Ces Drilon wears many hats. Of late, she’s been enjoying life, living it simply, keeping herself preoccupied with planting, cooking and concocting new “recipes” for her Provenciana line that consists of handcrafted products that promote well-being.
Being one with nature to soothe the soul is not a new concept to Ces. Growing up in Baguio, by the mountains embraced by pine trees, was how she spent her childhood.
Her late father, Brig. Gen. Abe Oreña, loved to plant. He personally and meticulously looked after an organic vegetable patch in their backyard, careful not to contaminate his produce with chemicals. Being a military man, he didn’t compromise, even when it came to vegetables. His family deserved only the freshest.
The general’s specialty was dinengdeng, cooked traditionally, lining palayok with bagnet and vegetables to cook over low fire then later to be shaken. The “kalog” action, with the lid on, was necessary to mix them all together.
Lulu, Ces’ mom, was a school teacher who did extensive research on natural remedies.
Innate skill
Ces is a fruit that didn’t fall far from her family tree. She embraced her parents’ passions and further honed what was innate in her. Cooking is a skill she possesses. She started doing so as a young girl.
She was her mom’s kitchen assistant. Together, they often visited the Baguio market. Her fondest kitchen memory is pounding shrimp heads to extract all the juices, like her life depended on it. She would also shred tinapa and pound chicharon for her mom’s palabok.
In high school, Ces would clip recipes from magazines and had a scrapbook.
“I am so sad I didn’t keep them,” she intimated.
Her experiments would often turn out good, though she wasn’t spared disastrous results. She once made pan de sal that were hard as rocks!
When Ces’ kids were growing up, market days were Saturdays and their standard fare was halabos na hipon, clam soup and sauteed fresh veggies.
She labels herself as an adventurous eater who loves to try new things, though she confessed that at the end of the day, it’s still comfort food that she craves: her dad’s pinakbet, grilled bangus and her mom’s adobong pula sa achuete, a dish Ces cooks from memory.
Pride and joy
She fondly recounted how her sons would tease her, saying she didn’t know how to cook! To prove to her boys that the magazine writeups about her cooking were not a lie, she cooked adobo and narrated how it’s made:
Boil pork belly, chicken slices, chicken gizzard, liver and hearts with coconut vinegar, black peppercorns, laurel leaf, several heads of garlic with the cloves pounded. The more garlic, the better! Season with rock salt.
Add just enough water to cover the meat. When it boils, add the achuete water.
Lower the fire and simmer for about an hour. When pork is fork tender, sear the meat in batches in hot oil. Set the meat aside.
Brown the garlic in a wok or big pan, put all the meat together and add the sauce. Simmer.
Mash some of the chicken liver to thicken the sauce if you wish.
The adobo is best left to age for three days to further develop its flavor.
Ms Oreña’s adobo is a “staple in our home and is my pride and joy,” said Ces. “It is my ultimate comfort food!”When she isn’t cooking, Ces is planting. When she retired as a reporter in 2015, she dreamt of owning a malunggay farm. But in 2017, she returned to ABS-CBN. Her dream to export malunggay powder was foiled, but artisans Isi Laureano and Ginny de Guzman created pesto and pasta instead, using malunggay from her farm.Then 2020 came, and with time on her hands, Ces started planting again.
Picking up where she left off, she masterfully blended homegrown madre de cacao, malunggay and neem to make shampoo bars for her dog Dymka, a Shiba Inu, who has very sensitive skin.
She also infused herbs with plant-based alcohol to naturally scent hand sanitizers. By December, she was swamped with orders.
Smudge sticks
Ces later enrolled in a natural perfumery course that increased her knowledge on the healing properties of plants.
The class was, in her words, “the perfect means to heal myself.”
She learned to make smudge sticks and kept the two she made in class, refusing to burn them as they were too pretty—until she was down and ached to rid herself of negativity. She finally lit her smudge stick.
The ancient cleansing ritual worked.
“It lifted a cloud that was hanging over me. It helped me heal,” she said.
Aware that she grew herbs, her friend Korina Sanchez phoned Ces, wanting to purchase sage. Korina loved the smudge sticks made by Ces, offering to buy them from her.
That call led Ces to search for supplies, and Provenciana was born in 2021. The enterprise focuses on creating products that tap the life essence of plants to heal and nurture, not just our bodies but our soul.
These days, Stress Drilon (a play of words coined by her friends that has become a popular hashtag) is no more—for Ces is stress-free! INQVisit provenciana.com or Provenciana on Instagram.
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