Merienda at the Office…
There is something so basically good about some deep fried kamote (sweet potato or is it a yam?) coated in caramelized sugar. I am presently sitting at an impressive rather large old wooden (probably antique) 
desk at the family office and have been very busy for the past couple of days. The desk is probably one that my grandfather used at his law offices and it smacks of a bygone era. It’s so short that I keep jamming my knees against the drawers, yet the desk top is so broad, I not only have phones, a computer, papers, etc. on it, but there is space for a 1940’s glass fruit bowl, an inlaid box, a carved bust and a ceramic plate or two, a fossilized clamshell paperweight and a great sturdy cane that I just unearthed from the bowels of the ancesgtral homes that I am clearing out. The cane is exactly made for a man of my height so I have adopted it; and wonder whose it must have been as my grandparents were shorter than I am. I think it gives me an air of respectability, walking around with a cane, whether I need it or not…heehee. You can tell I am in the ancestral part of my life… The desk is so wide that you keep a “stately” distance from any guests seated opposite you…or is that to ensure enough airspace should they or you have any body odours you don’t want to share with the general public?
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a ham/chicken sotanghon soup that never fails to hit the spot… Start by making a ham broth, boiling a ham bone and maybe some onions and peppercorns in lots of water for about an hour. I stock ham bones in the freezer for this purpose. Buying ham bones is really quite cheap and the flavor extracted is terrific. Strain the solids out of the broth. Reduce broth further to an intense flavor. Add some reconstituted dried mushrooms into the ham broth, drop some chicken meat balls made out of ground chicken and some salt and pepper (or shredded boiled chicken instead). Add some greens such as bok choy or pechay and season with some ground white pepper. Some folks like to serve this with fried thinly sliced garlic and or onions. We serve big bowls of this and it’s the entire meal…
another fruit tart. I found lots of semi-dried figs in the refrigerator and I simply cut some in half, threw them into an enameled pot set on low heat and added about half a cup of granulated sugar and a few tablespoons of water. When the sugar has dissolved and a simple syrup forms, add a tablespoon or two of brandy and stir gently. When the sauce thickens a bit, and the alcohol burns off leaving the flavor, take the mixture off the fire and let it cool slightly. Fill the tart shell and bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is done and the figs set in the shell.
I can’t imagine that macapuno has a seasonal preference as mutants wouldn’t just occur in the Fall or Spring, no? At any rate, I bought three heavy nuts the other day with the intention of trying to re-create the macapuno tarts that I recall from childhood. In preparation for the tarts, I started to make a pate brisee which is a classic French tart dough essentially made up of flour, butter, salt and cold water. I find it is difficult to do perfectly in a tropical country unless you have a chilled marble countertop and an airconditioned kitchen. If the butter rises above a certain temperature, the dough is a goner. And our butter here is pathetic to begin with. At any rate, I made enough dough for three tarts, two small (6-inch) round tart pans I bought on Saturday and a long rectangular tart pan. Since the dough needs to be started several hours before it is cooked, I had the dough done early Sunday morning…
seem to kill any plants that I come in contact with). Over the years, we have helped him construct or upgrade his house, get him connected to running water, got him a new racing bike to make the 15 kilometer commute each way a little easier, found him new part-time jobs so that his week is fully booked and generally tried to be good employers. I’m sure he thinks I am just slightly off-kilter since I seem to have this strange habit of photographing food outdoors in the yard… At his home, he maintains a small piggery to augment his income. Yesterday, Sunday, he rang the doorbell and dropped off the entire “pata” or hind thigh of a pig that he had slaughtered earlier in the day. It turns out that it was his daughter’s birthday (must have been a critical age below ten, is there a special number like 7 I don’t know about?) and he had killed a pig and was generously sharing the bounty. What really made this incredibly wonderful gesture so amazing is that he biked all the way from Marikina on his day off just to bring us the pata!
and getting it large enough for a 10 inch pan. So I inevitably have significant amounts of dough left over, usually at least 20 square inches worth or so when put all together and re-rolled. I normally just chuck this extra dough or if there is some nice jam or extra pie filling I make some turnovers or triangles. The other day I opened the fridge and spied my bottle of recently made