Chefie’s World

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After two international trips, I bought quite a number of chocolates. Yabang ko….but when you know longer want to have lunch with Paul, Ben, Giorgio, Salvadore or my other would be friends, I turn to food. I got some great artisanal chocolates from the States as well as Italian made from Hongkong, and let me discuss them with you since, I have only tried quite a few, I am taking my time…..
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Celebrating New Year in Langham Hotel, Kowloon, Hongkong

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Of no work, why? The schedule for this year was done this way and I am very happy. Last month was very, very hectic and I had hard time catching up on what my life was all about. So, one resolution I wanted to do before I started teaching again was to clean one of my rooms at home. This room has all my magazines, second hand cookbooks I get from BookSale, old gifts that never got to be used and a whole lot of humongous tupperwares housing my old friends, Paul Smith, Ben Sherman, Giorgio Armani Exchange, Calvin Klein. Strange that I still have a lot of old clothes that I cherish because I love them or maybe due to my inheriting one trait Mommy Luring left me…keeping clothes and a lot of junk, mom was a child of World War 2, I know that most of you have mothers, aunts and relatives who are like this. Another reason is I have clothes for increase and decrease of weight, hehe. So I cleaned up the room, realized that I had quite a number of school bags and shoes. So decided to fix and give some away, guess what Apol is wearing now….even my gardener, LukeLuke looks so smart wearing his Camper slippers, love it…..the other reason for this clean up is I really want to make every look clean and organized and also get to turn on the aircon in this room which I don’t get to use as often. Second reason, is an arrival of three big balikbayan boxes this month, filled with books, old clothes and pastry equipments. There has to be space for these things. Mom used to have a stock room built when one of her containers arrive so I want the room to accept all these new items.
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The pictures here were taken the day after I arrived in Princeton, New Jersey. The last colors of autumn taken middle of November. Beautiful…..since after a week it was so so so so cold…winter just came with out warning. Four clothes layered on top of each other, walking 7 blocks every weekday from the Path Station to FCI on Broadway. Maybe it was the main reason I lost weight in the US.

The weird thing about the pictures in my last post is that there is no form of explanation to what it was. The first picture are the lighted trees fronting Time Warner Building on Columbus Circle. I bought Truffle Salt in the William Sonoma branch inside which I got for free but that’s another story. Next picture is the gigantic red Christmas balls fronting a building on 5th Avenue and last, are the trees in my brother’s house a day before I left, snowing! Everytime I visit America during winter, the day before I leave it always snows…..first snow so it is very pretty…..

It was a whirlwind and tumultuous when I got back, after a day of rest, I started teaching again a bunch of eager, excited group of students…..with diverse personalities. Even I was in school for 12 hours, I enjoyed it since I was in the new kitchens of our annex building….sarap magturo doon. To the point that I even asked Apol to go and get my stainless high chair from home so that it becomes the instructor’s chair there.

Next day, I had the privilege to tour, one of my idol chefs from the States. Chef Robert Danhi, a CIA chef instructor who I met during one of my USDA tours. Brought him and his wife to Antonio’s Grill in Tagaytay, CACS / Cafe Ysabel and King Crab for dinner. Tried my very best to entertain them even with the hardships of Christmas season. But I was very happy I got to drop them to the airport for their flight to Hongkong….I love bringing people to the airport…..

The next days were a bit more confusing since right after Christmas, the whole Gavino family and moi left for Macau….that’s a longer post to write about.

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A tremendous amount of activities has been happening to your chefie the past few months since I again took a momentary break of blogging. I was in New York for three weeks last November studying breads and pastries, then was away again right after Christmas to spend some good quality time with my family in Macau and Hongkong. Will write about all these for the next weeks to come, but here are some pictures to give you, my readers, a preview….

May the new year make us more sensitive and courteous on how we treat other people. May we give ourselves 30 seconds to think and feel a response before reacting so as not to regret what was done. May we understand the importance of our name and reputation since in the end this is the most important…..take care and read again soon.

