Reggie Osila grew up in a household of foodies and cooks, which influenced his style of lutong bahay (home cooking). “My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. I cannot even duplicate it,” Reggie jokes. “Mom has the most flavorful adobo in town.”
For the Kain na, Kabayan Cookbook, Reggie picked matapat (being true), a trait he easily incorporated into his experiences growing up in Manila, which he describes as the home of dependable people.
“I was born in Bulacan, but our family settled in the neighborhood of Sampaloc, Manila when I was young. There, I saw how many people and families were always ready to help one another in times of need,” he says.
Although Reggie is a hotelier by profession, he still continued his passion for creating delectable dishes in the kitchen. He flew from Manila to Singapore to work as an assistant bar manager for a cruise ship, where he would eventually meet his better half. They moved to Beijing and got married.
The relocation opened doors for Reggie to practice his profession and passion together. These doors were of big hotel chains and hospitality groups in Beijing, including the Regent Beijing Hotel where he worked as a bar manager, The Opposite House as their operations manager, and East Beijing as the assistant director for bars and restaurants. He also held directorial and consultant roles at other big bar brands, including Mercedes Me and Little Creatures.
“But no one sold Filipino food after the 2008 Summer Olympics,” Reggie shares. “And it’s because many of the Filipino hoteliers and chefs who I know had problems blending our food with their respective hotels’ menus.”
Reggie found a way to introduce Philippine flavors to the food offerings of the establishments he worked for. In 2015, for example, he launched East Beijing’s Filipino Food Week, which featured some of his creations that stay true to the way they were cooked at home, but modified to suit the palates of foreign customers. They included a variety of sawsawan (dips) and his special adobo with ketchup—which he describes as a combination of sweet tang that foreigners recognize and garlicky sourness that Filipinos enjoy.
In 2017, Reggie became one of the first members of Perlita Pengson’s food-related group that became today’s Kusina ni Kabayan. When the group was just starting, as Reggie recalls, many members were sharing photos of home-cooked food and this motivated him to do the same despite the difficulties of finding Philippine ingredients in China. His interest to support the group grew when Perlita met him at Mercedes Me, where he launched another adobo variant to the restaurant’s menu.
“That conversation with her was very important to me because I understood better the purpose of the group – to help small Filipino food entrepreneurs.”
Reggie has chosen three of his popular recipes for a reason: they are easy but worth the effort. His Kilawing Maya-maya is his version of ceviche, which he made especially for a hotel menu. Crispy Chicken Crackling is his blockbuster pulutan (hors d’oeuvre or finger food) that many of his expat customers at a bar loved. Pandan Iced Tea is the special non-alcoholic brunch beverage that he created for his first-ever job at a bar in Manila.
“Many foreigners do not understand Philippine cuisine because it is definitely a learned taste,” Reggie says. “But this cookbook is our way to invite everyone to explore our flavorful foods. Of course, there are no shortcuts to great-tasting food—only when you put passion into your cooking will it taste right.”
This article first appeared in the Kain na, Kabayan: The Kusina ni Kabayan Philippine Cookbook.
Email kusinanikabayan@gmail.com to get your copy.
Co-written by Perlita Pengson
Photos: Kusina ni Kabayan