Tutti Scampi! in Sardinia

The warm sun on your face, a salty breeze and turquoise mediterranean waters... The promise of crisp white wine and that slight metallic honey taste of fresh succulent seafood. Apart from the Jet Set crowd, decked in bright Pucci or Versace outfits, Sardinia's cuisine is a refined memory of it's fishing village past.

I have a vivid memory of the Amalfi coast when I was not older than 12. Geographically not quite the same as Sardinia, but the gastronomically, the Italian coast has endless similarities. We had driven with my parents along the tiny, winding roads hugging the tumultuous cliffs that plunged down to the almost green waters.

We're in a restaurant perched high up there somewhere and there are glass windows all around. Glasses are clinking and the silverware sing against the plates. A large round dish in piled high with Scampi. A local crayfish which looks like a tiny elongated lobster. The shell is rather hard and if your fingers are not deft, you can waste all the precious meat, especially in the claws. My father and I have been feasting on this until the last one. You can tell, he wants it, but with all his fatherly love, he puts it on my plate.

A few years back we had the same experience with the local cousin of Scampi in San Sebastian on the Basque coast. This time with white wine. I couldn't help but text him right then and there, at the Fratelli Rossi dinner table when the little creatures came.

One does not order a steak in Sardinia. You must simply have the seafood. But of course only after all the antipasti you can get. Buffet tables, draped in a pristine, heavily - starched white cloth, are adorned with bowls of roasted vegetables, melanzane, carciofi, zucca... fresh mozzarella di bufala, if you're lucky burrata (a sort of cross between mozzarella and ricotta), pecorino, culatello, prociutto san daniele, real paper thin slices of mortadella...

Save some space for the fresh fish and Scampi, washed down with the local white wine - Vermentino.

Squeeze in some home made gelato- Gianni Pedrinelli makes a beautiful one with real vanilla beans and some cinnamon.

If you're lucky to have a great tour guide such as I did, my lovely bestfriends Ms. Alexandra, was working at the Billionaire club where we danced on free flowing champagne bubbles. At the end of the night you make a little stop in a pizzeria and have a real fire oven baked pizza margherita- just tomatoes, mozzarella and a bit of fresh basil.

Dinner at Fratelli Rossi

Tutti Scampi - over excited about my Scampi, I ordered them raw on ice then just simply grilled to perfection.

Dinner at Gianni Pedrinelli

Traditional Antipasti buffet, followed by a warm salad of baby squid and artichokes, then a rich spaghettini dish with clams, zucchini and fish roe.

KL and Far Eastern Tales

One of the best food moments I had on this trip was in Kuala Lumpur. One of my brother's very good friends arranged for a superb lunch in the old Governor's home. The Gulai House had all the allures of ancient colonial far eastern times. You could almost picture William Somerset Maugham taking his tea on the terrace, right under the old fan beside a potted banana tree. He'd be watching the city lazily while he jotted down notes for his collection of Far Eastern Tales. Waiters dressed in crisp uniforms served us efficiently with all the class and flair of english butlers.

The food was exquisite. A harmonius marriage of the three great asian civilzations: chinese, indo-malay and indian. On the menu was Mixed Satay, White Rice and Ghee Rice, Eggplant with Soya Sauce, Grilled Lamb Rack with Tamarind Sauce, Chicken Curry, Prawn Sambal Petai, Naan Bread and Mixed Fruit with Sorbet. We washed everything down with a very crisp and cool Pinot Grigio that blended well with all the spices and tangy flavors. I particularly liked the Lamb with tamarind glaze... The eggplant was also cooked to perfection so it melted in your mouth. All the sauces mixed with the slightly sweet Ghee rice... Simply marvelous! Malaysian cuisine is so alive and full of character. A real melting pot of influences. I suppose even through its cuisine, Malaysia is truly Asia!

Phuket, Thailand - great food, poor sights

I love Thailand. I've been to Bangkok so many times. I was rather excited to see Phuket and all the famous white sand coves. I was utterly disappointed. We had only a day and the boat anchored off Patong beach. Probably the worst beach I've ever seen. It was like an asian argeles sur mer with loads of umbrellas. You can barely even make out the gray sand and murky water amidst all the umbrellas.