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I didn’t work for 4 days since I had no classes to teach, when I visited school yesterday, Friday, I received so many gifts from students who were on vacation…some dried beef and Royce original chocolates from my super taipan student who is so sexy everyone will go, “Chaka Doll” to themselves, some nuts and cologne from my Derek Ramsey look-a-like student who just came back from Australia, a bilao of biko from the cute, steamy and thin Anorexic acting student who loves and hates me at the same time. And today, Saturday, a chef doll from my student who works in a doll company, doesn’t he look like me. A feast of Bicolano delicacies and food Sinantol, Tuna Express, Bicol Express and a very special mazapan de pili that was loaded with nuts from my chef teacher student from Daet. A batch of students were also graduating so I get another set of gifts..napoleones from Bacolod…sarap. Thanks guys, will report on how good they are, coming soon.

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I was captivated by a set of notepads that Agnes, our marketing head in CACS Davao had last year, so I decided to order my own set. Getting to multiply is a chore for me since I am not computer literate. Easy ordering and payment since Banco de Oro is a bank Apol can go to. After a week, I got my own set of notepads, all very reasonable and looks classy, chic and expensive. Also got a calendar for next year….so to order ……… go to http://iprints.multiply.com or send a message to 09228616615. Here’s what I have….inggit kayo? So go and order your own.

Great for Christmas giveaways if you are the rich and famous which I am not, I am overly rich and famous, joking you know?

What happened to me the weekend of Ondoy? Pepeng ? Santi? It was miraculous I should say, I had class that day and left home at 9 am while the typhoon started rampaging the city. I was in my car and noticed that the rain was too strong and the drops were too close to each other. I didn’t think of it as disastrous only until 11 am when it was not stopping. I remember some years ago that it didn’t stop raining for a whole week. Anyway, I got to my senses when Apol asked permission to leave since his family lives near a waterway, he feels that water has gone up his house and is scared that they might be floating somewhere so I let him go. The class that was suppose to start at 10am, started at 1pm with only half of the students coming in but lo and behold they were almost complete for the seminar at 6pm. My gardener LukeLuke…cute noh, was constantly texting me on what was happening around our village and he wrote that I should not go home due to the flood on the entrance and no electricity. I called my Ate Cynthia and she said not for me to go to Valle at the moment, water was waist deep. I was in school and was very fortunate that it is located in one of the highest areas in San Juan. Everywhere around us the water was a person deep but after three hours it was gone even if the rain continued pouring. By 8 pm, I was in Valle 6 with the Gavinos. Luckily, I had a bundle of clothes from the laundry shop that would be my clothes for the next week. Water in Taguig didn’t move or lessen, then the next storm, Pepeng was heading Luzon again. That Thursday, I decided to go and get some clothes, my laptop outlet and some other stuffs I might need if the water starts rising again. Apol was with me as with drove through the waters which was brownish and greenish and smelled terrible. He brought up the SUV into my garden so that I no longer need to thread the murky waters. Pepeng never came, with enough prayers. While all this was happening, I helped the first person who needed it, Apol, money, clothes and food I gave him everyday he came to work. He decided to move his family to Laguna so that the events of Ondoy his wife and kids can forget. After two weeks, Santi was another typhoon named after I don’t know the gourmet store, heheh. Just got back from class when my Ate Cynthia called me that Friday, she said a storm is coming, please come and stay here in Valle Verde. I had second thoughts because I was already resting in the comforts of my room ready to sleep but I decided to go and stay with her, whatever may happen I was still in her loving arms. So after half an hour of fixing and packing clothes and books to bring, I left again for Valle 6. Took me more than an hour in traffic, hungry and calm, I was home….during all these terrible events, praying to Mama Mary was the priority for the whole day, but the prayer was for saving others who would be in the path of the storm, that our fruits of labour would be spared from the strong winds and rain and it did. I have very bad memories of storms and I hide or put a pillow on top of my ears not to hear the winds and the strong rain drops, I could never forget my cousin’s losing their roof and seeing the results. Everytime it rains is not a good day for me.

No pictures for this post, everyone has seen what I typhoon can do to everything we own.

I haven’t been writing any post for the past month, and I just realized that there was no entry for February. If I would not write for a week for the plain reason that I was busy, not being able to write for a month means I am even busier than busy…get it….why should I be complaining when tons of people are losing work and here I am with so much more work for three people to do. So, is this the only reason I have….yup and pure laziness.

I just get bored with the routine having to do the same thing over and over again. Even my programs in school I change when I get totally bored so at times, some students are lucky to get this new recipe for a Lemon Lime Butter Cake with Pistachio Flavored Whipped Cream and Fresh Strawberry or should I be generous to share, the Javier Tapa…wow, I get so hungry at this time of the night.

