Paris, France — This is Don Papa. Don Papa rum is a premium-aged, single island, small batch rum hailing from the Philippines where it is crafted on the fertile foothills of the active volcano Mount Kanlaon (which actually erupted briefly this month). Here sugarcane is expertly milled to produce a sweet, rich molasses which will be blended to perfection into Don Papa’s rums. And the house of Don Papa has brought this unique rum to Paris once again along with a unique Filipino cuisine to the French capital at the Casa Don Papa in the heart of Paris where Manilla-born chef Erica Paredes  cooked up this generous cuisine throughout the month of October offering a culinary journey into a faraway land.  The cuisine of the Philippines draws its inspiration from the food traditions of over one hundred ethnolinguistic groups and tribes of this tropical archipelago. And it has also been influenced by Chinese, Spanish and American cuisines. 

Inside the sala, which means living room in the Tagalog language of the Philippines, guests were treated to traditional dishes from the islands of the Philippines like white fish marinated in coconut vinegar with mango salsa enhanced with hibiscus, or flambéed oysters on a bed of shrimp terrine with lemon grass. But the real highlight of the day were the rum cocktails served up from the flower-festooned bar. A key favorite was the Garden Mule, a combination of Don Papa Baroko rum, basil syrup, lime juice and ginger ale.  The Gayuma Verde was also a rare treat made with Don Papa Gayuma rum, absinthe, white vermouth matcha syrup, lime juice and mint. 

The Casa Don Papa is in Paris until October 31st at 43 rue du Faubourg Montmartre, 75009 Paris. https://www.casadonpapa-restaurant.com/ Meanwhile Don Papa currently has seven delectable rums on the worldwide market: Don Papa Rum Single Island, Don Papa Sherry Cask, Don Papa Baroko, Don Papa Masskara, Don Papa Rye Cask, Don Papa Alon and Don Papa Sevillana. Go to https://www.donpaparum.com/ for recipes and boutiques. Special to The Gourmet Gazette