We resolved not to look for Boracay because all the great beaches were private. We lazed on some random beach with not too many umbrellas... and had an excellent lunch.

Thai Seafood coconut curry, Tom Yang soup, Phad Thai noodles with fresh peppercorns!... too good. I love the mix a salty, sweet, spicey and sour. With all that lovely thai perfumed rice. A nice fresh coconut on the beach helped me lift my moral as well.

Tom Yang Goong
Jasmine Rice






Phad Thai

I needed it. Only a short walk in the market is enough to know that here, it reeks of sexual tourism. It just wasn't a healthy place. I was rather disappointed because I love Thailand and the Thais, I've spoken so much about it to Victor. This was his first experience. Yucky old patong beach. We have got to go to Bangkok.... I would love to see Chiang Mai too.

Thank goodness for the great lunch...

Singapore: The Lion City

Singapore, rapid development into one of the world's largest container ports!



Singapore. I have heard so much about it and my whole 19 years of life while I was still in the Philippines, I never once set my foot in the Lion City. Each class I took in Uni on Asia, there was always so much to learn about Singapore. The 3rd largest port in the world, fast rising, fast developing, Switzerland of Asia... I only had 1 day and a half. Not nearly enough.

We stayed in the loveliest boutique hotel called Scarlet. It was a long row of old chinese shophouses, converted into a luxurious boutique hotel. Not too pricey either! The standard rooms were quite tight, but the attention to detail made up for it. The other rooms, the executive and the suites were absolutely fabulous. And of course, asian service at its finest.

I have to say I was rather disappointed. Upon arrival, we were all too hungry to eat properly and everyone had something planned. (The boys wanted to go electronics shopping... Not my cup of tea) So my sister, my mom and I ate on Smith Street in whatever place we saw was open. To our surprise, the tofu and pork was really good. A bit greasy though, but good.

Raffles Hotel

My sister and I took the famous metro. Much cleaner than in Paris! We took 30 minutes to shop then had a little walk around the old colonial area. The padang, the anglican church, the cricket club and of course had a little drink at Raffles. I could just see William Somerset Maugham drinking a Singapore sling thinking up more Far Eastern Tales...

I must have spent days researching on where to eat in this fab city. But when we got there, either there was no time or not to everyone's taste. It was also friday night, and impossible to make reservations for eight people.

Some Chinese Tapas!

We did however find a really great singaporean/chinese cuisine resto, in an old black and white house. They served us some chinese tapas: crispy eel with sesame, chicken strips fried spicy and some other little things. For dinner we had an excellent crab in chili garlic sauce. With lots of champagne, wine and spices, my tummy was in a whirl.

That night, I had so much wanted to see the singaporean nightlife. Unfortunately during the cocktail hour, I had one too many asian oysters before dinner. I love oysters and can easily scarf down a dozen. But oysters in asia aren't as sweet and fresh as those in europe. They also serve it to you already cut from the shell. This isn't good, you can't tell if it's still alive under a squirt of lemon. Well I had a poor one and spent the night hugging my toilet.

The next day all I had was gatorade for breakfast. For lunch my dad and mom discovered the best and the cheapest place to eat hainanese chicken rice! Perfect for a queasy stomach. For 2 singaporean dollars, you had a yummy yummy meal. Don't expect the best of service though. It took three different guys to take our orders while all the hustling and bustling was going on in the kitchen. It's all part of the ambiance. And that hainanese chicken rice was worth it!

Hainanese chicken rice and my gatorade bottle...

We then quickly whisked off to the boat and headed out to the high seas!

Now that I'm moving back to Manila, I must do several singaporean weekends. Too many places to eat in...

Spices of South-East

This is a three part food and travel on three major South East Asian countries: Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. I thought shorter, but more frequent blogs would keep my food blog more exciting.

