Chasing vegan pizza in Parañaque
Last Friday, the kids just finished their final exams, so I wanted to surprise them with vegan pizza we’ve never tried. I had seen posts on Scorched Pizza the past week from vegan influencers RG Enriquez-Diez (Astig Vegan) and triathlete yogi/Bekirie baker Lemon Toledo, so I took those as a sign.
We drove around Padre Pio Parish at Severina, Parañaque, looking for a literal sign in vain. I tried calling and messaging Scorched’s Instagram and Facebook pages, as the village guard and tricycle drivers had never heard of it.
My mistake for not reading Scorched’s socials more thoroughly. It turns out it’s a home-based vegan pizzeria “flaming Friday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.” The page also states that Scorched accepts preorders at least one day before.
As we were about to leave with my “hangry,” disappointed kids, I received a reply from Emman Galvez, the one-man team behind Scorched. I explained our predicament and understood my blunder that there is no sit-down resto, but Galvez graciously said he would turn back from doing his errands and head back home to meet us. Wow.
We finally met at their cloud kitchen, a small, weather-proof setup outdoors, away from the main house. There was a monobloc table with chairs in a garden and a heavy bag for boxing.
After his mother died, Galvez lived alone. He was vegan for two-and-a-half years but admitted that his work as a food consultant made it challenging to sustain eating that way. He only has the weekends left for Scorched, a brand he intends to keep vegan.
“What would you like?” Galvez asked. I had no clue and he had no menu, so I said whatever was available, as we didn’t want to impose any more than we already had. He made us Margherita and garlic mushroom pizzas and the kids and I got to watch.
He unlocked a gate which led to a garden. I spotted dill, tarragon, coriander, chili, mint, kaffir, rosemary and basil.
“How do you get them to grow so lush?” I asked, amazed, remembering our sad basil plants back home.
“Oh, they like a lot of sun,” said Galvez. “I’m also a farmer.” He generously offered us to take as much as we wanted. At first, I demurred, but he insisted, handing me the cutter: “I need to trim them anyway.”
Sourdough crust
He washed everything himself, from our monobloc table to the herbs and his kitchen equipment. Galvez fired up the small oven, which he explained takes quite a while to get to the desired temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit. He used a laser thermometer to check.
Galvez stretched out preportioned sourdough crusts onto boards. For the Margherita, he spread a rich, red tomato sauce, sprinkled it sparingly with grated frozen vegan cheese he sourced from Europe, and meticulously and generously layered tomato slices in a tight spiral.
He mirrored this with another swirl of pesto sauce, then into the oven it went for one minute. We saw the tomatoes quickly char and the crust go brown. Then, our pizza was back on the board for garnishing with heaps of fresh basil before being cut into slices.
The kids and I inhaled the pizza so fast there wasn’t any Margherita left to take home. Freshly cooked pizza is the best!
Meanwhile, Galvez went to work on the garlic and mushroom pizza. He spread a tofu bechamel sauce all over the sourdough crust. Then he added piles of shiitake, king trumpet, and enoki mushrooms with garlic cloves. It spent only a minute in the oven as well, then he seasoned it. This time, we had leftovers and I was glad I’d get to experience how it would taste after reheating in our air fryer. Not as great as fresh, but still pretty awesome!
The two pizzas cost P950. On our way home, I asked the erstwhile grumpy growlers, “Was it worth the adventure?” They nodded with full, happy tummies. We just had to swing by the gas station to buy drinks on the way home.
Galvez had invited us to try his five-course vegan Italian meal some time. I can’t wait.
To book a delivery, visit @scorched_pizzas on Instagram and Scorched Pizzas on Facebook.
