At the preview of Lasang Pinoy at the Escolta of The Peninsula Manila, featured chef Myrna Segismundo told guests that there was no better way to explain one country’s cooking than through stories.
As a cadet at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio, my father would steal out some nights just to get an order of pancit canton at Star Café on Session Road. His drink was Royal Tru-Orange and dessert was Baby Ruth Chocolate.
Binirhen, apostol, initlog dalag, makapilay pusa. If you haven’t guessed yet, these are names of local rice varieties. They are as descriptive as the nickname given to another rice variety, Magellan—for IR1521, the numbers indicating the year of the Philippines’ discovery by, you guessed it, that man Ferdinand from Portugal.
It’s the week after the Lucban fiesta (May 15) and it must be quiet today in this upland Quezon town. I’m not sure if the kiping (rice wafers) shaped into leaves and sometimes fashioned into chandeliers (arangya) still hang on the balconies of some houses.
It was years ago in Iloilo when I learned about how Norway and the Philippines were connected. It was at a resort where we ate the specialties of the province. On the beach, instead of swimmers, were a group of lifesavers. It was explained that those were students at John B. Lacson Maritime School, and the school was in partnership with Norway’s maritime industry.
Mother’s Day can be considered a commercial event much like Valentine’s Day. But if it does remind us what the mother is to a family, then it is a worthwhile event.
As I sweat on my chair even with the fan directed at my body, I dream of Baguio. Not the mountain city of long ago when one could still smell the pine trees and sweaters were worn regularly—but today’s Baguio with its traffic and population explosion and ancient pine trees that have lost their wonderful smell.
Almost every last Friday of the month, there’s Wine and Tapas Night at the Mandarin Oriental Manila Deli. It isn’t a formal, sniff-sniff sort of affair with costumed attendees in long gowns and black ties. It’s informal, with drink-all-you-can on the featured wines and eat-all-you-can appetizers.
There is something attractive about doing the right cut of meat. The slices come out neat. The pieces will cook uniformly at the same time. If there are bones, they will be harmless and will help in the presentation.
The late Digon Vocalan told me how sardines figure prominently in the Holy Week menu of the residents of Angono. The canned cooked fish is the main ingredient for soup, as sahog (ingredient) for pancit or eaten by itself, the sauce soaking the rice with its rich tomato flavor.
Two Israeli women active in the culinary world were here recently. They can be said to personify eye candy celebrities because both are in television, hosting and judging.
