Chef’s beef broth, roasted chicken pay homage to southern Philippine homeland

Soft-spoken chef Miguel Cabel Moreno regales customers at his restaurant with stories about the unique flavors of his tribal heritage, hoping to change his homeland’s image from a hotbed of kidnapping and terrorism to a culinary haven.

He serves up tiyula itum – a native beef broth of Tausug tribesmen in Jolo, the capital of Sulu island province in the country’s southern tip – as well as pyanggang, a roasted chicken with coconut sauce dish.

Both are cooked in charred coconut meat and native spices before being seasoned and served by Moreno himself. He tells stories about how beautiful Jolo was before Abu Sayyaf militants brought infamy and violence.

“These represent Joloano cuisine and culture, or shall we say, the Tausug cuisine. A staple in every household,” Moreno, 38, told BenarNews during a recent visit to his kitchen in suburban Quezon City in northern Manila.

He talked about fleeing the island as a young boy as it spiraled into violence under Abu Sayyaf militants.

Moreno said his heart yearned to one day settle back in Jolo, which in the late 1990s and 2000s suffered a wave of Abu Sayyaf kidnappings targeting both locals and foreigners including some who were beheaded.

Founded in the 1990s, the Abu Sayyaf Group, or “Bearers of the Sword,” is the smallest and most violent of Muslim militant groups in the southern Philippines. It allied itself with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda, and carried out large-scale attacks, including bombings and kidnappings of missionaries and foreigners.

In May 2017, one of the group’s leaders, Isnilon Hapilon – described as leader of the Islamic State branch in Southeast Asia – led fighters in taking over Marawi, a lakeside city in another part of the south during a five-month battle that killed about 1,200 of militants, government troops and civilians.

Although authorities claim that Abu Sayyaf’s numbers have fallen since then, it is likely that members scattered and joined other militant factions in the southern Philippines, analysts said.

“I lived there [in Jolo] until I was probably 5. And I heard all the stories from my grandparents and my parents of how beautiful Jolo used to be, and how I experienced it in the early 2000s,” Moreno said. “It actually was devastating for me to see my hometown turn into something as negative as what people perceive it to be.” 

Rebuilding trust 

Through his dishes, Moreno hopes to gain back people’s trust “to really uplift and promote Sulu to what it used to be.” 

Apart from the two main dishes prepared with his own twist – the black beef broth is served with bone marrow, the chicken is roasted and the skin charred with a torch – he has other delicacies as well, from sati (meat skewers) to a plate of pastries called bangbang.

He has also introduced kahawa sug (Jolo robusta coffee)-flavored ice cream to his patrons.

Seven years ago, Moreno started the restaurant by offering what he called a half-hearted menu that included common fare such as spaghetti and sandwiches. The chef realized he was short-changing the customers and soon decided to go native all the way.

But it was tough to change negative perceptions in the mostly Catholic Manila where people viewed Jolo as nothing more than a lawless land where kidnapping is a way of life.

He recalled some of the diners’ misinformed quips such as, “Is this the kind of food Abu Sayyaf serves? It’s delicious!” or, “If I were kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf, is this what they’d feed me?”

“I used to get hurt because I think it’s an uneducated way of making a joke,” he said. “No matter how you perceive it as probably just a joke, but for us, it’s pretty serious and that’s why we're doing this.”

Traditional cooking 

Moreno said he learned to prepare tiyula itum from his mother and grandmother. From a young age, he watched as they prepared the main ingredient, called pamapa. The mixture incorporates burned coconut, coconut milk, as well as spices that include lemon grass, garlic and ginger.

Burning coconut meat as an ingredient in cooking is unique to Jolo and hasn’t changed through centuries, he said.

To keep authenticity alive, Moreno sources its ingredients from Zamboanga, a southern port city that is a few hours by boat from Jolo. He also personally trains his chefs and frequently sends them on trips to the south to learn the origins of food they serve.

“The Tausug cuisines are the cuisines from the south that use coconuts. And since coconut is a palm tree, that’s why we work our story around the name palm grill,” Moreno said, explaining how the restaurant got its name.

Sulu dishes have been gaining a slow, steady stream of followers and Moreno has received invitations from the tourism department to participate in trade fairs.

In August, Tourism Secretary Maria Christina Garcia Frasco said Moreno must deal with past dangers associated with the island that have for many years rendered it inaccessible. 

“Sulu was an exhilarating, enlightening, and exciting experience because they had harbored the notion of inaccessibility and danger all this time. And that has been formed in the minds of many,” Frasco had said.

For his part, Moreno said he strives to be an ambassador to his home region through food.

“We continue to champion southern Filipino cuisine because, beyond my pride in Filipino food, I’m deeply proud of the rich culture and heritage it embodies,” Moreno said.

“There are still many Filipinos who aren’t aware of or still have a certain perspective about Jolo. That’s why we keep doing what we do here.”