So Far in Manila I Have

*eaten at Heaven and Eggs, Chelsea Market Cafe and Green Tomato.
*bought stuff from the Salcedo Market and The Blue Kitchen.
*been given 3 books to cross off my Amazon wishlist: Trattoria by Patricia Wells, Chocolate by Mort Rosenblum and Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl.
*been to The Urban Spa for a facial and massage.

Happy with most of the above, disappointed with some. Pictures and details to follow.

FoodtripPinas.doc

Based on Marketmanila's and Dessertcomesfirst's recent blogs I have compiled the top 50 places I will visit/order from when I go to Manila. Check it out:

1. The French Corner: 
Commerce Avenue corner Filinvest Avenue 
Westgate Center, Filinvest Corporate City
 Alabang, Muntinlupa City
771-2345
(ube cheesecake)
2. Karen’s Kitchen: (KEY Specialty Foods)
 428 Adalla St. Palm Village, Makati
632.8982280 (trio of frozen brazos)
3. Paisley Pastry: by Gina J. Lopez
850-9917
0920-9280528 (chocolate fudge)
4. Chelsea Market & Café: 
Bonifacio High Street, Serendra,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
909-7011 / 909-7012 (cookie dough cheesecake)
5. Jill Sandique of Dèlize: 
33 Sunrise Drive, Cubao, Quezon City
721-7022 (ask for Lea, Mimi, or Vangie)
Allow a minimum of 2-3 days for your order(s). (cheesecake)
6. Sweet Bella
: 844-0680 / 844-9905 / 0928-5025027
1730 Banyan St.
Dasmariñas Village, Makati
sweetbellacakes@yahoo.com (chocolate and Strawberry charlotte)
7. Apartment 1B: Gourmet Comfort Food
One Lafayette Square
132 L.P. Leviste Corner Sedeno St
Salcedo Village, Makati
Tel: 843-4075 (white chocolate cake)
8. Chocolate Cake of Celine
Caltex at the corner of Buendia and Pasong Tamo, Makati.
9. Cibo, Pepatos, Café Bola
10. Café Ten Titas
11. Mamou, Abe
12. People’s Palace Green belt
13. Sala at Locsin Bldg Ayaa cor. Makati Ave.
14. Antonios
15. Lolo Dad’s
16. Galileo Enoteca Mandaluyong and another Italian place in front of San Antonio in Forbes
17. Cantinetta Pasong Tamo Ext.
18. Recipe’s Greenbelt
19. Casa Armas
20. Café Juanita Pasig
21. Amici
22. Trellis
23. Heaven and Eggs
24. Gaster Deli Ayala25. Bistro Filipino (Net One Bldg., the Fort; 856-0634/856-0541)
26. Xocolat
27. La Grotta
28. Chateau Verde
29. Krung Thai near Marikina Public Market
30. Mom and Tina’s
31. Three Sisters BBQ at Tiendesitas
32. Manos Greek Taverna Tagaytay
33. M Café Makati
34. JT’s Manukan
35. Guernicas Malate
36. Kopi Roti T. Morato. Blue Ridge, Mall of Asia, Naia
37. Everybody’s in Pampanga
38. Bellini’s Cunao and Trattoria Uno ali Mall
39. Katre T. Morato
40. Gourdo’s Fort
41. Brazil Brazil Metrowalk
42. Old Swiss Inn
43. Sebastian Ice Cream Podium
44. Kalye ni Juan Mall of Asia
45. Uno off T. Morato
46. Cely Kalaw’s foodstuff at Market Market
47. In-yo E. Abada QC near Katipunan
48. Roti Mum SM Megamall
49. La Resurreccion Tsokolate Binondo
50. KKK West avenue

Currently Reading

EVERYBODY EATS THERE by William Stadiem and Mara Gibbs. Thank you so much Tehlin!

What Am I Bringing Home From Manila?

Yep, I consider HK my home now, after 4 long years. Manila is the place where I grew up, studied, met my lifelong friends, did crazy things, met hubby, had little boy, got married; it's where my loved ones live, and where some of the most spectacular beaches and sunset views are to be found; it's a place of fantastic food, wonderful company, cherished memories.

