Comments on: Seconds From Disaster… :)

By: Betchay

Betchay — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 17:52:42 +0000

Sorry guys,I was out of touch for a while.
@ Footloose: I googled history of Bacalao and you are right, thanks! We do use that kind of banana heart as it does not turn black when sliced.
@ Millet: Benitez’ mother is a Tirona, a Cavitena
@ Lee: glad that you enjoyed the tamales. Do you have hubby’s book?You will enjoy that too! :)
@ Peterb: Yes, like the song Ebony and Ivory…Pancit pusit and pancit Puti

MM, looking forward to your version of Pancit Pusit! :)

By: Marketman

Marketman — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 01:59:21 +0000

millet, yup, I noticed that, and will definitely be taking a crack at the pancit pusit soon! :)

By: millet

millet — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 01:13:58 +0000

Betchay, your Cavite sapin-sapin (individually wrapped), bibingkang pinipig and kesong puti were in Helena Benitez’ birthday buffet, as was pansit pusit, according to an article in the Phil. Daily Inquirer today.

By: ramon

ramon — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 02:56:18 +0000

where in butuan can i get the dayap? i want to plant some here in zamboanga del norte as there is none to be had.

By: peterb

peterb — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 14:47:15 +0000

@Bethcay, ah ok, so it’s a soup (i reread your post). The pansit pusit sounds delicious ! My brother in law recently cooked pansit puti, the pancit pusit will be be a perfect. I already found a recipe online from Asiong’s Carinderia.

By: Footloose

Footloose — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 13:04:42 +0000

Agree, those are traditional pairings not exclusively particular to any region.

And yes, those buttery bituka, deadly delicious and deadly deadly.

I was surprised to find out that there was a tagalog term for spleen and heard it only when a distant cousin’s had to be taken out.

By: millet

millet — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 12:44:27 +0000

Betchay and Footloose, my mom’s kilawing labanos had librillo and lapay (spleen), tomatoes, vinegar and patis, and I think, some pimiento slices. my mom’s not cavitena, but we always had paksiw na bangus paired with chicharon, ginisang munggo with fried fish or escabeche (sweet and sour fish), and the most sinful pairing was my grandma’s kare-kare with bituka (beef intestines with a lot of fat inside) and chicken-pork adobo (with slices of pork liver in it), and of course, with a side dish of binagoongang baboy. a platter of steamed oysters, sliced ripe mangoes and bowls of minatamis na saging completed the typical sunday meal during the time when the word cholesterol had yet to be invented.

By: Joey

Joey — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 06:52:52 +0000

And speaking English was a small price to pay, Lee… ;-)

By: Lee

Lee — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 04:56:57 +0000

@betchay: Those Cavite Tamales were great and conveniently within arm’s reach from my table.

By: Footloose

Footloose — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 22:55:40 +0000

@Betchay, a minor quibble: Bacalao as cooked in the Philippines and indeed in the rest of ex-colonies of Spain are all based on Bacalao a la Viscaina; the Bay of Viscay being the start off point of Basque fisherman plying the Grand Banks for cod. Nothing to do with Portugal at all although an easy error to make since the Portuguese have an abiding obsession with salt cod and have myriads of recipes as proof.

If the cook is particular, pancit puso requires banana heart from a particular strain of banana, butuan. It does not turn dark when sliced and in fact, turns the broth cloudy white when added to certain fish sinigang.

One of my favourites, librillo and labanos paired down our way with asado de carajay or pork and calf liver adobo.