Madrid Fusion Manila returns (well, sort of)

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FROM 2016 to 2017, Manila moved closer to the center of the culinary world due to Madrid Fusion Manila, the then-only Asian offshoot of the world-famous food congress held in Madrid, Spain. The project was shelved in 2018 after an administration change.

On April 20, 10 years after Madrid Fusion first arrived here, we got a peek at the past with Spain Fusion, a project by Vocento Gastronomía, the organizer of Madrid Fusion. This was held at The Westin Manila in the Ortigas Center. For the past five years, Spain Fusion has been traveling the world, from Zurich to Houston. It’s not quite the same as its older sibling.

“In Madrid Fusion, we are looking at the global situation of the global scene of cuisine. An international point of view of different cuisines, chefs, and also trends in gastronomy,” said Benjamin Lana, managing director of Vocento Gastronomía in a group interview. “When we’re pushing the name of Spain Fusion, we are trying to show the rest of the world Spanish cuisine.”

Spain Fusion is organized with the support of Foods and Wines from Spain (FWS), a promotion program run by ICEX Spain Trade and Investment, whose role is to promote exports of Spanish food products to Spain’s priority markets, introducing new products and developing the market for more established ones. “This is a relationship quite close with the Spanish government. They want to share a little bit more about the knowledge nowadays of Spanish cuisine in many countries.” In short, while Madrid Fusion is a food congress, Spain Fusion functions a bit as a traveling caravan promoting Spanish goods through talks about Spanish cuisine.

Spain Fusion included talks about Spanish wines by Master of Wine Fernando Mora, talks by celebrity chefs Albert Adrià and Ricardo Camarena, a cooking demo with olive oil by Chele Gonzalez, and talks about Spanish olive oil by Castillo de Canena’s Rosa Vano and “food fetishist” Alfonso Fernandez. The event wouldn’t be culinary without food: tapas were shared freely during the wine tastings. (Memorable was an egg by Mr. Adrià — frozen and vacuum sublimated to extract all moisture from the egg, then fried. This resulted in a crispy egg — like the crispy, lacy edges as they like it in Spain, but all over instead of on the edges. This was topped off with caviar and a pasteurized egg yolk. )

About the possibility of returning Madrid Fusion Manila here, he said, “We would like to be here again.” But: “We need big support from the local institutions or the companies. Now there is (none) of that. We’d like to be here in the Philippines. We will be trying to focus here to create events or trying to work with the local restaurants or with the companies.”

Pointing to the presence of the Michelin Guide here, he says, “After the government took the decision of the Michelin Guide, I suppose… They are trying to put that idea.”

“There is no problem to have the Michelin Guide and to have another international congress as Madrid Fusion. But for that you need support and money.”

He said that they are developing projects in different parts of Asia. “We have smaller Madrid Fusions. We have one now in June, it’s going to be in Tokyo, for the third edition in Japan.

“This was more or less the same idea that it was in Manila, but smaller. A pocket version of that.”

Asked if they plan to make Manila a regular stop for Spain Fusion, at least, he said, “We would like, but we don’t know. We are in the middle of the event. We have to finish the event; we have to check if it has been successful, and what is the answer of the local sector.

“If possible, I would like to be here.” — Joseph L. Garcia