Bale Dutung - a food trip

What happens when a bunch of folks with an insatiable hunger for the good life filled with good food set off on a food trip together and have a great time?

They immediately plan another one! And that we did. This time our bellies pointed us north to Pampanga, to Bale Dutung (literally wooden house), the home of Claude Tayag - national artist and writer by profession, chef by passion.

There were 22 of us in the Digiprint bus, making the actual trip there doubly fun. The atmosphere was charged with everyone's excitement for the culinary journey that lay ahead, and we all seemed to be yakking at the same time at some point. When you're having fun, time really does fly so that before we knew it, we arrived at Bale Dutung, barely scraping through the narrow streets of the village.

Claude and his wife, Mary Anne, were the most gracious of hosts. They regaled us with stories about the house and how it took almost 10 years to build, slowly but with loving care. As we listened, we milled around a round table replete with butong pakwan (dried watermelon seeds) and boiled peanuts. Just off the dining are was a little bar that had a seemingly endless supply of buko (coconut) juice, iced tea, beer, water, and soft drinks with a bartender helping to scoop up the ice and do the pouring. The table was beautifully set, and here we were ushered to by Mary Anne before they brought out the appetizers.

Top row: paella, kapampangan sushi, pako salad
Bottom row: paradiso, jars of fermented vinegars, the quail

This was the delectable menu: (thanks, wysgal!)
Kapampangan Sushi - taba ng talangka maki with kamias, piniriting hito at balaw-balaw (fried catfish with fermented rice and shrimp), pindang damulag (carabeef meat)
Ensaladaang Pako (fiddlehead fern salad, with slivers of tomato and onion doused with vinaigrette dressing)
Inasal na Pugo (grilled quail with shoestring sweet potatoes and carrots)
Paella Laman Dagat (Spanish paella with seafood)
Paradiso - haleyang ube, makapuno at kamote sa krema ng gatas kalabaw (purple yam, sweet coconut and yellow yam in sweetened carabao's milk)

Nothing like a slow afternoon on a full tummy

After lunch, we strolled around the house marvelling at all the pieces that he salvaged and collected all these years. Many of Claude's feria (fair) pieces were scattered around the house, lending a fun and festive feel to the place. He welcomed us upstairs and into his living room and office where we got to see where his genius is put into canvass and paper. We were surrounded by interesting pieces of furniture designed by Claude such as the rocking daybed inspired by a tennis racket (see pic above). We walked on floors made from wood from bowling lanes and amidst whimsical floor lamps and one-off chairs. This was like his own private gallery of sorts.

The artist in his office, and his other work stations

Snapshots of Bale Dutung

Before we finally headed out at almost 5:00, Claude autographed copies of his book and brought out his bottled specialties such as his XO (for extra-ordinary) sauce, pesto, taba ng talangka (crab fat sauce) and balaw-balaw (fermented rice). (As an aside: we were also in the company of another cookbook author, Catherine Jones, who cowrote the books Eating for Lower Cholesterol and Eating for Pregnancy) .

Because we couldn't make ourselves eat any more that afternoon, we decided to skip the other restaurants such as Zapatas, VFW, Cottage Kitchen , C, etc. for another time, and opted instead to buy some pasalubongs (gifts to take home). So we stopped at Susie's, home of the best tibok-tibok - a delicious and creamy white pudding made with carabao's milk and Rosing's for some yema and pastillas de leche (milk candies).

What we couldn't resist though was a quick stop at Margarita Station , fondly called "the ville" by the locals for some margaritas before heading home. The place was huge, and the Friday night crowd was pouring in. I had a jumbo glass of strawberry margarita which I shared with Joey. That hit the spot. Tired but happy, we toasted to yet another successful food trip, and I could almost hear the wheels in our minds whirring as we planned the next. I can't wait! :)

Tibok-tibok from Susie's

Nightcap at Margarita Station

See more stories and pictures here: Wysgal's ; Anton's; Mila's, Spanky's ; Anne's

Call Bale Dutung for reservations:
+63917 5355163 or (6345) 8885163

Asia's In Good Taste

I found a nice surprise waiting for me on my office desk this morning - the 3rd issue of Asia's In Good Taste. Upon unfolding the pretty stationery paper attached to it, I discovered that it was from my friend (the magazine's talented food stylist). We were discussing this new project of hers recently at a party so she knew I was excited to check it out. How very thoughtful of her! ☺

In Good Taste, which was launched Sept. of last year, is so packed with recipes and tips that it reads like a cookbook. This is what makes it unique and deserving of it's claim as the "premiere cookbook magazine". The layout is simple and clean with impressive styling. I was surprised to find out they actually eat the food they shoot. No chemical sprays or fake ingredients for props. They want to make the photos "look as close to the real thing" as possible.