But I am home, and at home in HK. I am familiar with its sights and sounds, with its idiosyncrasies. I breathe its polluted air every day, I walk through its colorful streets. I know this may be temporary, no one stays long in HK, after all, and while hubby's heart beats for HK now, it will yearn for Manila when we are much, much older.

And while HK is my home for the time being, my heart beats for both this cosmopolitan city and the city I left behind, corrupt government, silly bus and jeepney drivers, bureaucratic red tape, traffic, heat and all. My family and dearest friends live there, and they are the ties that bind me to Manila, Manila.

However, whenever I go on vacation, I consider it a vacation, and think of flying back to HK as going home.

So what am I bringing home from Manila?

- A new hairstyle, hopefully :)
- Fat and Thin brand longganisa, pork and chicken (the garlic, sugar and salt all balance out, plus there's not much fat! It's made by a fellow ICAn who supplies to the company Fat and Thin)
- Vigan longganisa
- Longganisa from a semi-blind old woman vendor in Kamuning Market (this is her only source of livelihood, and I've loved her fat, sweetish longganisa with the caramelized skin since childhood!)
- Foodstuff from The Blue Kitchen and La Cucina de Tita Moning
- LZM boneless bangus from Cavite
- Table napkins, placemats, candles, coasters from Tiendesitas and Kultura
- Yummy, Preview, Mega and Food magazines
- Tons of cookbooks from Fully Booked
- Tablea from Nana Meng's Tsokolate
- Lemon Squares from this stall in the Glorietta foodcourt selling Sylvanas (one of the yummiest I've had)
- Calamansi (for all my marinating needs) and the dalandan concentrate from The Blue Kitchen is great for juice!
- Connie's Kitchen tawilis and gourmet tuyo
- Salad dressings and a packet of multicolored peppercorns from Chelsea Market Cafe in Serendra
- Montano brand spicy sardines (litte boy's fave)
- Aligue, aligue, aligue! (I'll try several brands)
- Anything by Claude Tayag
- Machang (sticky rice cooked with chicken, pork, black mushroom and sometimes beans, wrapped like an imperfect pyramid in lotus leaves and steamed) from Wei Wang Chinese store in Wilson street, Greenhills
- Memories from my trip to Baguio, and hopefully walking trips with either Ivan Man Dy or Carlos Celdran.
- Memories of Avenue Q the Manila production
- Memories of all my foodtrips

Drool-worthy blogs!

Check these out:


http://cafefernando.com/
http://www.wanderlustsha.com/
http://cupcakeblog.com/

the pictures amaze me. make me hungry. awaken the dormant sweet-tooth in me.

How Very New York!

And how very interesting! Elevating street food to gourmet dessert bar level...Check out this NY Times article:

Wait Till Ice Cream Trucks Get Wind of This

If there are times when you would prefer a crème brûlée from a truck to a Popsicle, your appetite is ready for what Chris Chen and Jerome Chang have to offer.

Mr. Chen, a graduate student in business at Columbia (at right in photo), and Mr. Chang, a former pastry sous-chef at Le Cirque, are on a mission to elevate street food. "There's no high-end restaurant-style street food in New York," Mr. Chen said, explaining why they started the Dessert Truck in Greenwich Village.

From the truck they serve chocolate bread pudding, a warm apple dessert on puff pastry, molten chocolate cake, a caramelized pear on almond cake, milk chocolate and peanut butter mousse, and, indeed, crème brûlée. For those in need of a quick dessert for tomorrow, there is a pumpkin custard with gingerbread crumble and meringue.

The desserts are all $5. The truck is parked on University Place near Eighth Street on Tuesdays through Fridays from 6 p.m. until it sells out, Saturdays and Sundays from noon; www.desserttruck.com.

Soho Fridays

Been having lunch with the ladies in Soho lately. Set lunches are priced well and portions are just right.

Cecconis (Italian fare) served up a choice of Caesar Salad or Wild Rocket with Poached Pear and Provolone as starters. M had the Asparagus Risotto for the main dish, P chose Grilled Salmon with Sweet Pea and French Beans Salad, I chose the Basil and Tomato Pizza. Their balsamic vinegar and olive oil dip was lovely. P tried the pannacotta with berries for dessert.

