The Pilgrim’s Pots and Pans

Each time I need basil, usually for pasta sauce or simple pesto, it seems like I need to go to lengths just to find the amount and freshness I require. The packaged herbs at the grocery, most often than not, are not so fresh and have to be cooked immediately. Or they have too many stems in them and I end up with just half the amount I paid for. So it was such a thrill to find out that there is an honest-to-goodness ORGANIC basil farm a town away from where I live. I was there today and did I enjoy the view, the scent and the joy of having fresh herbs growing abundantly.

How did I find myself there?

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What an event it was the other Saturday, 14 April! I expected a busload of curious culinary enthusiasts, eager to learn more about Pampanga’s cuisine. True enough, there was a family from Bicol who thought of doing the tour to learn about the food which seems to have reached mythical proportions in the realm of Philippine cuisine. What I was not prepared for was a handful of Capampangans hoping to better understand their roots.

Cultural appreciation through food! Isn’t that what I’m really advocating? Fantastic.

After a day eating and discussing the principles and little-known facts about Capampangan cuisine, what do our guests have to say about their tour?

Read all about it on Karlo’s blog.

There you have it! Indeed, a proper presentation of our cuisine, in its right context and a showcase of its evolution is much appreciated. Even with the heat of summer, the tour was such a success that not even a day passed when the organisers were already getting requests for succeeding trips. They just had to schedule another one.

The next trip will be on 5 May 2007. The details are also on the Sleepy Traveler’s announcement.

Some of you may have seen the tour featured on QTV 11’s Sapulso last Monday, 23 April 2007 at 10:00 p.m.

In a bookstore, if I had to choose between a cookbook and a volume on ecology, I would usually take the latter. Between food and current affairs magazine, my instinct is to take the latter.

Food blogging has been changing my reading habits slowly, however. Now and then, I tend to look at the different magazines available in the newsstands. I now look forward to each month and see what’s available in the glossies, hoping that they feature more Filipino food.

This month, Yummy Magazine has its maiden issue. It looks like a cooking magazine, albeit for fast and simple recipes. Although I would like to see a bit more in-depth articles, what I appreciate about Yummy Magazine is how it is meticulously organised, such as step-by-step pictures for a tricky procedure and a recipe index by category.

Overall, it has awakened my curiosity as to what lies ahead. More Filipino food features, perhaps?

Mrs. Lillian Lising Borromeo demonstrates how
San Nicolas (Saniculas) biscuits are made for GMA 7′s 100% Pinoy

We’re now irrevocably into the summer season, if the fire in the bamboo grove by the riverbank is an indication. Each year, since I can remember, parts of the riverbank near our house would burst into flames from the dry bamboo leaves. For us children, it was an excuse to stay up late if the fire happened at night and come to school very late the next morning, knowing the teachers would understand how we “watched over” the ‘lipatu’ that might go to our houses while the fire was being doused, hehehe!

Nowadays we still have to be vigilant over the summer months, just like last night. It was the riverbank’s first fire of the season and there might be more to come, even just from the spontaneous combustion of the dry bamboo leaves.

But summer also brings more activities. I look forward to interviewing more, ehem, senior citizens and record their memories of food and tradition. One of the priorities on my list are old breads and biscuits such as galang-galang and masa that were once made at home, sold and eaten on special occasions. You see, many of these are the biscuits of ordinary citizens, the ones that will seldom be found in the annals of history precisely because they are out of the recorder’s radar. They are not the food of the alta sociedad and will someday soon, be lost to oblivion.

Fortunately, many TV shows with a magazine format are now keen on featuring such food. I must’ve witnessed more tapings from different networks in the last two weeks than I have had in my whole life and there seems to be more to come.

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Just in case you find some posts down or without pictures, don’t be surprised as I’m doing a bit of spring cleaning. I realised how my earliest posts were meant for friends abroad – mostly cooking for the first time out of necessity – and see how my initial recipes were tailored for them. These were simplified versions of classics they requested.

This blog is not exactly meant for just that anymore and so I’m revising the recipes to reflect how they are supposed to be cooked in a traditional kitchen, with my usual rambling annotation if time permits. Notes for the harried cook will be provided towards the end.

By the way, I’ve also updated the second duman post with a link to the video of pounding the roasted rice. Click on this link to view. Make sure to turn on your speakers! I hope you like it!