It’s an interesting introduction to Filipino cuisine: first, try balut with Josh Ozersky, then go back to basics, and learn how to cook classic Pinoy dishes.

We were hooked on the Spam fries and deep-fried pork leg when we filmed Ozersky TV at Maharlika in April, so when the opportunity to learn to cook with them at the Bowery Culinary Center came about last week, we jumped at the chance. Co-owners Nicole Ponseca and Noel Cruz with Chef Miguel Trinidad showed the class how to prepare homestyle favorites with a modern twist, like chicken adobo, mackerel ceviche, garlic rice and puqui puqui (which the New York Times describes as “baba ghanouj plus umami”). And after tasting it it’s no wonder that Nicole says “my puqui is the best you’ll ever have” – ask a Filipino friend why that’s NSFW.

Behind the burner we did shots of calamansi juice (a sweet-sour citrus fruit) and their addictive house-infused chili-garlic-ginger vinegar (it makes a great shooter with vodka, too). Fortunately for most, there was no balut on this menu though.