At home at "A Taste of Home"

My family attended "A Taste of Home" at the Filipino Community Centre in Petone last weekend.  It's an event showcasing Filipino food and culture.  But to be honest, we were actually more interested in seeing MasterChef runner up Leo Fernandez in action!

There were of course, a wide assortment of Filipino food for sale.  What would a Filipino event be without food?!

Sisig - crispy, spicy bits of pork meat, ears, skin, usually served on a hot plate with a raw egg on top.  I love this dish, though I do need to ease up on the pork dishes...

Boodle fight

'We're going to have a boodle fight,' my friends said as a matter of factly while they busied themselves with covering the dining table with banana leaves.  There was also a lot of activity in the kitchen, so I knew food was involved.  Was there going to be a food fight?  Close, but not quite.

Fast food trip in the Philippines

Making this post made my hungry!  We had so much fun eating out during our Philippines vacation a couple of months back that I couldn't believe how much I missed it.  Eating fastfood-style was the norm when I worked in Manila.  Because it's so affordable we could do it everyday, be it the local Jollijeep, or one of the many fastfood shops that abound.

Here is a collection of photos I was able to quickly put together; I had to stop because I have to take a break and have a midnight snack!

Eating at Mang Inasal was in our to-do-list when we visited the Philippines a couple of months back.  We definitely enjoyed our meal back in 2010 and were looking forward to this.  I guess business is good because we found another branch near University of Baguio!

yummy chicken!

Halo-halo and other treats

How can you tell if summer is well and truly underway in the Philippines?  Well, there's the warm weather for one thing.  But food-wise, it's the halo-halo stands that sprout in the neighborhood by enterprising households.  And boy, do I love halo-halo!

The fruits of summer

I was initially skeptical about visiting the Philippines in the summer, primarily because the kids might not be able to cope with the heat.  But it turned out my worries were for naught; we had a really great time!  And now I realize what perfect timing we had for our holiday, as fruits were in abundance!  Join me in a visual journey of the fruits we were able to feast on!

One can't go wrong with green mangoes and a shrimp paste dip.  Mouth-watering goodness.

Halo-halo heaven

Today is the last day of our Christmas break, but there's really no time to mull over the end of the happy days, so to speak, because the sun is out shining brightly, and there's still time for one last get-together.  And this one's quite special as we planned for a Halo-halo afternoon!

Halo-halo is a summer treat back in the Philippines.  Its literal translation is 'mix-mix', which is essentially what you do after adding all the ingredients in a cup, then topped with crushed ice, followed by leche flan and/or ice cream and/or ube.  The dry season is welcomed with makeshift stalls on the roadside selling this popular delicacy to help stave off the heat.  Halo-halo is in fact a staple of many a happy childhood memory, along with trips to the provinces and the beach.

Philippine mangoes in town!

I thought I have to go on vacation in the Philippines in order to savour our heart-shaped, scrumptious, sweet mangoes.  It does make me wonder why our mangoes are not being imported here.  Bananas and pineapples are in regular stock, but not mangoes.  Sure, there are imported mangoes from elsewhere, but they're just not the same.

So imagine my surprise when I saw one on our table when I came back from work one night!  My wife excitedly told me that she bought it from the local fruits and veggies store.  She got excited when she saw it herself, and did not want to miss an opportunity to have a taste (it's been a couple of years since we've had one) so she determinedly took one to the cashier.  She did grimace a bit at the price - a whopping $3.99 for one piece (it's about PhP120.00!) but it was well worth it.

Even our baby daughter loved it!

If you are craving for ripe Philippine mangoes, try dropping by the local Fruit and Veggies store in Johnsonville.  Now I'm crossing my fingers for those crunchy, sour green mangoes too!

Wellington Night Market

If you find yourself wandering the city streets on a Friday night looking for something different to do, head over to Cuba Street at the Left Bank for scrumptious treats and entertainment.

We have visited the place some time ago, and the place definitely has a charm all its own.  Food stalls line the alleyway, each offering something different.  A courtyard of sorts comes alive with performers while friends sit and enjoy their treats.  Once you're done with your food, you can always roam around and try something else!

Jo-Lo and the other kids love these Bavarian Style Wieners.

Adobo Festival in California

Union City, CA - Filipino American families and their friends gathered for the “Last Summer Hurrah!” with its Labor Day celebration at the 7th Annual Adobo Festival from 10:00am to 6:00pm last September 1 and September 2, 2012 at the Veterans Park (formerly Hall Ranch Park) in Union City, California.

Union City’s Vice Mayor Pat Gascoscos and her fellow Filipino American Councilmember Jim Navarro welcomed their local and out-of-town guests and special guests — to mention a few — such as California State Senator Leland Yee and Alameda County Commissioner Dr. Jennifer Hidalgo Ong. With over 80 booths that sold food, ethnic-made products, and services to an average packed crowd of 4,000-plus on each day, there was something for everyone.