I had lunch at Zest with my boss recently. I've always loved their food, and that day was no exception.
Starters were a choice of: Tuna Carpaccio with Shaved Parmesan and Greens or Cream of Cauliflower
My boss had Confit of Chicken Leg while I tried the Pan-Fried Snapper. For dessert we were served Lemon Cheesecake with Yogurt and a choice of coffee or tea.

Today lunch with M and P was at Tivo along Wyndham Street. The service was great, owing to the friendly Pinay who gladly chatted us up. P had Cream of Tomato with Basil Oil, M and I the Roasted Eggplant Layerd with Tomatoes and Buffalo Mozarella with Balsamic Glaze, P tried the Grilled Salmon, M and I the Lamb Shank with Sweet Potato Puree. Three sinful desserts of Valrhona Cake and Frangelico Ice cream, Coconut Creme Brulee with Macadamia Nut Ice Cream and an on- the- house Lemon Tart with Raspberry Coulis were enjoyed by all.

Food is Central to all Gatherings

A dinner plan:

Prawn Gambas Tossed in Chilli
Garlic Chips Studded Beef Salpicao
Grilled Chorizo Macao
Roasted Zucchini, Eggplant, Mushroom and Capsicum Skewers with Balsamic Glaze or Pesto Dip
Cheese Platter: Roquefort, Sundried Tomato Spread, Baby Brie, Gouda
PoppySeed Crispbread and Gooseliver Pate
Salami Milano
Smoked Salmon Wrapped Breadsticks
Mini Quiches or Tarts
Iberian Chicken with Chorizo Rice
Lemongrass Iced Tea
Green tea biscuits with Roasted Rice Green Tea from Japan
Dark Chocolate Fondue with Fruit, Marshmallow and Brownie Dippers

Lunch with the Ladies: Hairy Crab

It's hairy crab season once again! Pam bought some from Wing Lok Street in Sheung Wan (they cost about HKD 80 each, which is a bargain compared to resto prices). She steamed it and served it with garlic sauteed pea shoots, a ginger-red-vinegar-brown sugar dipping sauce and some soothing ginger tea.
Hairy Crabs, also called mitten crabs, are delicacies for the Chinese. The tasty roe is highly-prized and I loved the sticky, gooey fluid oozing out from its various orifices. Paired with steamed rice, this crab is a winner! It's not very meaty though, so for my sweet crab meat craving I always make it a point to go to Dampa in Manila or my favorite hole-in-the-wall in Banawe which serves the best oyster omelet, pata tim and chili crab!

Salad Number 1

Mesclun plus Seared Canadian scallop plus Lemon-Wine Shrimp plus Mango Vinagrette = My dinner.

My Le Creuset Loot

Le Creuset HK had a sale, and off I went. I lined up patiently for 1 hour 15 minutes, and came out with these lovely cherry red mini casseroles and saucepans and 3 oven-to-table dishes. I wanted the larger casseroles as well but would have to rent astorage space for them. My kitchen is TINY.





Then Pam gave me the best present of all: a mini vegetable dish. I chose cherry red, of course!



Happy me. :)

Disneyland Hong Kong

We slept over for a night at the Disney Hollywood Hotel, which resembles a convention center in the morning, with all the tour groups and noisy Mainlanders milling about the smallish lobby. We enjoyed our stay- we were upgraded to a parkview room, little boy played in the chilly waters of the swimming pool and could not get enough of the slide, and the burgers at the Sunset Terrace were huge and reasonably priced.

The Disney hotel, which is Victorian in design, is much more elegant, although pricier as well. There's a cool maze at the back, and for breakfast we ate at the much-hyped Enchanted Garden, where Pluto, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey wend their way around the tables and pose with mostly kids and some adults (including us!)who acted as if they didn't know it was just scrawny locals stuffed inside cute costumes who they were going ga-ga for.

Little boy was major-ly SCARED of the mascots. Good thing mom-in-law and I liked the food or else hubby would have called it a day. It's the usual hotel buffet breakfast, complete with Japanese and Chinese goodies like miso soup, cod teriyaki, congee, wonton, turnip cake and pile upon pile of fattening Western stuff like an omelette station, eggs all ways, sausages, Virginia ham, bacon and beans. Healthy stuff were in a small table in the middle, and only a small percentage tried the muesli, cereal and oats. I mean hey, if it's a toss up between bacon and muesli, I'm sure most of us would hug the hog.