Last december, the whole family took a major vacation, coming together on one huge floating Las Vegas boat for an asian cruise. Everyone right down to all the little kiddies and my in-laws, roamed the high seas, taking a peek into different windows of South East Asia.

On the itinerary:

1. The Lion City of Singapore

2. Sailing the high seas on a floating Las Vegas

3. A short stop in Phuket

4. Colonial times and high rises in Penang and Kuala Lumpur

Bon voyage everyone!

La cucina mexicana

Mexico. Un pais meztizo... The big cousin of the Philippines, born out of indegenous and spanish cultures. A country who's culinary exports, more often than not, are restricted to the three O's: tacos, nachos and burritos. Thanks to Taco Bell and the easy commercialization of Tex-Mex "let's-put-some-guacamole-and-call-it-mexican" fare most of us have a greasy, not so refined vision of Mexican cuisine.

Last november, we attended one of the most extraordinary weddings ever. Our two great friends were married in Querétaro, a beautiful

colonial town about three hours from the capital. We didn't have much time but we managed to squeeze all the best culinary delights in five days.

Mexican cuisine is distinct. It is pure Mexican and not meztizo. The flavors and ingredients stay true to the home land and recall the times of the great, ancient Mayan and Aztec civilizations.

Five days and a multitude of dishes: here's a peek into la cucina mexicana verdadera.

Thursday, October 31, 2007: Upon arrival

We arrived tired, weary and bloated (not due to the flight, but to the greasy, all-american cheeseburger we ate gluttinously at Houston Airport's Ruby's Diner). The filipino ambassador to Mexico happens to be one of my parent's very good friends. The welcome dinner was grand and if I had not been so engrossed with the fabulous dishes, I would have taken some pictures.


Ambassador Guingona was kind enough not only to offer lodging but invited the chef of a well known restaurant, favored by painter Diego Rivera: Amor. Within the first five minutes of our arrival, I headed straight to the kitchen to spy. On the menu was: Pescado a la veracruzana, a fresh turkey salad loaded with cilantro, and non-mexican but excellent dish made by the Ambassador's cook: bacalao.

Veracruz is the largest seaport on the Gulf of Mexico. Known not only for it's seafood but it's carribean musical scene and it's authenticity. Pescado a la veracruzana is is it's most famous dish and excellent, especially for those who are not afraid of the spicy spicies! Made usually with red snapper, the fish is marinated in lime juice, then sautéed in a pan with garlic, onions, fresh chopped tomatoes, capers, green olives and of course some spicies: jalapeno and a green chile. It's served with some rice and peas to sop up the sauce and with a fresh sprinkling of parsley, or as the chef here did: with cilantro. After a long flight and that greasy burger... It really hit the spot.

I love the mix of rich and hot chile, tart lime and fresh cilantro!

Friday, November 1, 2007: Barbacoa

Lucky enough we were travelling in style with my mother who hired a car and a driver to take us to Querétaro. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Mexico City. Our driver, Antonio, was an extremely nice, soft spoken guy, who had the same face as Mr. Solis from Desperate Housewives. We told him to take us to his favorite place to eat on the road. We went to a typical Barbacoa or Barbecue along the highway, a hundred kilometers or so from Mexico.

In Los Arcos, a row of about six or so barbeuce houses lined the highway all with sizzling sounds and exciting smells emanating from their porches. Tortilla making ladies outside lured customers in with their swift hands transforming little balls into flat, smoking hot tortillas. Once you've tried a real fresh tortilla, you won't ever touch the stuff in vacuum packs sitting for five months on the grocery shelf.

The Barbacoa is made up of slow, cooked meat, wrapped in maguey leaves and roasted in a pit with hot water and coals. We weren't sure what to order so we just asked for the Ranchero plate and few coronas. My mother was looking for mole and though it wasn't the place for it, the waitress was absolutely adorable and invited us to her place to try her home cooked mole! She also brought me some kernels of blue corn to show me where the funky green tortillas came from. Yaya Terry took them home to be planted in her province...