Aside from recipes, there are also the requisite informative articles on this ingredient or that, how to's, kitchen finds, entertaining ideas etc. If you're looking to get your own copy at the magazine stands, it would help to know that you're looking for something that is smaller than your standard issue food mag.

Here's a peak at the table of contents for this 3rd issue:

* Reading tea leaves - delve into the world of tea and learn more than just the mystical nature of scrolling tea leaves with this pot full of tea lore
* Truly pinoy kendi - wax nostalgic about familiar old-time favorite sweets from pulburon, yema and pastillas, bukayo, and masapan de pili
* Hold the sugar - figure out how to add some sweetness to your dishes without piling on the sugar
* Have a dessert party - plan your own theme party revolving around your favorite desserts and drinks.

Randomly selected recipes:
- fried rice patties with chicken terriyaki
- Adobo pita pizza ( I am so trying this!)
- stuffed pork tenderloin with cheese sauce
- chap chae
- dulce de leche sundae
- mango and ricotta wontons
- mocha blondies
- coffee caramel

Tall & creamy basic cheesecake

I suppose it follows that if you're a freak for cheese, you're a freak for a good cheesecake. This is definitely true for me. I adore them both.

I think I must have tried almost a dozen different cheesecake recipes in my lifetime searching for the one. Not too long ago I followed a cheesecake recipe from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Classic Recipes book, thinking this would yield the quintessential homemade cheesecake I was searching for. It was good but not great. The lack of greatness may have been due to my own shortcomings but I'm pretty confident I followed it to the tee. I'm far from being a professional or even seasoned baker though, so don't take my word for it. :)

Those jiggly gelatinous cheesecakes just don't do it for me. And while I prefer my cheesecake plain, you won't find me turning down the occasional fruit-topped one or any of those gourmet flavored cheesecakes either. I'm pretty easy to please as long as it's creamy. Oh and the crust must be good! I'm partial to graham cracker crusts, but am also eager to experiment using the wide variety of options out there like gingersnap cookie crusts- yum!

When I'm craving and too lazy to make my own, I turn to the old reliable cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. You can pick up a pick up a frozen box at S & R (it's about P1,200 if I'm not mistaken) or buy them by the slice from The Old Spaghetti House. Recently I had the craving, but couldn't sleep so I consulted my new best bud Dorie then ordered 4 boxes of Philadelphia cream cheese from our neighborhood store - they deliver anything from candy bars to blank cds to ice to... you name it (yes, we are spoiled like that☺).

I knew this was serious business, using 4 boxes like that. And it was. I practically had to lift the cake out of the oven with a crane! It was super heavy and very dense. Nope, nothing light and fluffy about this baby. The top took on a golden brown sheen, the crust had a nice crunch to it and the sides were bursting with cheesy creaminess ( I didn't bother smoothing them out, I like how that makes it look 'rustic'). It was in my opinion perfect in every way. It was creamy, it was velvety, it was rich, it was luxurious. This, this right here my friends is the stuff dreams are made of!

Tall and creamy basic cheesecake:
recipe from : Baking, from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

for the crust:
1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsps. sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted

for the cheesecake:
2 lbs (four 8 oz. boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsps. pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sour cream (you can also use heavy cream or a combination of the two)

To make the crust:
Butter a 9-inch springform pan (with sides at least 2 inches high), and wrap the bottom of the pain in a double layer of aluminium foil.

Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Transfer into the springform pan & use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs over the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven to 350° F.

Center a rack in the oven and place the springform pan on a baking sheet then bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.

To make the cheesecake:

Boil some water.

Beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat for another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla.

Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition, you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream.

Put the springform pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the pan with some space around it.

Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure there is nothing left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape all of it into the springform pan. The batter may reach the rim of the pan. Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into it to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour & 30 minutes, at which point the top should be browned and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven and crack the oven door open a little, if needed you can prop the door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.

After 1 hour, carefully remove the roasting pan out of the oven, then transfer the springform pan onto a cooling rack and allow it to come to room temperature. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and refrigerate overnight.

At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan and set the cake on a serving platter.

* * *

Variety is the spice of life, so they say. And as much as I adore this basic recipe, I'd like to play around with some variations such as adding lemon for a lemon cheesecake, slipping a layer of berries in the middle - blueberry most likely, and using a gingersnap crust.

