A Trilogy of Events

(http://bourdainmediumraw.com/essays/view/1245)

About my essay: 3 different people, 3 different cultures, 3 different stories…Savor the aroma of burnt rice. Scoop at least 2 servings of macaroni. And learn how to eat with your hands, it’s all in the family!

Burn Baby Burn!

The aroma of burnt rice gives pleasure to my father … soggy, overcooked rice on top and just perfectly burnt at the bottom! It does smell good and cooked too well, for that matter, but who am I to argue. I get a kick out of just watching him scrape the crusty brownish black bottom of the rice pot, a treasured gold that he enthusiastically puts on his plate with his favorite longganisa (a Filipino pork sausage) local style.

He then would dip it in his own concoction of white vinegar, macerated garlic and rock salt. He eats with his hands with gusto savoring each and every bite. After a long day at work, humid heat, rain, heavy traffic, noise and pollution from the cars, jeepneys, taxis and scooters that roam the streets of Manila, he knows he’ll soon be home to another well cooked meal…

Holy Macaroni! I never dared to cook for my Italian mother in law. It is just intimidating. Nobody can make a meat sauce like her. She usually prepares it for special occasions especially around the holidays. A tradition of three meats (sausage, beef and veal or homemade meat balls) slowly cooked for 5 to 6 hours over low heat simmering in her homemade sauce.

There may be rows upon rows of empty Prego jars neatly lined up in the cabinets, used twist ties, rubber bands, stacks of (used) pie plates & assorted margarine tubs that she likes to collect, but she knows where things are in her small galley kitchen.

She checks your plate to see how much serving portion you scooped and will check on you from time to time if you got a second serving and a third… Any gesture of approval is customary and is deeply appreciated. In her kitchen she slaves herself to make the perfect macaroni meal for her family but when she sits at the dining table, she is the queen matriarch!

You eat. You enjoy your food. And you better know how to show it. She cooks well, she knows it and therefore she rules!

No Fork, No Knife!

We finally reached our destination, the island of Puerto Galera just outside the province of Batangas after traveling for more than 7 hours by bus, hydrofoil and a motorized bamboo boat. It was way past 3pm in the scorching summer heat.

Earlier, my mother packed some rice and chicken adobo (stew) for us to take. As we reached our cottages, we were just exhausted and starving! Our assigned service family was willing to prepare our very late lunch but it will take at least an hour to cook. We asked them to just bring us some silverware so we can just eat our packed lunch.

15 minutes went by and …. nothing! My then (American fiancé quickly learned how to eat with his bare hands. I believe we just had the best meal during our week’s stay and my mom’s adobo never tasted any better!