The Pilgrim’s Pots and Pans

Food Memories from Childhood as the theme for Lasang Pinoy 10 is most fitting for me. I always say that what I know about cooking has much of its foundations in my childhood. My appreciation for the intrinsic values of traditional cooking methods was born from that period and is in no small measure learnt from my grandmother. Today, 31 May 2006 is her 20th death anniversary. She may have been gone for two decades, almost two-thirds of my life but the seeds that she planted have grown and bloomed. After all, I am writing about it, am I not?

We had many rules about cooking and had as many about eating. Aside from table etiquette, there were rules about serving food, specific platters or bowls were used for corresponding viands. There were many unspoken rules such as what we ate for specific meals and how many times a week we were supposed to have meat.

Since my grandfather had a botica (pharmacy) until after the Second World War, we have a relatively health-conscious family. My grandmother was strict about having vegetables and fruits at every meal. Fish was preferable over meat. Chicken was next while pork and beef were served twice or thrice a week at most.

We never felt meat-deprived because it was accessible to us anytime - stored raw in the freezer, or cooked in clay pots. Of course if the aroma of the cooked meat was ‘calling’ us and it was irresistible, we could always ask for a bite but no more.

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