Among the festival’s enthusiastic grassroots cultural advocates was Rev. Father Geoffrey Baraan, Pastor of St. Anne Catholic Church, who had made announcements from the pulpit for parishioners to join the celebration in what he believes is “the city’s largest festival to-date.”

read more: AsianWeek

May 2012 Food Events in NZ

I just saw an ad on TV about The Food Show, happening on 11-13 May in Wellington so I decided to check the website, and look around for other food events this month.  I found a couple, featuring NZ produce.

But first, The Food Show: with schedules for Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch.

The Food Show has exhibits on the latest on cookware and kitchenware, food and drinks, and a Masterclass series you can join to brush up on your culinary skills.  And even if you're not in New Zealand, the website still has loads to offer as there's quite a number of recipes classified by meal type and presented by famous chefs, a number of them from MasterChef series.  Visit the website to learn more.

The other two events I found are:

Hey Joe! Filipino Street Food in Arizona

Interesting.  One can actually have Filipino street food in Arizona!  And to top it all, they even have balut! I talked about chicken feet in my previous post, and was quite delighted to find adidas featured here as well.

(In case you do not know, the name of the store comes from a popular Filipino term for Americans. In the heyday of the American bases, the locals would call out to the soldiers, 'hey Joe!'. It is an enduring name to this day.)

Curbside Cravings Food Truck

Another Food Truck is making waves at Los Angeles, California's "street food" scene.  Curbside Cravings' tocino burger and tapa burger is a hit with Filipinos and the locals alike.  And so is their lumpia and lobster balls.  I wonder when will we have a Filipino food truck here in Welington?



Related links:
Curbside Cravings website
ABS-CBN news: Tocino, tapa burgers take LA by storm

Wellington on a Plate Culinary Festival

New Zealand’s premier culinary festival, Visa Wellington On a Plate, is serving its third course from August 5-21
In this year’s festival programme you’ll find a feast of over 80 events to please every palate and budget. The festival centrepiece, DINE Wellington, sees more than 100 of the region’s finest eateries offer lunchtime set menus and delectable dinner offers. We also welcome the return of 2010’s popular ‘battle of the burger’, with 50 eateries bidding to claim the Burger Wellington winner’s title from inaugural winners, Lembas Café.

The most exciting news is the launch of the Wellington Fisher & Paykel MasterClass. Top Southern Hemisphere chefs team up with local Wellington talent to demonstrate their most sizzling recipes.

Learn more about this event at the Wellington on a Plate website.

Tapa Boy: Filipino food on Filipino Time

I just came across this in the internet and thought how cool it is for LA to have a Filipino breakfast food truck!

Reminds me of lunches in Makati where there are strategically-parked food jeepneys which offer fast, cheap, and yummy lunch and merienda (snack) fair.  You have to stand by the jeep while eating your lunch, but that doesn't faze people from lining up.  Aside from being loads cheaper than the nearby restaurants and fast food shops, they give variety to an otherwise boring lunch.  Besides, with only an hour to spare for lunch, we'd rather be able to grab a quick bite, then have a siesta afterwards, something you cannot do in fastfood shops where falling in line takes as long at eating your meal.

Lechon Manok by the beach

This post brings me back to our vacation in the Philippines last January 2011.  One of my must-do in my list was to go to the beach.  It did not matter where, for as long as I can feel the warm waters, I'll be one happy man.

Fast Food Fix

While vacationing in the Philippines, a number of tasks in my to-do-list were to visit my favourite fast food haunts. Working in the IT industry in Makati meant long working hours which did not allow much time for cooking at home. And so fast food restaurants were our best friends.

Mang Inasal in Baguio City

While at Baguio Center Mall in our vacation at Baguio City, Philippines last January, we were pleasantly surprised to find Mang Inasal occupying a rather substantial amount of space of the Food Centre of Abanao Square. "Inasal" is essentially a method of marinating and barbecuing chicken and originates from the Vizayas region of the country. The marinade and basting sauce gives the chicken a distinct and delectable taste. I swear, I could not stop eating until all that's left is bones on my plate. There are now quite a number of shops offering this in their menu, with people picking their favourites. As for me, I am not as choosy for my chicken inasal!

Cornick delight

We had a brief stopover at the City of San Fernando in La Union, a 2-hour drive from Baguio City in the Philippines. My wife spent a considerable number of years working here, and so she wanted to see some friends before we left for Manila. Incidentally, this was also where the airport was located and we were bound for a flight to Manila there, so it was quite a convenient stop.

Cafe by the Ruins (Baguio City, Philippines)

One of the early food spots to be ticked off on my vacation list is Cafe by the Ruins, my absolutely favourite place for its rustic atmosphere and good food. There have been some changes to the place since we last visited, but the service, the food, and the "quiet solitude" amidst the busy City Hall traffic is as we remembered it.

Town's Pizza

Any Baguio old-timer would know Town's Pizza: those small, unassuming roadside stands that sell cheap but yummy pizza! Town's Pizza has been in Baguio as far back as I remember and their pizzas are value for money. In fact, there was a time when I actually prefer their pizza over the fastfood chain variety, and when we grabbed one again last December, I found that I do still like their pizza!