What I enjoyed the most, and ended up getting platefuls of, were the Babylon cheese (cut to resemble a garlic clove), air-dried meats like salami, rockmelon and its sweet and juicy cousin the honeydew, the grapefruit juice, and the Mickey Mouse waffle! Yes, the waffle is a sure winner- crisp edges, airy and soft centers, each bite went perfectly with the maple syrup and strawberry jam I smeared. Forget the mini pancakes, they were as hard as frisbees and as tasteless as cardboard. But get the waffle. Lots and lots of waffle.






There was a lady there whose job was to snip off the uneven edges of each Mickey waffle that came out of the waffle maker. Hmmm, tough job that one, having all that sweet crunchiness in front of you, but having to resist popping them in your mouth. Hubby loved the roasted Nuremberg sausage all coiled up like a reposing snake, unaware that a sharp knife was about to cut a piece off of it to serve to my hungry hubby.




Food aside, if you ever go to Disney, look at the trees and mountains and spend time in the gardens of the hotel, views you will never find in the city center. Watch the 2 Broadway style shows: The Golden Mickeys and The Lion King. The performers, especially the Pinoys, are AWESOME! Never mind the rides. The shows alone are worth the entrance ticket price.

Comfort Sweet

When I was in grade school my meager allowance provided me with a once-a week ration of chocolate KnickKnacks (those fish-shaped chocolate-covered crackers). I had to depend on my best friend Anita for the remaining 4 days. As my allowance increased a bit more, I was able to include Nissin wafers in my recess repertoire. The rectangular, cream-filled wafers, with the ice cream cone hue in transparent packaging was my favorite sweet. A thin red tape wound around the plastic was pulled off at its tip to tear the top quarter of packaging and reveal a bite-sized sugary specimen. I loved it with milk, with juice, with Iced tea, with Milo, with water.

Then my paternal grandmother presented me with a round tin can in a dull dark green shade with the imposing words GAUFRE on top. I had no idea what was inside. After several tentative minutes I opened the can to reveal a stack of perfectly thin, round wafers filled with either chocolate, vanilla or strawberry cream. It was the crispiest, thinnest dessert sandwich I had ever tasted and I fell in love. I forgot about KnickKnacks and Nissin wafers (that sad impostor!), and set my heart upon eating Gaufre (at that time I didn't even know what it meant) forever.



My grandma continued to give me a tin for a couple of years, and then she stopped; and like so many things that interest an adolescent my craving was shoved to the dustbin of my memories.

I developed a liking for new sweets, new tastes.

Until the day my sister-in-law moved to Tokyo in 2006 and suddenly my memory of thin wafers resurfaced, bringing along with it a longing for that childhood taste I once could not get enough of. For some strange reason I could remember exactly the tin, the word Gaufre, and the Japanese characters printed on the cover. I knew my sweet could be found in Japan, but I could not describe it enough to my sister-in-law, and silly me didn't even think of using google.On my trip to Japan last March I searched the basement food shops in vain. I went back to HK with the promise to look for my comfort sweet.

Luck was on my side when one drizzly afternoon my siblings and I ducked into Sogo Department Store in Tsim Sha Tsui and the first stall I see upon entering their grocery is the GAUFRE (which is French for waffle, by the way) FUGETSUDO one with tin upon tin and box upon box of my favorite wafer in the world!!!!!! I found out it is from Kobe in Japan. I was hugging the box on my way home and I had it for dessert after dinner. It was sweeter than I remembered, and probably not something I would gorge on these days, but it was crispy and light and yummy. I gave some to hubby and little boy and they loved it.



Here's to my favorite childhood sweet snack, the very best wafer as declared by my selective memory. When I visit Belgium I'm sure this might pale in comparison to what they have, but to my (much) younger self, Belgium was a world away and the tin can was within reach.

