Tuesday 5 July 2005

Column Feature and Cooking Meme

What a hectic weekend that was. And it seems everyone else including here in blogosphere is making the most out of the good summer weather and the holidays. Everybody's busy ... partying and relaxing. It's only now that I got to blog. First things first, just want everyone to know that I was included by Ajay in her Blog-o-Rama column in the Manila Bulletin. I was one of four food bloggers in a roundtable discussion about what else - food. Thanks Ajay for featuring us!

Now let's have some fun. I was tagged by the cooking queen of Boston, Stel of Baby Rambutan for this cooking meme, here it goes ...


What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?

I clearly remembered being left for about an hour with my 2 younger sisters at home. I was probably 7 or 8 years old at the time. To amuse them, I decided to treat my sisters to popcorns. My mother used to cook popcorns in our a banged up old aluminum pot and I distinctly remembered how she did it. I thought, 'I can do that with no problem at all.' So I turned on the electric stove, put the pot on, poured ridiculous amount of oil then added a fistful of popcorns, covered the pot and waited until it popped. Once we heard the tell-tale popping sounds I dutifully shook the pot just like my nanay did. It was fine until I opened the lid and out came this big black puff of smoke! We thought we had to call the bumberos (firemen). My sisters have to make do with the popcorns on top because all of the ones at the bottom where burned black. Nevertheless, from then on one of the strict instructions from my mother was - no more cooking. Hehehe!


Who had the most influence on your cooking?

That would be my nanay (mother) and my Lolo Apeng (maternal grandfather). Nanay was the one who first taught me how to cook - all the Pinoy basics from anything fried, sinigang, adobo, nilaga, etc. although it was my Lola Ebia (maternal grandmother) who taught me the nuances of cooking rice in a pot. I'd like to think I inherited my cooking genes from Lolo Apeng. He's a great cook and a stickler for details. He's the type who won't cook at all if he can't do it the right way with the right ingredients prepared in the way that he deemed correct.


Do you have an old photo as "evidence" of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?

Since my childhood photos are few and far in-between, I don't think I have this. Though my family will surely attest that I'm a very enthusiastic eater. :)


Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?

I didn't have any before but just recently I get nervous when blind baking tarts or pie bases because of repeated disasters I was in. :(


What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown?

Well, I don't know if you consider it a 'gadget' but my cleaver is indispensable to me. I use it for most kitchen jobs from slicing, mincing, tenderising, whacking garlics open, etc. Letdown? Hmmm … I think it would be the mini chopper. After only 1 month, the blades were already blunt.


Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like and probably no one else.

I'm pretty boring in this regard, most of the combinations I like are 'orthodox' such as crispy fried anything with rice and sinigang or singkamas (jicama) sliced thinly and marinated in vinegar and salt and chilled well then I eat it and slurp up the vinegar as well. Yum!


What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don't want to live without?

Rice, dimsums, patis (fish sauce), adobo.


3 quickies:
favorite ice cream ...
Rocky Road, Coffee Mangosteen
you will probably never eat ... Like Stel - 'pet food', horse meat, escargot
signature dish ... I really don't have any signature dish to speak of but my cassava cake always get requested.

Tag 3 people ... I think most people has been tagged already but hopefully these three haven't been yet - April Lassy, Ting Aling, and Jmom.


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