Since I don't have the good habit of writing things down in a notebook, I completely forgot the names of the different things made out of the Barbacoa meat. There were a variety of things made with tortillas. There were quesadillas, nothing at all like the Tex-Mex ones. Made with fresh tortillas and served straight from the grill. One other thing was a small, round discs of masa with frijoles and melted cheese. I think they're called sopes. (Please correct me if I'm wrong) I sort of invented things, wrapping them up with meat, adding onion, spicey sauces, lime and lots of cilantro! The small little crisp rolls are tacos. They had some barbaco meat in it and once again I slashed on every sauce and condiment there was. I also put fresh guacamole on everything I saw.

Too full, I slept all the way too Querétaro...

Upon arrival in Qurétaro, we were awestruck by the beauty of our hotel, Meson Santa Rosa. I'm guessing it was once a convent that was converted into a spacious and charming hotel. It had three lovely patios with fountains and greenery. the third one had a sort of a large fountain which was a pool. Our rooms were enormous and decorated tastefully. Two little, white skulls with our names on it were waiting for us on the coffee table. It was la Fiesta de la Muerte. All over the quaint city of Querétaro, little and big altars to past loved ones occupied each corner and plaza. Everything was colorful, with garish skeletons smiling and dancing. Paper cut-outs hung from every awning. The idea is to celebrate the memory of your departed love ones and also to remind yourself not to be afraid of death.

That night we ate in a little resto beside in front of the hotel. I had what they call molcajete. Molcajete is a large stone bowl, traditionally carved entirely out of porous basalt volcanic rock. Normally used like a mortar and pestel to grind spices, make sauces and such, it can also be heated and used to serve dishes. I ate a Molcajete 1810: it was made of shrimp wrapped in bacon and cheese, fried crispy, with nopales or cactus leaves and some avocado. It had some salsa roja on top and was strangely good. This is not a place to go on a diet.

Saturday, November 2, 2007: The wedding day

I was already too stuffed from the day before to eat anything truly consistent for lunch. I just had a salad and some nice cilantro soup. Dinner was quite an adventure though. We had some very traditional cuisine for the wedding. I didn't eat much of the hors d'oeuvres but I do remember dinner.

It started out with a crêpe with zucchini blossoms and a sauce made out of hibiscus flowers, jamaica. It was really different from anything I've tried before. The sauce had a slight tangy taste to it, it was just as delicate as the petals.

The main course was chile en nogada. It's a stuffed green chile with a walnut sauce and grenadines. The stuffing is made of ground pork or beef with spices and raisins. The sauce is creamy and pleasantly nutty. It is a rather sweet dish and the only thing that bothered me in the beginning is that it's served at room temperature. Oh! And 1 in 10 chiles are hot... My was not just hot but flaming! I finished it all anyway. This dish has some interesting history to it. It was created for the Mexican independence day on September 16 and is the country's national dish, representing the mexican flag: chile for green, white creamy sauce and red grenadines.

After lots of dancing, pretending to a mariachi with only one marracas and a few too many rounds of tequila... 3 am struck and they brought out the Chilaquiles!!! This has to be one of my favorite things in Mexico. Fried crispy corn tortillas topped with salsa verde or salsa roja, frijoles and some queso panela. It's apparently a remedy for la cruda or the hangover... No wonder they brought it out then. The ultimate bite it that perfect mix of crisp and soggy, with cheese, beans and sauce... Pure heaven.

Sunday, November 3, 2007: More chilaquiles... and mole

The Sunday buffet brunch of the hotel, held in the lovely patio, had an even lovelier site... more chilaquiles!!! I loaded my plate with some along with a poached egg in a fiery red sauce and has the chef whip me up some fresh quesadillas. I'm going to miss Mexico.

That day we just roamed around in the car, doing a quick sight seeing tour of the city. The main square is impressive, with a mssive flag waving in the wind. It was full of people: doomsday sayers, native indian dancers, witch doctors, priests, families with kids blowing bubbles, young lovers, laughing teens, two huge, gaily dressed blown up skeletons holding hands in the middle of the square... All the faces of Mexico were shown to us in a matter of ten minutes.

