El Cortijo, in Lipa Batangas is a new restaurant that serves authentic Spanish cuisine. Led by Chef Pablo Lopez Iglesias, their aim is to bring rustic luxury to the provinces near Metro Manila. Their dishes, which includes a variety of well-known dishes like the traditional Paella, and unique dishes like the torilla española, is a must try for any foodie looking for something new, yet familiar.
Category
🏖
TravelTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:23 My name is Pablo Lopez Iglesias.
00:26 I come from Spain, Madrid, actually.
00:30 I'm here in Filipinas for the last 11 years now.
00:34 Well, this is a farmhouse.
00:36 Farmhouse in Spain is called El Cortijo.
00:40 To me, the concept of doing El Cortijo here
00:45 is to make a really traditional Spanish cuisine, very healthy
00:53 and very special.
00:57 The concept is use the best ingredients I can,
01:02 and use sometimes even local ingredients,
01:05 and make it my style.
01:07 Spanish traditional cuisine in Batangas.
01:14 My family, I'm the youngest of eight brothers and sisters.
01:19 I was seeing my mother going to the countryside
01:23 and make a paella with everybody else there.
01:27 And I say, I'm tasting, and it's so good.
01:31 How you can make like this?
01:33 So always eat there.
01:35 Because I was a kid, I didn't want
01:37 to start cooking straight away.
01:40 I want to be a musician.
01:43 So I say to my parents, I don't want to start cooking.
01:47 I want to be a drummer.
01:49 I say, no.
01:50 No, you can't do that.
01:51 No, no, no, no.
01:53 You know, you brother, and they do-- no,
01:55 you must go to the family.
01:57 I say, no, I'm sorry.
01:58 I can't do it.
01:59 And they insist.
02:00 So I left home with 18 years old, 17, 18 years old.
02:06 I was lucky.
02:06 I could start playing drums in Barcelona.
02:08 I went to France.
02:12 I went to England.
02:13 And always good.
02:15 You know, I did my thing.
02:17 But suddenly, you know, when I was in England,
02:20 I was playing things that I didn't like to do.
02:24 And I say, I go back to Madrid.
02:26 And I told to my family, now I'm ready to cook.
02:30 And I start cooking.
02:31 I say, can you help me now?
02:32 They say, yeah.
02:34 And they help me.
02:35 They help me.
02:35 And I start cooking and cooking and cooking.
02:38 Till now, every time, every day, I learn something.
02:46 Rabo de toro, oxtail, is--
02:49 I've been cooking this for many years.
02:52 The classic recipe, you know?
02:54 You cook it for--
02:56 you cook for four hours, five hours, slow cooking.
03:02 It's a long procedure.
03:04 In Filipinas, they see the rabo de toro with the bone.
03:09 And they look at me like it's too messy to take for that.
03:15 So I was thinking, OK, so maybe I change the platter.
03:21 I put zucchini in the recipe for the sauce.
03:25 So I say, why I don't put zucchini?
03:27 And I put the rabo de toro like that.
03:30 And it's not-- and it's the bone, no bones.
03:32 And everybody loves it.
03:33 They say, wow, that's nice.
03:35 No problems with taking the bone out, you know?
03:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:44 Pinchos.
03:47 I love to do pinchos.
03:49 And I have some books for my friends in San Sebastian.
03:53 And I work a lot.
03:55 I work, OK, I'm going to do this with this,
03:57 and this one with this one, and the flavor with this.
04:01 Wow, I like, you know, see, OK, make it with--
04:05 it's all-- it happens, you know?
04:09 Well, the tortilla española is--
04:13 I was cooking the tortilla when I was in France.
04:16 I have my apartment.
04:18 And it was somebody, the musicians with me.
04:22 And I say, I'm going to make you a nice tortilla one day.
04:25 You know how to do it?
04:26 Say, of course.
04:27 I've been doing tortilla all day.
04:28 I like.
04:29 I say, I'm going to do the tortilla.
04:30 And I study, you know?
04:31 I study.
04:31 I say, I'm going to do the tortilla.
04:33 And I make a tortilla.
04:34 And they can't believe it.
04:36 They say, it's so good.
04:38 It's so good, the tortilla.
04:39 And I make a special sauce with the tortilla,
04:43 with tomato sauce, spicy, a little bit spicy, not much.
04:46 And since then, you know, there was fun to me to do it
04:50 at that time, you know?
04:52 The tortilla española.
04:54 And it happens, because I'm here.
05:00 And I feel good and happy to make things that before I
05:08 couldn't even think about it, you know?
05:11 And now I do it.
05:12 I do things that, you know, it's wow.
05:16 I surprise myself, you know?
05:18 It's good.
05:20 And people are very happy with me.
05:22 They're happy when they eat.
05:24 They love the food.
05:25 And to me, that makes me happy, too.
05:28 That's the most important.
05:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:34 (upbeat music)
05:37 (upbeat music)