Rational Insanity
A Gastronomic Christmas
We all know that the Yuletide season is always an excuse for most of us to gain a few pounds just so we have enough reason to sweat it out at the gym after the holidays are over.A word of caution though, especially for those who are planning on considering an all-out rendezvous with the platter - the holiday season is also the time when hospital emergency rooms swarm with cases of stroke and heart attack, so be extra careful with what you eat.For those who are bent on having a gastronomic holiday experience, however, indulge me while I let you into my very own gastronomic experiences.
An appointment with the family chef:
To tell you guys the truth, almost all of the members of my family are very good, if not excellent cooks - modesty aside.Just to give you a quick example - my brother can take away the difficulty of sucking on the tail end of the Pinoy version of the escargot, known locally as the 'bagongon' by causing these critters to just pop out of their shells just before they are eaten!Anyway, I have learned a few tricks of my own being fascinated with cooking myself, and having my own original dishes to boot.
I realized that delaying the purchase of stuff like cream, condensed milk, pasta, and tomato sauce to the final few days before the 24th of December is a very big mistake.Purchase these things a month in advance if you plan to cook 'noche buena' for your family.If in case, the inevitability of avoiding the Holiday rush becomes more of an issue instead of an obstacle, then scrap the cream from your recipes and use coconut cream instead, you might even end up having a distinctly Filipino flavor to your dishes.Coconut cream is also free of the scary animal fat that you find in regular dairy products.Be sure to also have good wines ready for the holidays.All the fatty and oily food would be much easier to tolerate and enjoy with a good glass of wine handy.Instead of spending too much on an entire lechon for your Christmas dinner, buy a whole pig, use some of it for ham, some for bacon (if you know how to make your own homemade bacon), and send the best parts of it to the local baker who still uses traditional baking facilities.Ask your baker to roast your pork in their brick oven or 'pugon' for about 3-4 hours (of course after you have marinated these choice cuts in lemon grass, lots of garlic, lemon juice or kalamansi, soda water, some brown sugar, soy sauce, and milk) and you will end up with something as crispy lechon, but as tasty as you want it to be!Enjoy your holiday meals, take everything in in extreme moderation.Don't use the holidays as an excuse to be unhealthy.
What is paprika?
I used to assume that Paprika was a mix of certain spices producingthe loved paprika flavor.It turns out that Paprika is actually a flavorful red powder derived from a certain kind of chili.Anyway, Marcel and me, just a few days before Christmas,considered having dinner at a place in Iloilo called 'Red Paprika' and man!The food was great!!I wouldn't say that their food is the kind you would see in an ancient Chinese emperor's banquet, but there were certain things about their food that really whet my appetite.We had baby back ribs and chicken penang and we were amazed at how rich, subtle and well-blended the flavors were considering the very reasonable price.The ribs had the delicate but noticeable hint of maple and the chicken exploded with the distinctly Asian flavors of robust green chili, ginger, and mild curry, all brought together in a creamy coconut sauce.The servings were also large enough for our even larger appetites.The owner, Melvin, told us that the specialty of the house was a dish called, you guessed it, Paprika!It's goat's meat cooked the classic caldereta way with a twist of Paprika in it.I so wanted to try the dish, unfortunately, I am allergic to goat or lamb.I would have readily tried it had the situation been different.Another house specialty which I would really like to try when I get back are the 'Mandarin Pork chops'.While I know from the balance ofAsian flavors in their Chicken Penang and the unique and tender baby back experience that I cannot go wrong with their other dishes, I might as well savor the experience that I would invite you all to try as well.Kudos to Red Paprika!Finally, good food worthy enough to be written about!
Happy Holidays to all my readers!I love you all!Thank you so much for the support!You are my inspiration!
Be rational; be insane... every once in a while!TTFN!