That night we ate in Amor. A rather kitschy decorated restaurant with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's painting adorning the walls... This restuarant is a tribute to their love and their favorite recipes... Excellent food!

<- Fish Tacos

To start with we had fish tacos... Little pieces of white fish cooked in curcuma and lime rolled up in a mini tortilla with onions and cilantro. Then of course... Escamoles. Ant eggs. They were in season at the time and we were an adventurous group. Known as the caviar of Mexico, escamoles is the larvae of a special type of ant, harvested from the roots of the agave (tequila) or maguey (mezcal) plant. White little pearls sautéed in garlic, parsley and butter. The first thing that entered my mind was escargots! Soft but firm, very rich and a tad nutty. You wrapped them in tortillas and ate them with some cilantro and onions. I also ate them with a fork. They're really good, just writing about them make my mouth water!

Escamoles!

For our main course, we decided to try different moles each. My mother had mole poblano, I had mole verde and Victor, a mole with tamarind. A pity I don't remember the name because it was really good.


Mole is probably one of the most famous dishes in Mexico. It literally mean "sauce". The most famous is Mole Poblano for the town of Puebla, made with a rich and dense mix of crushed dried chiles, almonds, sesame, dark chocolate, cinnamon, charred avocado leaves.... It is usually smothered on a piece of grilled chicken and served with rice. I love the sauce... but personally I always find the chicken breast too dry. It is traditionally served with grilled or roast turkey breast. This is perhaps juicier. If I were to try one day... I'd make a mole stew... Letting the chicken absorb the sauce and become tender...

The Mole verde was truly yummy. Made with crushed pumpkin seeds, tomatillos (a husk tomato or green tomato), lettuce, green chiles,, cloves, cilantro and cumin. It was fresher and tarter than its more famous counterpart. Something also easily achievable in the kitchen. It would be a great sauce for a grilled fish!



The next day we flew out full and slightly sad to be leaving this wonderful country. It's so close to home. The people are friendly and they treat you like family, the food is excellent and music is everywhere! It's amazing how proud they are to be Mexican, they're culture is distinct and their history is rich. The cuisine truly reflects its unique heritage and its link to its land: corn, avocado, chiles, limes, cilantro... the basis of Mexican cuisine is not imported but is taken from the earth under their feet. I'll never call nachos mexican food again!

La vie Strasbourgeoise

Strasbourg has long been disputed over by France and Germany since the middle ages... Take a string from the middle of France and take it straight to the East and you'll hit Strasbourg. Only two and a half hours from Paris by TGV, you enter a city straight out of the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm.


The city clearly does not have the allure of la Vieille France but more of a rather large medieval german village. The distinct architecture of apparent wooden structures and crooked little paved roads make for an ambieance quite far from Paris. Plenty of color and canals with swans floating in them... You almost expect to see Pinocchio or Jack and his beanstalk chatting in a pottoresque square.

Even more particular is the cuisine. Strasbourg is well know for its very, very Deutsche-influenced fare. Here's a little recap of what we had.

We arrived around dinner-time and headed straight into a typical Winstub. This is their version of a traditional bistrot with regional dishes and specialities. The first thing I ordered was.. Beer! Of course! Météor beer, a local bière blonde which is really light and refreshing. Sad to say, it was probably the best thing I had that night. I wasn't too impressed with the food. Although I do like german-ish fare, this was sort of a frenchified version: heavy on the cream and butter.

I had a dish called Bouchées à la Reine which is a hearty, grandmother's recipe. It is made out of small chunks of veal and chicken in a mushroom cream sauce served with Spatzel (Alsatian pasta made with fresh cream).

It tasted like Campbells mushroom soup with chicken meat in it. A bit bland. I did like the Spatzel though...


The night was young and after another round of beer in another place, we conquered the city. Heading first to a place that wasn't so bad if it wasn't for the hard-core techno music called La Passerelle. Then to a place that turned out to be very fun: The Living Room. The nightscene is very underground, very east berlin and electro pop music. Not bad, not bad.

