by Nouel C. Omamalin

TO BRAVE THE WORLD outside of home is one of the sweetest adventures in life.

I call myself a fusion pastry chef for the reason that I don’t make cakes and pastries like the olden days. While the base of my knowledge is a mixture of European and American, the demand for East-meets-West desserts is on the rise. There is definitely a burgeoning appetite for the new and different. It is pure luck that I started my career when fusion cuisine was the game of the century.

I am grateful to have been born and raised in a provincial town. My humble beginnings later proved to be of enormous advantage. Most of the chefs nowadays have not even witnessed how root crops are grown or a chicken is slaughtered.

Who would have thought that the ordinary munggo could become a gourmet dessert? Has anyone heard of a wasabi panna cotta before? How about a black pepper ice cream?

I once prepared a mignardise or tea accompaniment for a Red Bull Conference. It was an agar-agar-based jelly made from Red Bull and lychee. Red Bull is very sweet and fizzy, so I used lychee to add sourness and texture. I topped it with a strawberry sauce to heighten the flavor. Parsley mainly provides color and contrast. I named it Bull’s Eye.

Fusion is about mixing different elements that are commonly not combined. For example, when we speak of the pungent herb basil, we right away think of pasta or pesto. No one could ever consider it as a good dessert element. Basil leaves can actually be used to make a bevy of tasty desserts like my favorite Basil Leaves and Orange Crème Caramel.

However, to be able to do fusion, one must have this gift of knowing how different elements can produce a good dessert even before it is made. I concoct my desserts based on the lingering flavors each element provides in my mind. My brain puts each ingredient together and my tactile sensors become activated. I can actually taste the dessert even before it is created. That is how I create recipes.

Fusion also poses a lot of challenges. To an untrained chef, fusion can become daunting. There are many chefs who try to do fusion cuisine, but the resulting recipe is too weird to be acceptable in restaurants. The idea may be there, but the elements just don’t balance.

I find it fun to churn up desserts that nobody has ever imagined before. It gives one great pleasure, especially when there is a strong following for it.

Dipolog-raised Nouel Omamalin is a pastry chef at the Sofitel Fiji R esort and Spa.