In her book, Dorie offers us some very helpful tips on making great cheesecake:

Prebake the crust: the 10-minute baking is what gives the curst it's nice crunch. For best results, slide the pan with the crust into the freezer first while you preheat the oven.

Mix like mad: for that flawlessly smooth texture that is the hallmark of a great cheesecake. Make sure to blend the batter until it is satiny, any lumps in the batter will not disappear during baking.

Cool the cake: cooling and then chilling the cake is as important a step in its preparation as baking.

Unmold it with care: run a blunt knife around the cake and then warm the sides of the pan with a hairdryer.

You say kilawin, I say kinilaw...

Summer is just around the corner, there's no denying it. 'Tis the season for pool parties, weekend trips to the beach and afternoons with the outdoor grill. Although in these Philippine islands we can really do all that throughout the year, summer is when it's foremost in our minds. We're always looking for relief from the heat, and it's such a shame to hide in air-conditioned rooms all day.

During past summers in Dumaguete, specifically during Easter, my cousins and I would often rent a balsa (bamboo raft) and let it float away from shore, where the water is cooler and deep enough to dive into. On other days we would take it a step further, rent a banca (outrigger) and head over to Sumilon island and dock at the sandbar there for the day. Food and drink were always overflowing. We brought coolers filled with beer and soda, and tupperwares that contained all sorts of pulutan (finger food or bar chow). So we would laze around on the white powdery beach, or bob along on inner tubes with a drink in our hands or by our side, and food everywhere. On those hot summer nights, we did pretty much the same thing except on land. We hung out, we ate, we drank, we had a great time.

A favorite pulutan then and now is kinilaw (or kilawin). It is light, refreshing and probably the healthiest pulutan you'll find in these shores. For the benefit of those who have not heard of kinilaw, it is basically fish steeped in vinegar in which it naturally "cooks". Similar to ceviche, kinilaw's South American cousin that I first learned about from my Peruvian best friend. Many different types of fish can be used for this such as tuna or tanigue and in this case, bangus (milk fish). What is important is the to clean the fish thoroughly and to eliminate all bones. In the Philippines, it is a staple in many restaurants and bars in the metropolis, though probably best loved by Filipinos eaten by the sea and washed down with a bottle of San Miguel Beer.

I made kinilaw for the first time yesterday to bring to a BBQ/pool party. I used the recipe of my friend whose kinilaw I first tasted in London. It came with a warning about how tedious and time-consuming the process would be, especially to a first-timer. That just challenged me even more. As I cleaned the fish I understood. I'm not sure exactly why he prefers this fish over others but I can't imagine the others being any harder to clean and de-bone. There were no amounts stated for the ingredients, so I had to estimate everything to taste until I was happy with the results.

I was transported back to the beach with the first taste. Surrounded by coconut trees, the taste of salt on my lips, I felt the frothy waves lapping at my feet. With each succeeding bite, I waded in deeper, delirious with delight and perhaps the heat, both from the sun and the chilis.

Kinilaw

3 kgs fresh bangus (milk fish)
3 tomatoes, sliced into strips
1 onion, sliced into strips
2 thumbs of ginger, sliced
Milk from a fresh coconut
Sili (chilis) – 2 red, 3 green, finely chopped
white vinegar (nipa sap vinegar)
calamansi (about 12)

1. Scrape scales and remove innards of fish.
2. Wash inside and outside of fish
3. Starting at the back of fish, cut and remove center bone, head, tail and fat in stomach and skin.
4. Cut and separate stomach and meat.
5. Put the fish in a large bowl with ice and cold water while cleaning the rest of it.
6. Cut the flesh into ¼ inch strips discarding ends. Return to bowl with ice and cold water, and about 3 tbsp. rock salt.
7. Wash stomach fillets thoroughly and scrape out fat and bloody parts. Cut into ¼ inch strips discarding ends and fins and combine with the rest.
8. Mix well, discard water and gently squeeze out excess water.
9. Transfer to bowl with ice, cold water and about 2 tbsp rock salt. Toss it around then discard water and gently squeeze out excess water. Repeat 3 times or until water is clear.
10. On last washing squeeze excess water out and transfer to a new bowl.
11. Pour the vinegar over the fish, just enough to completely soak everything. Let fish cook in vinegar (wait till it whitens completely, about 10 minutes or so).
12. When fish is cooked, squeeze out vinegar, rinse the fish then squeeze out excess water.
13. Add ginger, rock salt, onions, tomatoes, calamansi juice and sili then toss around. Taste to see if it needs more salt.
14. Add coconut milk. Refrigerate.