Having Friends Over

My friends and acquaintances know I love hosting dinner parties, even if our flat is tiny and our dining seats only 6. Tonight I invited 4 friends and we are eating:

Feta and Basil Cheese Triangles with 2 kinds of salsa: chipotle tomato and honey mango
Pinoy Puttanesca using bottled gourmet tuyo from Manila
Grilled Marinated Pork Belly
Prawns in Calamansi-Crabfat Sauce
Steamed White Rice
Fried Sticky Rice Logs with Caramelized Bananas and Muscovado Creme
Lemongrass Iced Tea

Door Knock Dinners

Remember that show with uber-popular chef Gordon Ramsey (how embarrasing, I've been rightly corrected by a fellow blogger, thanks Dr. Jeff, that it is Gordon Elliot who hosted that show, and he is Australian, not Brit. My apologies.) speaking in an accent so strong I couldn't understand half of what came out of his irreverent mouth? It was shown on Food Network in Manila, when Food Network was new and everyone went crazy over shows featuring Ming Tsai, Bobby Flay, Mario Batali etc...?

He would go to a chosen home with a chef in tow, knock on the door and to the utter surprise of the inhabitants he and his crew would then rummage through the cupboards, cellar, refrigerator and freezer and whip up a fantastic dinner with whatever they could find. Some families were lucky they had just gone food shopping before the "knock", others were embarassed with the skeletons they had hiding in their kitchen- imagine year-old turkeys with the worst freezer burn imaginable, rock-hard and unrecognizable minced meat, expired canned goods and dairy products, stale bread, moldy cheese; these were the stuff nightmares were made of, certainly nothing you would serve at a fantastic sit-down dinner.

Yet serve these Gordon and his crew did. With a telented chef as his magic wand he would turn these freakish ingredients into an appealing meal, and the famished, delighted family all sat down to a wonderful dinner.

I'm writing about it now because I usually have a late lunch at home and have to rummage about my tiny kitchen, throwing things together and getting hungrier by the minute. I'm not the cornflakes and milk sort of person, and I can't imagine eating a slice of toast with some cheese when I'm ravenous. I always manage to make something that is more presentable than leftovers and sometimes, they taste pretty darn good. I scarf this down with ice-cold tea or Coke light and marvel at the laboratory that is my kitchen. I have some cookbooks with me, most are in Manila. I peruse them and use them whenever I let someone else do the cooking. I don't really enjoy following recipes to the letter, nor do I enjoy stocking up on the ingredients necessary to make 1 meal from a cookbook. I'd rather experiment. Kitchen wizardry, for me, is cooking without loads of technical knowledge or theoretical back-up. The best chefs are not those on the Food Network or those who have tons of cookbooks with their names emblazoned in the front. Jeffrey Steingarten, my favorite food author, is a former lawyer and current food critic. Patricia Wells was hopeless in the kitchen before she married. Food bloggers like Marketman, Lori of Dessercomesfirst, Joey of 80 Breakfasts... these are the kitchen wizards of today, experienting endlessly with unique results, always eating, always cooking, never afraid to fail.

I've had my failures in the kitchen. Too salty, too soggy, weird-tasting combinations have all made their humiliating trek from pan to plate to stomach. I'm proud of all my failures though. Cooking up a storm is not possible without some lightning strikes and forceful gales that leave the kitchen a mess and the tastebuds wailing for mercy.

So far, my lunches have been delicious. All manner of stuff thrown in from my well-stocked cupboard and ill-stocked refrigerator have found their happy way to my numerous pots and pans. I call them my door-knock lunches.

And Little Boy Does It Again! (Commercial Break No. 2)

Mama: What do you want to be when you grow up?
LB: An animal doctor.
Mama: Great! What kind of animal?
LB: I want to be a dinosaur doctor and dinosaur hunter.
Dada: Then you won't find a job because there are no dinosaurs mwahahahha
LB: Ok, then I just want to be a dinosaur.


Mama: What do you want to be when you grow up?
LB: A crocodile

LB: How about you Mama what do you want to be?
Mama: I am something already. What's my job?
LB (mulling it over): Um, you teach.
Mama: Good answer! How about Dada, what does he do?
LB (with no hesitation): He does basketball work.

Ouch Dada! Better hide the xbox and basketball shoes.

Looking forward

to next week.

making Marcella Hazan's bolognese recipe

a low-carb shepherd's pie using the bolognese and mashed cauliflower

lasagna and roast chicken for a friend wer'e having to dinner

lotsa seafood stuff my from fave seafood cookbook!

maybe I'll take pics.

