Before I knew what swakî (collector urchin) looked or tasted like, I was already acquainted with its supposedly salutary effect on the male libido. “Pampa-utoooog!” we would bellow in reply to some ambulant vendor’s announcement. As a young boy, it never occurred to me that I would have any need of it.
When Jenny mentioned that she needed to get some black pepper, I seized the chance to pitch for whole over her usual pre-ground.
“Is there a difference?”
“Only a world of it.”
When my father told his guest that I had prepared something special for lunch, I knew I had the osso buco down pat. Pa is so finicky, I had long given up trying to figure out how he comes to decide what it is he likes — little wonder Ma gave up cooking for him a long time ago — making the rare pronouncement like this music to my ears.
Wherever you find yourself in the Philippines, there is bound to be a sticky rice delicacy unique to that place. These are called magsaysay, from Hilongos, Leyte. The first thing one notices is that they are huge, but the most remarkable is that they are filled with a rich, gooey chocolate center whipped from native cocoa.
After several days of wet and gloom, the sun finally came out. Not a day too soon, too, or I would have had to start opening cans to feed the family.
I was prepared to dislike The Lobster, if only because of the last Yorgos Lanthimos movie I had seen. That would be Dogtooth (2009), in which a couple kept their children from the outside world, taught them the wrong names for things, and encouraged incest. While The Lobster is not as preposterous — and I must concede that’s not saying much — it is more intriguing, even funny, in ways just as dysfunctional.
With no one to cook for last week, I decided on takeout pork sinigang (sour soup) from Andok’s. I had a dim recollection of liking their version of the dish at a Tacloban branch many years ago.
Two men are on the run. With them is a young boy, who we learn from the news has been kidnapped. Earmuffs and goggles are the extent of his restraint, although we also note that the eyehole on the motel door has been taped over, the window boarded up.
“Bell pepper,” a friend once lamented. “I see people push it to the side of their plate and I break out in dandruff.”
“Try the California Wonder,” I said.
“Eh, have you been listening? Local is expensive enough.”
If, like me, you think that eating the recommended five portions of fruits and vegetables every day is daunting enough, get a load of the latest news saying the amount should really be twice that, as per a new “major” study. In terms of weight, we’re talking upping F&V consumption to 800 grams, or 200 grams short of a kilo! (I know, I know: you can do your own math; I just wanted to hammer that in.)