Conquering tabbouleh

My first encounter with tabbouleh was at my aunt's cabin in Tagaytay many moons ago. It was Christmas night and as is tradition, we celebrated both the holidays and my aunt's birthday there with the rest of my mom's side of the family. It is a reunion of sorts because many of our relatives from Spain and the US are home this time of year.

I always looked forward to these gatherings, when I get to hang out with my cousins at this beautiful house on the ridge with the sprawling garden and viewing deck overlooking one of the more beautiful vistas in our country, Taal lake and volcano. Scenery so beautiful, Patricia Schultz deemed it worthy of a spot in her book 1000 Places to See Before You Die.

The party was always held in the garden so prettily decorated with Christmas lights. Being up there on those cool December nights meant resurrecting those rarely-used sweaters and coats from the back of our closets. I loved it. Us city-folk don't get to cozy up like that very often.

Dinner was always catered with not a few additional homemade dishes thrown in for good measure. Since my aunt's husband is of Lebanese descent, there was always a big bowl of tabbouleh on the buffet table. I remember being excited to try it that first time because it was 'exotic' to me then. But at the same time I was anxious. I mean, this is made with garnish! Is it really edible? I couldn't wait to find out.

I greedily filled half my plate with the stuff, so sure I would finish it all. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was plowing a big spoonful (not a dainty forkful, mind you) into my mouth. Oof. I couldn't chew. My jaw refused to budge. The taste and aroma of the parsley was overwhelming. The texture was too strange. It took all my will to chew and swallow what I had in my mouth. As I did, I contemplated ways of making the rest of the 'gunk' on my plate disappear. I watched how the others on my table were eating it, some pinched bits of it with pita bread, others mixed it with the viands already on their fork. This was when I realized my third mistake. Sigh, it was too late now. My tastebuds threatened to revolt and I couldn't eat another bite for another, hmmm, 5 years or so.

Fast forward to Portland, Oregon. At the apartment of my brother-in-law's relatives (they're Lebanese too). We had driven down from Vancouver, BC for the weekend. There was a horrible heatwave then, but that's a story for another time. While there, I was treated to ringside priveleges in the art of Lebanese cooking, a cuisine I already had a fondness for thanks to my sister and brother-in-law. It was during one of these busy moments in the kitchen when I saw the pile of parsley on the chopping board. That much parsley could only mean one thing.

I am a strong believer of second chances. Especially when it comes to food. We all have our share of certain foods we despised as a kid but now love. How I love squash and okra now! So there I was at the table already happily chowing on hummus and baba ghanoush with the rest of them, when they passed the bowl of tabbouleh to me. Portion control! I reminded myself, as I carefully transferred some to my plate and grabbed 2 more pita wedges. Perhaps because I learned from my mistakes and also because I'd like to think my tastebuds had matured, I can say I actually liked the stuff. I wasn't doing cartwheels from sheer delight, but it was alright. Feeling triumphant, I rewarded myself with a couple of puffs on the sweet sheesha (hubbly bubbly or hookah, if you prefer).

Today, I'm still not a huge fan. If you had told me I would be voluntarily making tabbouleh for my own consumption at home, I would have asked what you were high on and if you would share some with me. But I had way too much parsley in the crisper and not enough time to consume them all. I figured this was as good a time as any to have my close encounters of the third kind with tabbouleh. Yet another salad I've made with my stash from the Baguio trip, which includes delicious cherry tomatoes.

The recipe called for flat-leaf parsley but I only had the curly variety. After consulting with a few recipe sites online, I was happy to learn that both varieties are acceptable so I went ahead and chopped those babies up. I served it as a side dish with warmed pita bread. How did I like it? It was not bad at all. What I would suggest to do differently though is up the ratio of bulgur to parsley.

Taboulleh

adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

½ cup fine bulgur

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cups finely chopped parsley

½ cup finely chopped fresh mint

about a dozen cherry tomatoes

1 cucumber, seeded and cut into ¼-inch pieces

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

Stir together bulgur and 1 tbsp oil in heat-proof bowl. Pour 1 cup boiling water over bulgur, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes.

Drain bulgur in a sieve, pressing on it to remove excess liquid. Transfer bulgur to a bowl and toss with remaining 2 tbsp oil and remaining ingredients until well combined.

Best served with pita or other flat-bread.