Wednesday, January 23, 2013

...the Adobo republic

Swiss Get ‘Adobo’ Craving




By Genalyn D. Kabiling
Manila Bulletin
January 22, 2013
 
 
ZURICH, Switzerland — In the land known for its cheese and chocolates, a quintessential Filipino dish has become quite a favorite among the Swiss.

The Swiss patrons of two Filipino-owned restaurants here crave “adobo” after being introduced to the popular dish during their vacation to the Philippines.

“Wilma’s Kitchen” and “Anthony’s” are restaurants owned by Filipinos who ventured to promote the Filipino cuisine in the one of the richest countries in the world.




Wilma Mueller, who opened her own restaurant in 2009, said the Swiss, especially those who have visited the Philippines, enjoy adobo, a meat dish cooked in soy sauce, vinegar and garlic, due to its unique and delicious taste. Wilma’s Kitchen offers Euro-Asian cuisine.

“There are many Swiss tourists who are interested to try again what they tasted back home like adobo, kaldereta and sinigang. Adobo has become a popular dish here,” Mueller said in Filipino.

The idea of opening up a Filipino restaurant came to Mueller when she found no restaurant offering such cuisine in her neighborhood in Switzerland. Most restaurants offered Indian and Chinese food.
“I really love to cook since I was in the Philippines. It’s my hobby,” Mueller said.

“Filipinos are considered great cooks and yet there is no Filipino restaurant here. And so I decided to try and start a small take-away restaurant until it expanded,” she added.

Through her restaurant, Mueller said she wanted to showcase not only the Filipino food but kind of warmth and friendship Filipinos give.

Anthony Carlos, another Filipino restaurateur, also is benefitting from the fondness of the Swiss for adobo. Carlos quit his job in a restaurant and opened up his pub in 2005.




“It operated well and many people started to pay attention to my different style of cooking. We eventually became a hot topici in the circle of gastronomists in Switzerland,” he said.

“Among their favorite dishes are our chicken adobo, fish like maya-maya, and blue fin tuna,” he said.
Carlos said he would never have succeeded in the restaurant business without hard work and constant learning.

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