“At 76 years old, I have simple likes in food,” Jose Mari Chan told Lifestyle.
For the sugar baron and singer-songwriter, food is connected to memories. “Having grown up in Iloilo, I have favorites like alugbati in laswa, kadyos soup cooked with langka and tender pieces of pork, monggo soup, boiled okra, kangkong, talong stuffed with crabmeat. I always look for buko juice, too.”
These dishes, he said, take him back to his childhood days at Villa Beach and Anhawan Beach. “As a result, I’m a beach lover. I’m a fish lover, too, perhaps because I was born under the sign of Pisces.”
He’s a big seafood fan. “I love fresh crabs, fresh shrimps or suahe, fresh oysters and sushi and sashimi.”
It isn’t just childhood memories that he connects with food. “Having lived in Osaka, I miss kushikatsu and Kansai food in general.”
Food confessions
Describe yourself as an eater. I enjoy big breakfasts and just light dinners at night.
What’s your favorite thing to eat at home? My comfort go-to food is good old chicken noodle soup.
Do you cook/bake? No, I don’t know how to cook.
If you can eat only one food every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? All my hometown favorites
What’s your guilty pleasure when it comes to food? Truffles, foie gras and caviar
What’s your favorite midnight snack? No midnight snacks, of course.
What’s always in your refrigerator? In my fridge, you’ll always find Carmen’s Best Ice Cream. I’m also a chocolate lover.
Favorite drinks: I am into red wine and I’m a champagne toaster.
Other favorites: For pasta, I love the saucy Linguine Vongole of Caruso. INQ