Tremendous work, aside from the teaching classes which I truly enjoy, I am back to the one art that I also have fun doing, food styling. Quite a practice for me since I have this method that I cook the exact recipe to the letter and then fix it from there to become more artistic…..dealing with a variety of photographers, art directors, set stylists and friends who just come to become a great source of laughter or the latest gossip moving around town. I am truly happy with the friendships I have due to this craft. Hope you get to see my work soon.

I am also back again teaching at the USDA Culinary Theater for three American produce companies, the US Poultry and Egg Council, US Dry Pea and Lentil Council, US Dry Beans Council. In one of my demos, I had a US Embassy guest, so I had to speak English for three hours straight, wow…my nose just flew away, walang nosebleed…..And an interesting question was thrown by one, “ Why do chefs love to get or pinch their salt with their fingers, when they can always use a small spoon? I guess the main answer is being human and being tactile, we always want to feel salt and through that sense, one can measure better….my pinch is different from yours…Do you have a better answer than mine? Share it with me, leave it in the comments part of my blog.

Then I started teaching last Thursday….A new group of a mixture and blend of old and young, serious and not, courteous or just plain innocent….After almost three or four months of taking culinary, they still don’t get it…and I have another question, Why do more and more people now don’t read simple procedures….I have a group that relies on one girl and the whole group call each other “girl” Another group is still some place in time, they are not organize, no one seems to lead the group. Clueless shell reverse group is slow but sure and comes out with great work, I just don’t know if they have any memory of what they just did.

Anyway, it’s 12:32am, I am about to sleep, affected by Francis M’s death especially when I saw Joey de Leon crying his heart out and lastly, can I share, tonight’s episode of Maalala Mo Kaya had an old couple who loved each other until death….made me shed a few tears…..I miss Mama and Papa…

Buy Yummy Magazine March Issue, I really look good even wearing a polo that is 18 years old.

Best Chocolate Cake as of tonight: Rosanna – in La Vista – 9293872
Recipe of the Week:

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Happy New Year to all of you, my readers!

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I just got back from a five day vacation in the beautiful island of Batanes. I can not fully describe to you how magical, wonderful and totally heavenly this place is but the pictures I took will try to. I planned this trip three months ago, wanting to go there for as long as I can remember. I always thought of Batanes as the Philippines’ version of Scotland and I was right but the feeling of it being in our country is just too much. We took a Seair flight at 6 am that arrives in Basco after an hour and a half and from the airport, went straight to the best place one should stay in, Fundacion Pacita, owned by the Abad family, this was the late artist Pacita Abad’s studio and is now a high end inn where the view of the South China Sea and the mountains of Tukon, Batanes is at your side the whole time.
I am just too overwhelmed with all the beauty that was in the island, everything was just naturally heaven on earth.
After two hours of resting, we left for an island tour which included, most of the sights in Batan Island; Tukon Radar Station, Ivatan Fortress, Valugan Boulder Beach which was full of big round rocks, Naidi Hills that had a light house, and Rolling Hills. Great sights, greenery, cows grazing and the coldness of the weather was just right. We also had a very good tour guide, Roger and a van with a driver, Homer who gave in to all our request. We also dropped by a fishing village where I slipped and fell and bruised my right hand, first accident of the day…..everything was just right, then it rained, became very windy and cold, so we had dinner at the Fundacion of very fresh steamed parrot fish with chop suey, pako salad ( ferns which is abundant in the island ) and rice. More Batanes posts to follow soon.

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To all my readers, family, friends and students,

The beauty of the season is to remember that I will always be a part of your life, whether good or bad there was a great experience you had with me. We get to understand more of ourselves by the people we meet, the people we love and those who are not worthy, but to express one’s joy in the food we make will forever be part of that wonderful memory. The last posts share with you the best recipes I have I hope you continue to enjoy visiting me here.

By the way for our Noche Buena we are having the following:

Smoked Salmon with Capers Mustard Sauce
Russian Salad as requested by the Gavino Children

Roast Turkey with my Relleno Stuffing
Giblet Port Gravy
Dried Cranberry Mush

Callos

Royal Lapu-Lapu

Christmas Ham from the Cruzes

Mushroom Risotto

Simple….yup but there’s another meal to follow……………..