What happens when lumpia meets Beef Wellington?
When Abi Marquez, the self-taught “Lumpia Queen,” shared another of her inventive lumpia recipes, little did she know it would lead to the opportunity of a lifetime—a collaboration with Gordon Ramsay.
The iconic chef and culinary perfectionist famous for his fiery critiques and Michelin-started creations, stumbled upon Marquez’s viral crab cake lumpia video on TikTok and issued a playful challenge: “But can you do it with a Beef Wellington?”
Instead of being intimidated, Marquez jumped to chance to turn Ramsay’s signature dish into a Filipino-inspired masterpiece. “I dropped everything and got to work,” recalls the 24-year-old food content creator.
Read more: Who is Abi Marquez, the content creator showcasing Filipino cuisine to the world?
Abi Marquez only had a weekend to perfect her Beef Wellington lumpia for chef Gordon Ramsay (Photo: NYMA/Pam Ricarte)
With just a weekend to prepare, Marquez, a Gen.T Leader of Tomorrow 2024, crafted a Beef Wellington lumpia—a fusion of Ramsay’s signature dish with her own Filipino flair.
Through a mix of social media buzz, with Ramsay’s comment alone garnering over 200,000 likes, and proactive outreach by her management team, the collaboration came to life. The unscripted exchange made it even more surreal. “It all happened so fast,” she says. “One moment I was reading his comment, and the next, we were finalising the plans for the shoot.”
“Meeting him and collaborating with him is my ultimate lifelong dream. The moment I learned that the collaboration was going to happen, I told my manager, ‘What's my next goal now?’” she quips.
On the day of the collaboration, Marquez only had a short time to wow the British chef, who is in Manila to work closely with his Filipino team at the Gordon Ramsay Bar and Grill in Newport World Resorts.
While the shoot lasted only half an hour, it became an unforgettable experience that taught her lessons she’ll carry for life.
Kindness and warmth go a long way
Behind the scenes when Marquez met Ramsay (Photo: NYMA/Pam Ricarte)
Despite his reputation as the fiery host of Hell’s Kitchen andKitchen Nightmares, Ramsay was nothing but kind and professional in person. Marquez vividly remembers the moment he entered the room. “He walked in and said, ‘Where is Abi? Oh, you look great! How are you?’” she shares, her excitement still palpable.
That simple interaction left a deep impression on her. “For someone as big as Gordon Ramsay, you’d expect him to be intimidating, but he was so warm and approachable,” she says. “It taught me that no matter how successful you are, being kind and genuine is what makes people respect you even more.”
Ramsay’s warm demeanour extended throughout their interaction. “He made sure I felt comfortable, even cracking jokes to ease my nerves,” Marquez recalls. “It’s a reminder that kindness is a powerful tool, no matter the stage you’re at.”
Read more: Gordon Ramsay plans to open a ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and three more restaurants in Manila
Dream big—and then dream bigger
Marquez with Ramsay (Photo: NYMA/Pam Ricarte)
Ramsay examines Marquez’s Beef Wellington Lumpia (Photo: NYMA/Pam Ricarte)
For Marquez, the collaboration was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. “I’ve always said in interviews that meeting and working with Gordon Ramsay is my ultimate goal,” she shares. But even she didn’t anticipate it happening so quickly, especially after posting her viral recipe video just in 2022. “I thought this kind of opportunity would take 10 or 15 years, but it happened in just three years.”
She credits this achievement to her refusal to downplay her ambitions. “If we had assumed that it was too ambitious or impossible, we wouldn’t have taken the steps to get recognised by him,” she explains. “It’s really about dreaming big and believing in the possibility, no matter how out of reach it seems.”
The whole experience was a reminder for her to not let self-doubt hold her back. “If you believe in something, pursue it wholeheartedly. You never know how close you are to achieving it,” she says.
Read more: Abi Marquez’s secret ingredient to her internet success
Trust yourself, even when you feel unprepared
Marquez frying her inventive Beef Wellington lumpia for Ramsay (Photo: NYMA/Pam Ricarte)
As a home cook without formal culinary training, Marquez admits to feeling insecure, especially when tasked with creating the luxurious Beef Wellington while incorporating lumpia. “It’s such a technical dish,” she says. “The doneness of the beef alone—it should stay medium rare inside a lumpia wrapper and after frying it—it’s incredibly hard to nail.”
But through research, a lot of trial and error and multiple test kitchens, she rose to the challenge. “I’ve never made Beef Wellington before, but I studied everything, from his MasterClass to his tutorials online, and just really trusted myself.”
The moment Ramsay took a bite of her creation, she knew her efforts paid off. “He took a bite, and said ‘I don’t like it’. I almost died on the spot,” she recalls. “After a pause that felt like forever, he smiled and said, ‘I f***ing love it.’”
“I was so happy and nervous at the same time, I squeezed Chef Ramsay’s hand. He deserves that after doing what he did to me,” she laughs. “But that moment made me realise I can do anything if I put my heart into it.”
Read more: Gordon Ramsay on making the most of every moment
Keep on experimenting
Ramsay is known for pushing boundaries in the kitchen, and during their collaboration he encouraged and instilled in Marquez to keep doing the same. “At his talk in Newport Theater, he talked about how the younger generation of chefs are pushing culinary boundaries,” she shares.
To her surprise, Ramsay even used her as an example. “He mentioned me on stage, commending how experimental I am,” she says. “Him making me an example is a reminder for me to keep doing just that—experimenting in order to grow.”
Read more: “The worst thing is to be stagnant” and more crazy smart quotes on success, failure and going viral
Marquez had Gordon Ramsay Bar and Grill Philippines Executive Chef De Wet Visser taste the Beef Wellington lumpia first before presenting it to Ramsay himself (Photo: NYMA/Pam Ricarte)
Marquez embraced the challenge of innovation wholeheartedly with her Beef Wellington lumpia. “I replaced the puff pastry with a lumpia wrapper, something lighter and crispier. It wasn’t traditional, but it worked,” she explains.
Her experiment was so good that Ramsay had seconds off the camera. “While I was packing up, he called me over and said, ‘I’m sorry, can I have another one?’ That’s how I knew he really loved it.”
Read more: Chef JP Anglo on how growth fuels the rise of Filipino cuisine
Filipino food deserves a global spotlight
The Beef Wellington lumpia up close (Photo: NYMA/Pam Ricarte)
Perhaps the most meaningful lesson Marquez took away from the experience was the importance of championing Filipino cuisine on the world stage. “Hearing Gordon Ramsay say ‘lumpia’ and watching the video gain 50 million views in just two days showed me how much potential our cuisine has,” she says.
She hopes this is just the beginning. “I can only imagine what else we can do in the future for this mission and advocacy to push Filipino cuisine to the international stage,” Marquez shares. “Seeing international creators and fellow Filipinos supportive and impressed by what I did makes me even more determined to push Filipino flavours to the global stage.”
“It's personally a validation that a home cook like me without any formal training can do anything as long as I put in the effort. I’m really happy to be that representation for the young Filipino home cooks.”
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