Rational Insanity
I don't know how to cook
When I was a kid cooking was already part of my life. My aunt was quite adept at baking. She baked goodies almost everyday; eventually giving me a nasty burn on the chin from sniffing a cake right out of the oven. My grand aunt used to be a Home Economics teacher and cooks the most superb Italian Spaghetti Al Pomodoro Con Carne. My mom specializes in native goodies like "puto", "kutsinta", "biko", and the likes; and for good reason because she was born on November 1, which gives her enough reason to prepare "kakanin" for her birthday lunch/dinner. She also makes the best Empañada de Vigan, by the way, the kind with half cooked quail eggs oozing out with every bite. I grew up with really good food which is why I barely go to parties for the food because what you get at any party is most likely and most often, the kind of food that we would normally have on our tables.
Other than growing up with a healthy tongue and heart and a not so healthy belly (which I eventually had to get rid of in exchange for a cosmetically acceptable waistline), I had no choice but to learn everything they did, especially when wonderful aromas were wafting from the kitchen and you could not help but watch what they were cooking up. So, this little guy who only knew how to eat, and eat well before, eventually grew up to develop a terribly keen sense of taste. So, they say, if you are a good eater, then you will soon end up to become a great cook. Now, I have a few original recipes to my name which we have during family gatherings like my Arroz dela Marina, Black Curry, and Cigarillos del Diablos, and versions of already existing recipes that I learned from my cooking family.
The satisfaction of cooking something and sharing it with others, and having those people ask for your recipe or ask for more is like discovering a brand new planet (according to my Lolo Merts who also whipped up a mean Salsa Monha). Many times I have volunteered a dish for some party and modesty aside; I would always go home with empty chafing dishes or trays. It's either guests gobble up every bit of my dish, or they ask for foil wrappers or plastic bags to wrap the leftovers in – when I do something with a sauce, my eyes glow to see kids taking pieces of bread and mopping down what is left of the sauce from the huge serving trays. Well, one thing's for sure, I won't share my secrets here, but I would be glad to give you a few tips to update your regular everyday dishes. Let me start off with my brother's heavenly leche flan. He would always tap the bottom of the pan before putting his leche flan in the steamer – at first I did not know why, later I d! id a little experiment, I asked him to make one without tapping it, and another with the tapping. The one that was not tapped turned out to have small, annoying bits of rubbery whatever in them, and the latter came out velvety smooth! He says tapping the bottom gets rid of the air bubbles that cause the single egg white to become rubbery – Oh, and he also throws in a snip of sweet basil and lemon grass. Now, to my grand-aunts Morcon Espaniola, she uses dill pickles instead of the easily accessible sweet pickles. She also throws in some goat cheese instead of cheddar, and mind you, these two modifications make a world of difference! Don't salt your beef too much though; the salt in the dill and the goat cheese is enough to give you a kick! By the way, if you can't find any dill pickles, use the usual, but wash them first and soak them in mustard and salt water overnight. Try white cheese instead of goat cheese for a cheaper alternative. Next, we have my aunt'! s Bacalao del Cuaresma. Here's a nifty trick, instead of using authentic dried and salted cod fish, which will cost you a fortune, she uses large, fatty, dried fish slices that you can get in any market – the secret though, is to soak it in warm water overnight, to wash off most of the salt. Then, instead of using green seeded olives, she uses ripe (black) seeded olives; these give off more oil and enhancing the dish even more. Finally, let's go to my very own ordinary chicken curry – using Philippine chilis can burn your tongue, I use the large ones that we use in "sinigang", and I chop these very finely, oh, and to bring out the goodness of the curry, dry roast the powder first, close to burning, and you will have the most heavenly curry you have ever tasted. By the way, the traditional coconut milk version, still beats the one where the coco cream is substituted with evaporated milk or all purpose cream. Now, hit the kitchen and try making innovations of your own! Perhaps, soon you will have a tongue like mine; a tongue that knows what's good for it, both inside the kitchen or inside the bedroom! LOL!
Be rational; be insane… every once in a while! TTFN!
I love you all! Byers!