Cravings...

Like a preggy lady, I am craving for the following, in no particular order:

Inihaw na baboy (grilled pork belly) with atsara (pickled raw papaya) and ensaladang talong (eggplant salad) or ensaladang dahon ng camote (sweet potato tops/leaves salad) to be eaten on a banana leaf by the seashore

Authentic curry laksa and Singaporean chili crab with hot steamed buns

Lobster noodles at Federal Chinese Restaurant in Olympic

Rellenong alimasag (Stuffed Crab)

A really chunky, "stuffed with chewy bits of brownies or chocolate cake" ice cream

Seafood paella

Garlic prawns from Fernandos in Macau

Peking duck

Fried pigeon

Machang (Triangle-shaped wrapped pieces of sticky rice, Chinese-style)

My auntie's siomai

My mom's kidney-misua soup and Chinese lumpia (fresh vegetable spring roll is puting it mildly, you have to wrap it and stuff it in your gaping maw to believe it)


WAAAH, so hungry!

New Food Books!

Come August, my 2 new books and I will be united forever! Thank you, Amazon.

Chocolate and Zucchini, a cookbook-cum-journal based on a Parisian's famous blog.
The Art of Eating, by the incomparable MFK Fisher.

Woohoo!!!!!!!

Dinner Parhh-tees and other ramblings

I'm a dinner party sort- I like setting the table, entertaining, cooking and conversing over glasses of wine or my drink of choice, the sedate and boring Minted Iced Tea.

Sometimes I'm in the mood for formality, and wish for a huge dining set seating 12-20!, with crystalware, sterling silver, fancy shmancy napkin folds, maybe personal butlers even? Nah, that's too fancy for me (the butlers, I mean. I still want the rest. :))

Most of the time I gather close friends and neighbors for dinner on Fridays, and if I'm too lazy to set up, then I use my "everyday" dinnerware and go casual. It's the food, company and conversation that count anyway. Plus I may have beautiful napkin holders, but I don't have starched napkins to go with them!

So far I've served the following during these get-togethers:

* Grilled Pork Neck, Beef Tadyang, Butternut Squash, Okra and Eggplant in Coconut Milk, Fried Boneless Bangus, Garlic Rice

* Baked Potato Skins with Chive and Truffle Salami Studded Sour Cream, Mushroom or Seafood Risotto, Cream of Pumpkin-Carrot or Broccoli with Cheese Crisps

* Minced Roast Goose/Duck with Pine Nuts and Puffed Vermicelli on Lettuce Cups, Asian-Style Chicken with Tortilla Wraps, Spicy Pork Ribs

* Calamari with Dill Dip, Mediterranean Style Farfalle with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Spaghetti Scampi Tossed with Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes

* Nachos with Spicy Minced Beef, Sour Cream, Salsa and Jalapeno, Chilli Con Carne

* Patola Shrimp Soup, Baked Beef Ribs, Prawns in Garlic or Prawns with Aligue

* Tomato and Barley Salad, Truffle Salami and Brie on Melba Toast, Scampi in White Wine Cream Sauce or Spaghetti Marinara/Arrabiata, Roast Herbed Chicken with Gravy and a side of Mashed or Baked Baby Potatoes

* Beef Sukiyaki, Japanese Fried Rice or Tonkatsudon, Cold Udon Crabstick Salad

* Caramelized Onion Beef Burgers with Home-Made Potato Chips

* Lokal stuff like Pinaputok na Kesong Puti, Crispy Tadyang, Aligue Pasta, Mango Taho, Kangkong Atsara, Chicken Sisig, Fried Fish with Mango Curry Glaze, Green Rice

I really miss: baking my own pizza. Yes I used to do that, let the dough rise, knead it, shape it and lovingly bake it on a pizza stone. I even had a paddle back home!

I also miss: a barbeque grill with outdoor cooking area facing a pool!

And Kesong Puti! And Laing!

Last night we tried this Laksa Boxed Set (HKD 27 for 2-3 servings). For an instant meal it wasn't bad at all. It even came with laksa leaves and sambal chili paste. I just added shrimps, chicken and tofu fish blocks. Hubby enjoyed!