My sister has moved in, temporarily, and so I’ve been enjoying the pleasure of her company and will continue to do so for a month. This morning we strolled over to the Salcedo Market, which is a block away from my condo, and went looking for lunch. Didn’t find anything interesting, the same usual stuff – paella, inihaw, lechon, and the like. Then just as I was giving up we came to a stall selling authentic provincial food. I was so excited I bought way to much food. Dishes were Bicol home cooking. I got a dish made with ground santol rind with shrimp and pork, manta ray in gingery spicy coconut milk, a sweet pork with spicy coconut milk and Bicol’s most famous dish – laing. Actually all the dishes had hot chili and coconut milk. I particularly liked the santol and manta ray dishes. I don’t much like sweet dishes…
Here are pictures of my two favorites and a vegetarian lumpia with seaweed my sister was eating.
Saturday Market Finds March 18, 2006
Organic Market July 24, 2005
The Organic Market was teeming with fresh produce yesterday. I bought a big load of dalandan, some tomatoes, ampalaya and eggs. I went as early as 7:30 am to catch the sale of millet suman which sells out by 10:00 am. I bought 30 of these pricey sumans to give everyone in my household a taste! Suman, for those not in the know, is a mildly sweet, sticky, glutinous pudding wrapped and steamed in pandan leaves. Suman is usually made with rice and sometimes casava. It is Filipino street food brought to new and nutritious heights by Maribel Van Hoven who cooks and sells the millet suman or bud bud kabog at the Salcedo Market on Saturdays and the Legaspi Market on Sundays. Maribel is a big fan of millet because of its nutritional and culinary value. She wanted to promote the use of this tasty seed and make it a common household food, ultimately creating bud bud kabog. According to Vincent Van Hoven who does the actual selling for his wife (isn’t that adorable?) the millet used in their suman grows wild in the mountains of Manguyod, Negros Occidental. The exact location is unknown. Once a week, a lone indigenous gatherer comes down from the mountains and sells the wild millet to the Van Hovens. The millet then travels by plane to Manila and is brought to Ayala Alabang to be cooked into a delicious suman by Maribel. Then the suman is brought to the weekend Markets in Makati. No wonder they’re costly!
Afterwards, I went with Sister Rosalie to visit Dr. Carandang, a retired Dean of Agronomy in Los Banos, Laguna. He raises ducks and makes salted duck eggs as a hobby. The eggs were good. Not too salty, perfectly cooked and without the toxic red dye commonly used to distinguish salted chicken eggs from plain ones. Salted duck eggs are larger and have more yolk to whites ratio than salted chicken eggs. That’s the way I like it. We were a given a tour of his private farm before going to his home for lunch where I met his lovely wife, daughter and grandchild. We were treated to a homecooked meal of Salted Egg Salad, Ubod Lumpia, Vegetable Sinigang and Shrimp Lumpia. For dessert we had Leche Flan made with duck eggs and fresh fruit from the garden. Yes, that’s right I said fresh fruits from the garden. The Carandangs have the plumpest lakatan bananas I have ever seen which will be available in my farm next year thanks to the kindness and generosity of Dr. Carandang. They also have rambutan and atis trees growing in their backyard. What an idyllic life.
I then left Sister Rosalie and the charming Carandangs to go to the University of the Philippines, Los Banos DTRI (don’t ask me what it stands for) to buy their famous milk, yogurt and carabao cheese. There was no cheese which was very disappointing. Lastly, I went to Herbana Farms to talk with Gil Carandang (no relation to Dr. Carandang), my organic farm landscaper, about my change of plans.
Plans on what to plant on my farm will have to change because the seeds I ordered will arrive in a month and a half. In the meantime, I will have to make use of what’s available in the country. There are quite a number of conventional and hybrid seeds available but of course I cannot use. So I will be planting organic seedlings from organic farmers around Luzon. Corn, edamame, herbs, flowers and coffee are on the agenda. These organic produce will be available in two months together with fresh eggs and maybe some sprouts. Ok gotta go and have my breakfast of dalandan juice and bud bud kabog. Bon Apetit!
Biosearch Fair May 16, 2005
I spent yesterday morning at the Biosearch Fair which went on at the World Trade Center. I had also been there on their first day last Friday and had gone back this time to take Sister Rosalie (Vibrant Earth Foundation). I wanted her to see the Virgin Coconut Oil machine extractor and consider it for the foundation’s farm in Quezon Province. The farm is 28 hectares and full of coconut trees. Carica, the company that sells this machine, also trains workers on how to produce Virgin Coconut Oil and coconut food products. For all vegetarians and health buffs out there, Carica’s coconut burger is really and truly meaty delicious! Sister Rosalie unceremoniously ate her coconut burger in 20 seconds flat. Actually, I don’t really know how many seconds it was but it was pretty fast. And to think she was telling me to chew my food 50 times (I’m not kidding) before swallowing.
OPTA members were there in full force and some products were really very interesting and quite tasty. First on my list of wonderful food products is the Arenga vinegar. Made from the Sugar Palm Tree which grows wild along the riverbanks and ravines of Philippine forests, its sap is then fermented in earthenware jars and sold in glass bottles. This vinegar is so good I sometimes drink it with a spoon! I’m not the only one who thinks so as it has won awards in Asia, Germany and Australia. If you like Chicken Adobo, you will love it using Arenga vinegar. Second on my list is the Pili Nut Oil. Cold-pressed and virgin, it is healthy with a distinct nutty taste. I must make a salad dressing. Third on my list is the naturally roasted sea salt sold by the same organic producer, Fernando Simon. Fine and flaky and not too salty, I can see myself sipping Bloody Mary’s. This sounds like a menu in the making and I must oblige in honor of a successful shopping day at Biosearch. Before I write out some recipes, I would like to mention a few other products I didn’t purchase this time but do plan to when I find recipes I can use them in. I just want to keep my ingredients fresh and who knows how long I’ll have these stashed away before I find a suitable recipe. So I will keep in mind the interesting coconut flour, fruit vinegars, lemongrass syrup and bitterless ampalaya for the next time I want to try cooking something new. Another thing I bought was Alamid coffee for my sister who is a coffee afficionado. Alamid is a Civet in English, a nocturnal animal that feeds on coffee cherries among other things. Its producer, Basil Reyes, graciously offered me a cup to taste which led me to buy the small size bottle of roasted beans. It was really very good. Expensive but worth it.
