maria Andrelita S. Austria was also present an flew over to the country just for this special event. The dinner also celebrated new milestones between Nova Scotia and the Philippines, including the Province’s Joint Declaration of Intent with the Department of Migrant Workers focusing on the mobility of workers from the Philippines to Nova Scotia and NSCC’s new partnership with World Citi Colleges on healthcare education.

An array of seafood, wines, and wild blueberries were all flown in from Atlantic Canada and took the spotlight in the exclusive four-course dinner. Bread baskets were placed on the table consisting of malunggay pandesal, mini baguette and grissini plus whipped butter.

Chef Thomas Carey of the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) and Chef Joseph Gomez, the Executive Chef of the Embassy of Canada and of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), took turns introducing each course that showcased the quality of Nova Scotia’s seafood. The dinner showcased the special collaboration between NSCC and DLS-CSB that began with the first Philippines-Canada Virtual Culinary Cup in 2021, organized by the Embassy of Canada, Les Toques Blanches Chefs Association in the Philippines, and the World Food Expo organizers. DLS-CSB culinary students helped prepare this special fusion dinner.

Our first course was the Nova Scotia Whelk and Snow Crab Kombucha Squash Custard. The whelk and snow crab are prepared with spinach, Pernod cream, steamed kombucha squash, custard, and tarragon oil.

I was not really familiar with whelk and Nova Scotia seafood in general, so it was a good that I was seated with Derrick Kennedy, Sales Director of Louisbourg Seafood Limited and one of the featured supplies during the event. The whelk is actually a big snail, much bigger that the ones served on French escargots, so it was quite a unique experience eating these exotic seafood items.

Next we had the Seared Fish and Crab Cappellacci. This is made with a pan-seared red ocean perch which is a local Nova Scotia fish. The Jonah crab is also a local crab that is unique to that region. These were cooked with coconut-lemongrass curry, mushroom adobo, and heirloom tomatoes.

To make the dinner even more captivating, each course was paired with Nova Scotia wines and ciders from Blomidon Wines, Benjamin Bridge, Bulwark Ciders and Lightfoot and Wolfville.

Our third course is a fusion of Nova Scotia and Filipino ingredients. This beautiful Bay Leaf Poached Lobster Tail sits on top of crispy potato cake made with Benguet potatoes grown from Atlantic Canadian seed potatoes, then doused with rich bearnaise sauce. I just loved the plump and juicy lobster meat which was highlighted further by the bearnaise sauce.

For our dessert course, we had the Petite Blueberry Charlotte which is a combination of lemon cheesecake, blueberry confiture, ginger chocolate crunch, and burnt butter pecan ice cream. We even got to sample some wild blueberries from Nova Scotia which were used for these sweet desserts.

We would like to thank the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines, most specially His Excellency David Hartman, for hosting the Savour Nova Scotia Seafood Dinner. The dinner was a great way to discover and experience Nova Scotia seafood and Filipinos really should have more access to their wonderful selection of export-quality products. The next time you visit the supermarket and grocery, check out the imported seafood section and you may find some of the best items there from Nova Scotia.

Savour Nova Scotia Seafood Dinner

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His Excellency John T. Holmes, Ambassador of Canada to the Philippines, opened the program by welcoming everyone to the evening’s Chef’s Table event including guests from the hotel and restaurant industries, foodies, media, and LTB Chefs which comprised almost half of the attendees. The LTB Chefs Association Philippines is the premier chefs association in the Philippines and is a member of the World Association of Chefs Societies. Their officers and directors include notable names such as James Antolin, Fernando Aracama, and Carlo Miguel.

Chef Mathieu Paré discussed some of the outstanding features of Canadian Beef and why it continues to be one of the most premium and high-quality beef products in the world.

So what makes Canada Beef exceptional? They say that it is Canada itself - the land where the cattle is raised and its cold climate, rich grasslands, fields, and stunning landscape which makes it highly-suitable for farming. Canada is a sprawling land that stretches over more than seven time zones and is one of the leading beef-producing nations in the world. It is their community of farmers and ranchers who tend to the cattle with values and respect that make the quality of their beef outstanding.

Chef Mathieu then helped Ambassador Holmes prepare and plate some of our appetizer courses. Everything looked good so the guests were all eager to start their journey into Canadian Beef.

A welcome drink was first offered to the guests, the sweet and refreshing Maple Mango by the Bay. This beverage captures our appreciation of Canada’s welcoming and multicultural society as it includes a healthy dose of maple syrup, local fruits and bay leaves.

The first course was an assortment of Canadian Beef appetizer concepts. These began with some pass-around starters like the Rocky Mountain Sushi made with thin savoury strips of Canadian Beef, together with Klondike Nuggets.

Once everybody was seated, they served the next set of appetizers which Ambassador Holmes helped to prepare earlier. These were the Fire Cracker Crispy Dimsum and the Grand Maman’s Tourtière Slider. Both were made using savoury Canadian Beef.

All the courses were perfectly paired with glasses of red and white wines from Pillitteri Estates Wines, an award-winning, family-owned winery in one of Canada’s popular wine region, Niagara-on-the-Lake. Our appetizer course came with Pillitteri Gewurztraminer Reisling VQA 2017, a sweet and light white wine. Pillitteri Estates Winery is also the world’s largest estate producer of icewine and have won over 1,000 international wine awards.

The next course was the Japanese Cowboy Tataki using thinly-sliced Canadian Beef marinated and slightly seared. This was enhanced with Canadian prairie togarashi and calamansi.

The third course is an intercontinental combination from the sea and sky. The  Canadian Surf ‘n Turf Mac & Cheese is a solid, lobster-filled mac and cheese that is quite filling. It came with generous amounts of beef and lobster inside a creamy and cheesy bowl. 

For the main course, Beef on the Barbecue was definitely the highlight of the meal. This Canadian classic rib roast was doused in a centennial celebration rub and served with summer vegetables and mashed potatoes using locally-harvested table potatoes grown from Atlantic Canadian seed potatoes. 

The savoury slice of beef was perfectly cooked medium, with big portions of fat hanging on to the steak, giving it an even more outstanding flavor. The beef was paired with glasses of Pillitteri VQA Exclamation Reserve Merlot 2015.

Would you believe the desserts were also prepared using Canadian beef? The Pouding Chômeur is a dessert that was created by female factory workers early during the Great Depression in Quebec. This traditional French-Canadian upside-down cake is drizzled with pineapple caramel and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Then we had the Beef Fat Mignardises, a set of small pastries including the Brownie, Blondie, and Nanaimo Bar which were baked using beef fat instead of butter. These were all paired nicely with the Pillitteri VQA Reserve Vidal Icewine 2013 which is a sweet dessert wine that puts a perfect ending to a perfect meal. 

Congratulations to the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines and Ms. Angel Cachuela for a successful event. You can download The RoundUp App from Canadian Beef on the App Store and on Google Play if you want to know more about the products and the different types and cuts of Canadian beef.

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