It's me time now. 10:40 in the evening and the boys just dozed off. I just finished taking a shower and here I am again, letting some thoughts out. The day went pretty great especially that Chicken Lettuce wrap I made for dinner. Peter adored it and that's the only thing I needed after I carefully worked out that recipe. I have loved cooking. I never thought I would. Cooking wasn't just me until I got married. But I would admit I don't have the most keen taste buds, but the palate seems to be improving when I moved to LA and tried different sorts of ingredients I never tried before (or never knew existed before).
I didn't grow up to a variety of ingredients. I've only known soy sauce, vinegar, sea salt and the black pepper that my father used to grind through a mortar and pestle. That one I grew up seeing mostly on the side of my father's family. Filipino cooking isn't about much of the ingredients I guess. It's the unity and the oneness of the family that goes with it. That's why I would agree with my husband that Filipino dish is hard to sell in the international market. We are lacking that "factor" when we present our dish internationally.
Come to think of it, I was just thinking about why Filipino dish is like that and I already had a million thoughts as to why up to now, we haven't really made it internationally as a cuisine. Probably it will all go back to our history and what have we become since then. It just saddens me sometimes that up to now we can't make a signature out of our roots as Filipinos. Just like Mexicans who are known for jalapenos. The Thai known for sweet and spicy with peanut-ty taste.
And I remember, I was watching the last 2 episodes of Top Chef D.C. and they were in Singapore to explore the dish there. I can still smell Singapore from the last time I visited in 2008. It is like Manila but a hundred times cleaner & more disciplined. I always think why we never came to that point. Singapore is even a fusion of many Asian countries. This one truth I believed from P-Noy. That the Philippines wasn't affected with the global recession because probably, we were not active internationally. I guess that's the whole point.
Thing is, we have a good history and the culture is rich because of the many foreign visitors we had in the past. We are always proud of our democracy but I'm not sure if we are living up to it. To the real meaning of being free. Because for me being free is having the right to choose what we think is best for us. Being free is free from the pains of the past. Being free is moving forward.
There are a couple of new Filipino food trucks in LA now and I think they're doing great which I'm happy about. What they're doing is a fusion of Filipino food matched with the culture of eating/dining in LA. And I'm a fan. It makes me feel closer to home while enjoying what this big city has to offer me.
And that signature ingredient we have, I guess it would have to be "calamansi"....A lot of Asian countries have it but I know that the Filipinos use it best. It's an aid to your marinade, could be a condiment or a juice! I was just lucky to have an Aunt who has calamansi plants in her backyard and we're getting for free. That's why whenever we have it, I never failed to make calamansi juice for Peter and to make that all-time favorite beef steak or "bistek" in Tagalog as we often call it.
I was just thinking that if we are to describe what do most Filipino food taste like? It would be sour and sweet. It just goes along well with the culture and the weather we have! Isn't it great?
I'm dozing off now. Next off tomorrow will be thoughts on the news in the Philippines.
Good night.
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