Down the Rabbit Hole

I have always been fascinated by how a country's cuisine is tightly bound to the country's history. This is why I count myself lucky to have been asked to participate as a resource person in the Food Writing Workshop conducted by Ms Amy Besa (the owner of Purple Yam , a restaurant in New York City). I wasn't alone; Dr Glenn Gregorio, Ms Claire Custodio, and Mr Ato Reano went to Enderun Colleges too. I have to thank Dr Nollie Vera Cruz for including me on this trip. Kuya Glenn, Tito Ato, Ate Claire, and I talked about rice: eating quality, conservation of traditional varieties, breeding approaches, and market research. Other speakers talked about their restaurants or their adventures into the wonderful world of culinary arts. Aside from being surrounded by creative minds, I was really stoked because I got to hear Suzette Montinola, the owner of La Cocina de Tita Moning , talk about the history of the restaurant. But it's not just any restaurant; La Cocina de Tita ...

Unlike a lot of people who are going out of town this summer, I don't think I'll have the time to go outside the confines of my hometown. That means I won't be able to try out the different cuisines that are local to the different places in the Philippines.  Despite the lack of travel plans, my adventure with food will continue. And I don't have to go too far to try out food from different provinces. Berris Cuisine is featuring several dishes coming from one region of the Philippines everyday during its lunch service. When the restaurant began this "themed lunches" with viands hailing from the Ilocos region, I became excited. I won't have to leave the dining table to get a glimpse of a region's culture. On the day Berris Cuisine offered viands from the Western Visayas region, I was intrigued by a dish called ' laswa '. For Tagalogs, ' laswa ' means foul or dirty. But for Ilonggos, ' laswa ' is a hearty vegetable soup...

My paternal grandmother is the most long-lasting of my grandparents. She's a jolly old lady too: always very happy to see her grandkids and always wanting to go out of the house. A few years back, she used to want to go on long trips (to visit Batangas, her home province). But these days, painful joints and fatigue are keeping her from traveling far away. These don't stop her from pretending that she's not that old, though.   And so on this special day, I greet her: HAPPY 97th BIRTHDAY, LOLA BATS!!