Modern European cuisine: A taste of the West

By Caroline J. Howard, ANC

Posted at 12/16/2010 

MANILA, Philippines - Culturally-diverse European cuisine need not be complicated.

Chef Colin Mackay advocates a simple way to cooking using the best ingredients to achieve the best modern European dishes.

It is perhaps for this same reason that Sala Restaurant is regarded as one of the finest European dining rooms in Makati City.

"The restaurant has been around for 13 to 14 years. People often say we're consistent with our food quality, service is good, we try hard to keep our food quality, keep our menu dynamic so people don't get tired of the food, and always try to create something intelligent, tasty and satisfying," Mackay said.

Mackay started Sala in Manila in 1996. In 2007, it moved to Makati.

"The restaurant is the same as it was. We've kept the original concept of Sala which is to serve modern European food with a grounding in classical cuisine stemming from that area. Modern European cuisine takes the best of available cuisines now so if you're dining out in London, Paris, [or] Rome, people take great produce from the area and use traditional cooking techniques to interpret the food in a new way."

He started off by seasoning then searing the ocean trout, a salmon-colored fish, skin side first to crisp the skin, then baking that in an oven for 5 minutes. On the "Taste Buds" segment onMornings@ANC this week, Mackay showed us how to make a pan roasted Tasmanian ocean trout with wilted vegetables, spinach peas and asparagus.

He then prepared some sauteed potato hash and then wilted down some vegetables: baby spinach, peas, asparagus and some fresh herbs including parsley. He then topped it off with a dollop of dill hollandaise.

The herb and wilted vegetables played wonderfully with the ocean trout.

Aside from Sala, Mackay also owns and runs People's Palace which specializes in modern Thai food, and Sala Bistro which serves simpler food in the classic European cafe style, a more casual environment.

Over the holidays, Sala, along with 11 other restaurants, has partnered with the Virlanie Foundation's Dine to Smile campaign in a bid to give good cheer to less fortunate kids during the holidays.

Customers can make a donation to Virlanie and drop them off in Dine to Smile envelopes at Sala.