Market Manila

We had passed Mano’s Greek Taverna several dozen times in the 7 months since it opened its doors just a few meters from the Tagaytay rotunda when driving up from Manila via Santa Rosa. It always seemed inconvenient to stop and we kept putting it off until one of my readers Spanx suggested I check it out. I also thought I would try it in honor of Schatzli, one of my first and most frequent visitors since I started the blog. She calls Greece home and I thought I would see if this restaurant would do Greece justice. We arrived early last Sunday under a clear blue sky worthy of a Grecian landscape. We were the only ones in the restaurant. With a very literal blue and white Grecian color scheme, it was modestly appointed but clean and light filled. Mano is from Crete and married to Stella, who I think hails from the Ilocos region – they moved back from Greece and decided to open a restaurant in Tagaytay where the weather was more pleasant.

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Any guesses as to what this under all this stuff? A fried fish, of course… Ever since I can remember, I adored fried fish with escabeche sauce. I think it was the fact that the sweet sour sauce basically masked whatever it covered and so if I had to get through a meal I didn’t particularly like, I simply ate the sauce and some steamed rice. This sauce is one of those things that has been abused, in my opinion. It now covers whole fish, fillets, steaks, pork chops, squid, you name it. It has also gotten way sweeter (even gets canned pineapples!) rather than sour and the critical balance between the two tastes is often lost. It has also lost many of the spices that often appear in a more Spanish rendition. Finally, it gets a whopping treatment of cornstarch that often makes it too thick though I have to admit I hate it when it is runny…

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Talk about jurassic fish. At the tail end of my visit to the Tabo-an market in Cebu (see previous post), I was pointed in the direction of some semi-dried lapu-lapu (grouper). Apparently a local specialty, I was assured it was scrumptious and coveted by buwad (dried fish) aficionados, so how could I resist these creatures at just PHP380 a kilo? I bought one kilo (one large and three medium fish) and they promptly sealed it in a plastic bag and I brought it back to Manila in checked baggage along with my basket of Cebu mangoes. Back home the next day, I inspected the bag of fish and much to my absolute and FEAR FACTOR-type HORROR, it was crawling with worms which frankly looked like maggots (probably were maggots). Eew and yech is right!!! But oddly, the cook and everyone who hails from Cebu dismissed my squeamishness by saying we just had to dry it a bit more to rid it of its live beings…

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Talk about the motherload of dried, semi-dried and fermented fish!!! The Tabo-an Market near downtown Cebu is one of the most massive and pungent dried fish markets in the South. I suppose there are many such markets in all major provincial cities but this was just impressive in scale, volume of goods and staying power of its utterly pungent aroma (it literally sticks to your clothes in the same way that Japanese food seems to do as well). I have never seen anything like it!

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What the heck are these strange looking creatures, you ask? Swaki, I am told. Not actually sure if that is spelled right or it could be suaki, I suppose. These kinder and gentler sea urchins are a delicacy and their roe? are eaten soon after they are plucked from clean and hospitable sea waters. Unlike their nightmare causing cousins, the black sea urchins with sharp needle-like spines that can be 8-10 inches long, these softer sea urchins are less painful to look at and for some, better eating. Actually, I noticed they are actually quite stunning on closer inspection as the natural intensity of their colored spines is something you only see in really natural creatures or things…

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Here is a simple and easy to do coleslaw recipe that is a far cry from the mushy watery and sweet versions you get at most Manila restaurants (fast food or not)… First I like to hand slice some red and green cabbage (usually double the amount for the green), slice some good celery, use a mandoline to julienne carrots and maybe some green apples if you happen to have them and place those all in a large bowl. Make a dressing that is mostly mayonnaise, some apple cider or other vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard, celery salt and or seed (optional but I think it is a must if you have the spices) and mix into the greens. Serve this chilled. This is a nicer, lighter, crunchier and more substantial coleslaw than most. I find it is almost a side salad in its own right. The larger pieces of cabbage are the base ingredient (with the red cabbage adding visual interest), the apples provide crunch and some tartness, the carrots the sweetness and of course the mayonnaise that familiar fat laden binder to bring it all together. This is perfect with fried chicken, ham sandwiches, ribs, you name it. All of the ingredients are generally available in Manila with perhaps some difficulty finding celery salt.

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I had a lot of boiled chicken as a result of the chicken broth I made a few days ago so I decided to use some of it experimenting with a healthier type of chicken salad sandwich or two. Instead of adding the more predictable gobs of high-fat mayonnaise, I decided to chop up some bottled artichoke hearts that were marinated in olive oil and spices and I mixed this in with the chicken. Add some of the olive oil to make sure it isn’t too dry. Then I made two different sandwiches using toasted whole wheat bread. The first sandwich had roasted red peppers that I had in stock in the fridge. I also added some basil leaves for added color and flavor. This sandwich was really good. The chicken was tasty, the lack of mayonnaise not really noticeable and the softness, flavor and moisture of the roasted red peppers added color and taste. Really nice and rather healthy I might add…

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Mangoes are in the market big time! Just a friendly seasonal reminder that the summer season is starting and the mangoes are beautiful at the moment…big, juicy, dense and sweet. Not all, of course, but there are really good ones out there at the moment. Mangoes are perhaps my all time favorite fruit, tropical or temperate, and I have written about them before. However, a year cannot go by without some mention of this delicious creation that seems to thrive across the country but does really well in Cebu, Guimaras, etc. They seem to be available all year round these days but the summer months still yield the sweetest fruit. Rather than starting an all out “war” on where the best mangoes are from, suffice it to say I am partial to Cebu mangoes because I happen to have been born there… and in Manila, I buy Guimaras mangoes as I have found them to be accessible, reasonably priced and among the most consistently sweet. In Australia, the mangoes from the Northern territories can also be spectacular.

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