Mighty hard to diet when people give you food gifts and invite you to eat where the aroma of well-cooked dishes entice you to have some more.
My son’s trainer brought a new kind of product from GenSan, South Cotabato. The package still cold from being frozen, he described it as salmon tails. Just deep-fry it after thawing, he said, smacking his lips to stress its goodness.
That was what we did and while it was really delicious, there was an argument whether or not those were really tails or fins.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the recent tuna festival in that city didn’t have enough tuna to make a true celebration.
Some years back, the depletion of tuna catch was a fact but now the situation is dire. The local government should learn something from the diwal revival in Iloilo. Stop catching for a while until the supply increases, then limit the catch after that. That’s why salmon is making up for the lack. And it’s not even from the place.
A pack of flavored butter rolls was the other irresistible gift. Each one was mixed with truffle, walnuts, garlic, herb, chili, lemongrass, cinnamon and ginger, some in combination.
Those were sent from the Modern Epicurean Kitchen of Stephanie Zubiri, young chef and food writer (tel. 3847064 for orders). Had it with my pancakes and the smell of truffle was intoxicating.
I doubled the pleasure by adding Manuka honey to the mix. That’s a uniquely New Zealand product that is bruited to be antibacterial, and health advocates as well as honey producers say it’s the best honey. A friend said he takes a teaspoon a day and couldn’t believe I just wipe it on my cheese or pancake—it’s expensive and difficult to find here.
I was lucky to buy two bottles while in Dubai where you can find most anything you want from other places in the world. When it’s gone, I’ll just have to wait for another chance to buy some.
My other surprise was English Sage Derby cheese eaten with the new selection of cheeses (French, Australian, Italian, English, Greek) available at Wine Depot. The hard cheese from cow’s milk has a marbling of green color from sage leaves added and it has a bit of spicy flavor.
I served it to Japanese guests and I heard nothing but “Oishi!” (Japanese for delicious) the whole evening (Alabang, tel. 7719463; Reposo, Makati, 8973220).
A small hotel along Roxas Boulevard has always made us curious because the outside is all white and it just said G Hotel. It turned out to be part of the Gatchalian hotel chain, which includes Waterfront Hotels and Manila Pavilion. The lobby and café of this boutique hotel had black and white furnishings that don’t really look stark. More like neat.
At two dinners with friends, we were surprised as well with the food served at Café Noir. We had rich tomato cream soup, a well-designed and flavorful smoked salmon salad, roasted duckling topped with lots of sweet shallot slices and well-cooked grilled peppered tenderloin.
But veteran chef Marcelo Tesalona decided to flex his Asian cuisine muscle and served as well Balinese fried fish where the terasi and kecap manis could be discerned and kari ayam, which is chicken in an Indian curry sauce.
As if we hadn’t had enough, there was calzone wrapped for us to bring home, a wonderful change from my usual breakfast fare the next day. (G Hotel by Waterfront, 5250888)
