Ballet Manila’s Geri Francisco likens choreography’s intricacy of movement to cooking’s complexity of flavors
Steeped with tangy flavors—a blast of galangal, a smack of shallots and a minty hint of Vietnamese cilantro, made with vermicelli and rich coconut milk—this curry laksa (a noodle dish with spicy gravy) has become the comfort food of dancer-choreographer Gerardo “Geri” Francisco Jr.
While most dance artists share photos of their leaps and soaring leg extensions or videos of their whirlwind turns, Francisco posts pictures of his culinary experiments, artistically styled and photographed from the best angles.
He takes his social media friends around the world with international recipes such as biryani, hummus, katsudon, Greek salad, Chinese dumplings, his version of bulalo (beef shank soup), to name a few.
Francisco, Ballet Manila’s (BM) principal dancer/resident choreographer, was one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in Arts and Humanities (Dance) in 2019. Earlier in 2017, “Ibong Adarna,” his full-length ballet about a bird with mystical powers, merited the Aliw Awards for Best Dance Production in 2017. In 2016, he received the Outstanding Featured Male Dancer in Classical Dance and Lead male in Modern Dance Award from Gawad Buhay of Philstage, the top performing arts award-giving body.
Immersion
A self-taught cook, Francisco likens cooking to choreography. A tasty dish is characterized by a complexity of textures and flavors, while a dance is made interesting by the intricacy of movements and patterns of human bodies moving in space.
During BM’s past foreign tours, Francisco immersed himself in the local cuisine. He analyzed the flavors and replicated the dishes in his kitchen from memory.
When BM held a concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2018, he sampled a variety of laksa and rendang, a meat dish stewed in coconut milk. Francisco’s version of laksa is a hearty bowl of egg noodles brimming with squid, shrimps, Manila clams, mussels, squid balls, fried onion and dash of hot sambal (a pungent chili sauce). He says the secret is in the freshness and thickness of the coconut cream (which adds a tinge of sweetness), the spice paste, the right proportion of herbs, spices and quality ingredients. On making the beef rendang, he maximizes his time by multitasking.
The beef is simmered in homemade chili paste and coconut milk, before he heads to the studio for a class or rehearsal.
When he returns to the kitchen three hours later, the beef is tender. It takes the same grit and patience to perfect a dance movement as it does to craft the spice paste, he says. The variety of the spices—dried chili, curry powder, garlic, ginger or galangal—add to the flavor profile.
While staging “Ibong Adarna” in Northern Israel, Francisco was tantalized by the succulence and fragrance of Israeli roast chicken. He replicated a puttanesca version with the chicken drenched in a sauce of fresh tomatoes and contrasting flavors of bird’s eye chilis, garlic and onions, lemon juice and dried fruit to set off the spices and fresh herbs for aroma.
Korean barbecue
Korea was familiar territory for Francisco, since BM had joined several international festivals. One of his takeaways was to use rice wine to tenderize the meat. He observed that a traditional alcoholic beverage was integral to Korean cooking. He has since been using local rice wine for tapa (local cured beef) which adds to the sweetness.
In this pandemic, he prefers to throw a Korean barbecue buffet spread at home. “Why spend P500 per head in a restaurant, if we can do the same for a fraction of the price?” he said in Tagalog.
The table is laden with different cuts of pork and dipping sauces. Th e intense flavors of the pork are paired with grilled pineapple, bell pepper, garlic, lettuce and sweet potato balls. While gochujang (a savory chili paste with fermented elements) and sesame paste are popular dipping sauces, Francisco made his own sauce laced with subtle sourness—a medley of vinegar, soy sauce, gochujang paste, sesame oil and sesame seeds, mirin, garlic, onions and sriracha with a dash of lemon or orange. He explains that Filipinos hanker for that balance of sourness and sweetness.
One of his experiments was the jerk chicken, which started out as an accident. He once ate peri-peri chicken in a now defunct restaurant in Makati and tried to reproduce the dish. To the uninitiated, peri-peri is a chili pepper sauce.
“I like anything that’s complex and grilled,” he says. While researching on the peri-peri chicken ingredients, he came across the jerk chicken and became curious. Instead, he concocted the jerk chicken, a blend of savory and tarty flavors with a kick from the distinguishing jerk seasoning of hot peppers, allspice, thyme and ginger.
“I tweaked it by brining, a technique from the peri-peri chicken recipe,” he says. While the traditional jerk chicken has a crispy, salty skin, he describes his version as tender due to the brining.
With pandemic restrictions in place, Francisco may not be dancing and eating his way through a performance tour for now. Still, he continues to dance in happiness in his little kitchen.
For those who want a twist on grilled or roast chicken, here’s his version of the jerk chicken:
Jerk Chicken
- 1 whole chicken (about 1.3 kg) 3 scotch bonnet peppers, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 Tbsp thyme
- 1 Tbsp allspice
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
- ½ Tbsp nutmeg
- ½ Tbsp ginger
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lime, juiced
- 100 ml white vinegar
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp black pepper
Prepare the chicken by removing the backbone with kitchen scissors or a sharp knife. Turn it over and flatten it down to spread out the chicken.
Blend the other ingredients in a food processor and spread them over the chicken.
Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least three hours or overnight.
Bake in the center of a preheated oven, uncovered for 45-50 minutes, at 200°C (400°F), or until the thickest part of the thigh is 160°C
Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. —CONTRIBUTED INQ
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