31 Oct, 2005
I have been away for several days over the weekend, madly testing ensaimada, leche flan, lenguas de gato and other recipes for my Christmas special at my far away test kitchen… suffice it to say I started with 100 eggs, a sack of “primera†or hard wheat flour, 15 pounds of butter and 5…
30 Oct, 2005
The Bicol Trade Fair at Megamall two weeks ago was pretty pathetic. The number of vendors and the lack of variety and quality of merchandise was truly disappointing. I think the concept of regional trade fairs has had their heyday and Marketman boldly, though sadly, predicts their imminent demise. The Fair…
29 Oct, 2005
Kalabasa at Sitaw sa Gata is one of my favorite Filipino vegetable dishes and almost certainly one of the easiest. Gratification to effort quotient is really good. I can eat this with some steamed rice without a meat or fish dish and would be perfectly happy. But it does also go…
28 Oct, 2005
Sitaw (Vigna unguiculata, subspecies sesquipedalis) or (long bean, yard-long bean, snake bean) are sometimes referred to as being longer string beans which is incorrect. Apparently, according to several books I have consulted, long beans are more closely related to black eyed peas than to string or pole beans. Native to southern Asia,…
27 Oct, 2005
Street food was officially off-limits to me as a kid. Between typhoid, cholera and intestinal parasites (just some of the supposed evils associated with street food at the time and, perhaps, still today), I was not allowed to purchase anything from a street vendor, not even dirty ice cream. I may…
26 Oct, 2005
What is going on with our selection of imported fruit in Manila, specifically apples? Who is behind the conspiracy to import the mealiest, most tasteless, inedible apples the planet has to offer? Why have our choices been so drastically curtailed and the quality of fruit sunk to the level next to that…
25 Oct, 2005
This warm chocolate tart by Francois Payard of Payard Patisserie and Café Daniel fame is superb. And better yet, it is really pretty simple to make. I have made this tart at least half a dozen times and it has never failed to awe dinner guests and dessert aficionados alike… Disarmingly…
24 Oct, 2005
Is a turbo-broiler a uniquely Filipino appliance? Have I stumbled on a piece of culinary trivia that has not made itself obvious to Marketman before? If you are to believe the website of Imarflex, they invented the turbo-broiler in the Philippines in the mid to late 1970’s. My mother pined for…