The next day started late with a nice Flammekeuch in the Petite France quarter. A Flammekeuch is an alsatian "pizza", square and thin with lots of cream... It literally means "flamed tarte". Washed down with beer after a night out... It does the trick!


We met up with some friends who knew more or less where to go. They live in Mulhouse, which is a city that's not too far away. One of them is a chocolatier. He makes decorations out of chocolate for different stores and pastry shops. Here's a sample of his work. A green tea macha chocolate cake that Chef Aaron had at the chocolate bar.

The culinary highlight of our trip was the fabulous dinner at Le Beurehiesel. Longtime planned and reserved in advance we had some excellent food despite my not so wise choice. (Sorry Nico!)
A large tabel of 12 between good friends, old and new, from Paris and Beyond. A nice little apéritif... Although I adore beer, Champagne is still always a lovely pleasure.

On the menu was an entrée that Chef Aaron has been talking about for ages: Cuisses de grenouille with a ravioli of caramelized onions. I have to admit that this was my first time to eat frogs' legs. I was never queasy about it but I just never had the chance to. It was succulent! Not much like chicken as everyone else says, but more like fish: monkfish in particular. A soft, melt-in-your-mouth white meat cooked in a hearty sauce made with chervil. The ravioli married well with the dish as it was quite salty and the onions tapered it off a bit. A crisp white wine: Rieseling if I'm not mistaken. A specialty of the region.

Here's where I went wrong. The Menu listed a Beackoff as a specialty. I wanted to take the poitrine de porc but was tempted to try all their specialties. Since it was for two, I convinced poor Nico (my seat mate) to share it with me. Everyone's dishes came, all looking excellent, well spiced and caramelized. very excited, everything looked like the type of cuisine I love.

Here comes the waiter. A giant pot, sealed by bread dough that had to be cut open. Everyone oohed and ahhed. He opens the lid and... pulls out a chicken white as a pasty northern european on a cold beach in february!
Oh no! The vegetables were very good, but I was disappointed to be having boiled chicken while everyone else had some succulent, juicy and hearty dish.



Fortunately the servings were large and lovely Stacey gave me almost a fourth of her pork, so did Victor. Beggars can't be choosers. I was peddling for bits and pieces of everyone else's dish. Poor Nico was being made fun of by Rachel who always happens to have better food than him.



The pork was excellent. Caramelized, crispy and fondant at the same time. A hint of sweet and the delicate scent of clove.


Desserts were very yummy though... Like I said, beer is everywhere. An excellent dessert made out of a beer brioche style pain perdu or french toast with beer ice cream! Yes beer ice cream. It was like taking cold, sweet beer. I wouldn't mind having a gallon at home!

I had a déclinaison café: three little desserts, all coffee and chocolate flavored. I really liked the one with praline the best. I'm sorry for my non descript dessert descriptions but I'm not much of a sweet tooth and I forgoe desserts more often than not.


That night, please don't ask where we went. A sketchy bar that seemed more like an socio-experimental enclosed environment infused with bad techno and nineties music straight from the set of the TV-Series Lost. It was so bizarre, we were quite drunk, that it was actually funny. Go-go dancers and all. Then we finished off at Seven. A more conventional club with fun pop music. Dancing till late, the boys drinking till late.

I was originally excited to go for a long awaited culinary feast. The weekend was meant to be about discovering new tastes and all the great food the Alsatian region is known for. In the culinary aspect, I was expecting much more. Even the Beurehiesel disappointed me in terms of ambience, service and detail (the waiter needed a bit of deo, poor guy, and the table setting was bit cheapy) The food was much blander than I expected and apart from the frog's legs and the pork... my favorite culinary delight was the yummy gingerbread cookies I took home. However, I had a blas!t Eveyone was happy to be all together, laughing in the streets and carrying each other home when we couldn't stand anymore. Crazy stories of base jumpers off the cathedral to solo wanderings after 5 am...La vie Strasbourgeoise is all about good friends, good laughs (or good giggles...) and a lot of alcohol. When's the next train???