Friday, January 1, 2010

Reflections from a New Year's day brunch

As I gave a sigh of satisfaction and happily surveyed the demolition zone which faintly resembled our breakfast table, I again realized that there were a lot of people I had to thank for my current state of gastronomic felicity. It is during the Yuletide season when almost all the people you know give food as gifts.

I had for my breakfast/lunch a little bit of each:

Home-made yogurt and Bibingka (rice cake) from lodger Helen
Mangoes from White Gold Store
Roasted chestnuts from Dennis, my bro
Maize (corn) from a Sibonga harvest
Crispy dried fish (small bolinao) with Pinakurat vinegar from Iligan City
Carcar Chicharon from Dennis, my bro
Nagasaki kasutera cake and a pastry from kumare Benjie and her hubby Joy
Mompo (mass wine) leftover from my dad's birthday gifts
Boiled sweet potato (kamote) from Carbon wet market
Grapes from Gaisano Country Mall
Penne with pesto sauce from Ms Guia of the Kayumanggitos' Kitchen Goddesses

....and had to pass these by for another meal...

Apples from my mom's friend at church, Dra. Ursula
Papaya (pawpaw) from Nang Naty of Sibonga, my mom's hometown
Croquettes which my mom made
Bihon tostado and paella from our tenant, Sheila
Fruitcake from my dad's older sister, Tita Milagring
Grilled sab-a (banana) from the vacant lot beside us
Meatroll and wheat pan de sal which I won from a computer game in White Gold Store
Omelette which had sliced sweet ham given as a gift from another relative
Sisi (oysters) from White Gold Store with sliced tomatoes, onions, garlic, and a dash of Pinakurat vinegar
Tagactac (crispy bihon-like sweet cake) and Puto Balanghoy (boiled cassava cake) from Mandaue City

What a way to start the year!

Thank you to all the food-givers who made my day - all of you have enriched my life (especially my palate) and with each food you have given, I cast my mind back to the times our paths have crossed.


27 comments:

  1. You make us jealous. I'd kill for a sisi!
    Oyster shooters definitely give the holiday 'more spirit'.

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  2. hi Mar,

    Happy New Year! my cousin Rora loves sisi, and its from her that I learned to eat and miss this...

    its amusing that although Rora is in the diplomatic corps (and is now probably daintily eating gourmet stuff where she is stationed), she still hankers from the food of her childhood (her dad is from Surigao)....

    by the way, the sisi I mention here are the small, cutie ones..easier to snarf down than the talaba..

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  3. Yes, I think I even like the smaller Sisi than the Talaba. We use to eat lots and lots of it (sisi) along the beach restaurants in Iloilo where they are plentiful.

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  4. ah yes, Iloilo..I remember those days when one sako (sack) or talaba was just Php 5.00.......

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  5. That sounds like a nice but too much food for me.

    Happy New Year Cat!

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  6. hello Ted!

    あけましておめでとうございます!!

    yes, its a culture thing here in the Philippines...you end up with lots and lots of food during the Christmas to New Year season...

    the older generation would probably say that a typical Christmas celebration would have a Filipino's table have some quezo de bola, chinese ham, apples and chestnuts as part of the main fare, but its really an anything goes!

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  7. ah yes, the breakfast to lunch lasted 3 hours and 1/2 :-)

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  8. now that I think about it...it seems really a lot of food..hmm....

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  9. Happy New Year John!

    oh btw, over the holidays I met up with the German hubby of one of our Multiply friends...and it was funny how he confirmed what I always thought -

    now queso de bola or edam cheese is always a staple fare here during Christmas time...its like part of a Filipino's christmas menu for noche buena (the meal we eat at 12 midnight on Christmas eve)....

    I've never understood my dad's fondness for eat (though I do eat it) and I personally thought it was one of the lower classes of cheeses....

    turns out that I was right in what I had opined about...

    now this does not mean its a bad thing to eat or change the habits of my countrymen...and I can't really say I blame European folks..after all most of the European friends I have can be expected to be a little bit picky about their cheeses and breads and milk ...

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  10. specifically about the queso de bola (our term for Edam cheese)

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  11. Ah, the cheese that is Made backwards in Holland.
    Jokes aside, my parents were very fond of it, I could never understand why though.

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  12. made backwards??

    yeah, same here...though I liked its red color (the covering)...I couldn't understand the fuss about its taste :-)

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  13. The red wax is there to keep it moist, we also use various colours of wax for the same purpose, Holland actually also use other colours too. Edam as you know is the name of the town that is famed for cheese making.
    The flavour varies from factory to factory, I've often found it too salty.

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  14. I am trying to imagine edam cheese with green or blue colored wax..haha!

    its a bit too salty for my taste though I guess since its paired with sweet ham here and placed in a sandwich...its saltiness may get cancelled out...

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  15. its like ham sandwich...except it has sweet ham and edam cheese :-)

    if I use chinese ham...since its really salty, it will be like overdosing on salty food...

    on another thought...well, most of my countrymen are fond of sweet spaghetti...I can't say I've developed a taste for it..but well, to each his own :-)

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  16. True enough. I know a few people that eat Salami with Honey on it, Strong cheese with Strawberry jam and so on.

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  17. Queso De Bola and Ham is mostly part of our Christmas Tradition nakuha natin iyan sa ating yumaong lola Dinday na makadiyos, Araw araw siya nagsisimba maglakad galing sa atin papunta sa simbahan na ito na Cebu Sacred Heart Church.

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  18. hehehe...parang queso de bola and ham leads to being a church-goer...

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