First Salt

Apparently, salary came from the word salarium which had its root from "sal" or salt. Basically, people were so uhm... dumb... then that they didn't even think of letting some sea water evaporate to produce salt, which is why part of the pay for the workers then was made in the form of salt.

So I received my first salary (kinda) since I'm just a trainee, its well below minimum but it's still enough to be able to treat my family. I can't treat my friends since I'm in Angeles and they are 60 km away from me. So I had this brilliant idea to just cook a very nice, restaurant-ish kind of dinner which would only cost me around 1000 pesos.

King oyster mushrooms

While shopping for ingredients, I saw some weird mushrooms in the veggie corner, so I just grabbed everything I could *probably* afford... Shiitake, King Oyster, Honshimeji, Lion's Mane, Straw, Golden, Baby Portobello, and some Banana Mushrooms. I also grabbed some baby potatoes, 2 whole chickens, some cream cheese, and some berries... oh and cheese

When I got home, I ended up cooking some buttered mushrooms (King oyster mushrrooms really taste seafood-ish and scallop-ish and the Portobellos taste beefy); baby potatoes and cheese; Orange-Rosemary Roast Chicken; a berry-white Muscat punch for our beverage, and for dessert, I made a berry cheesecake which had a very smooth texture... WOOOHOO! Finally made a cheesecake with the right texture and flavor...

A slice of cheesecake outside would probably cost 95 pesos... I made a cheesecake good for 10 slices for 600 pesos :) the crust was made from some old amaretto biscuits and graham crackers. The proportions for the cheese mixture were 2 Cups Cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 1 T lemon juice, 1 T flour, 2 whole eggs. I used strawberries, green and golden kiwis, and some blackberries :)

 

I miss my friends... I miss their pleasing personalities, the geeky stuff we talk about, the sensible fights, the silent laughs, the BDD monologues, the funny faces, and the ear-piercing shrieks... >:D< I think I owe you guys a cheesecake or a drink :P

Holy Week Cooking

So we all know that Catholics don't eat a meat on Good Friday so for our lunch, I made some stuffed cabbage flowers :) They were all tender and gooey inside because of the cheese. If you want to make them, I'll write down the recipe here :)

Ingredients:
2 bunches of Squash leaves and flowers (you can't buy an all flower bunch in the market)
2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 C of cubed cheddar or any salty cheese
1/2 C of cubed mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup of chopped olives and/or capers
2 cloves of garlic, diced
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 C olive oil
and some hot chicken stock or broth

1. Rinse the squash leaves and flowers. Carefully separate the flower heads from their stems and put them in a bowl of water. Refrigerate them for 30 minutes so they'll fully open and "bloom." Once the flowers have "bloomed" enough to be handled, remove the pistils/stamens carefully without damaging the flower petals.

Choose the larger squash leaves and leave around 3 inches of the stem. Discard the smaller leaves. (or cook them ginataan)

2. In a pot, heat the chicken stock or broth and boil the squash leaves only until they are malleable enough to   maintain their shapes when folded.

3. In a bowl, mix the remaining ingredients except for the olive oil. Carefully stuff the flowers with the mixture and close the petals on top to secure the stuffing. For the leaves, put a teaspoon or tablespoon (depending on the size of the leaf) in the middle and fol the leaves as if you are making a small envelope... that's left flap first, then right, top, then bottom. Use the remaining stem to "tie" the envelope so it wouldn't open when the leaves are being cooked.

4. Arrange the stuffed leaves and flowers in a pan and cover them with olive oil. Place them in an oven for 30 minutes until the flowers have become tender but not burnt.

This makes around 40 pieces.

R and R

I've began my training as a sommelier yesterday and I wouldn't want to jinx it by saying that I think this is something which I'd really like doing. It's almost electrifying to see and hold the wines we have studied before. I can't believe I'm actually holding Dom Perignons, Chateuneuf de Papes, Alsatian Wines, Quinta Do Noval Vintage ports, Sherries... etc. some wines, I wouldn't even dare holding such as the 1.4 Million Peso Petrus or the 240,000 Peso Dominus.

Although I am having a lot fun, even though it's just my second day of training, I feel exhausted... extremely exhausted... Who wouldn't be after trying to find 5 different bottles of rare wines in 7 different cellar rooms with wine cabinets going almost all the way up to the ceiling? LOL

It's times like this that I'd like to have something really relaxing before I sleep. like a nice Genmaicha (Japanese Brown Rice Tea)... Genmaicha has this really nice aroma of roasted rice, popcorn, and tea. It's flavor is surprisingly mild, smoky, and relaxing. Its color is a relaxing yellow-green reminding the drinker of either rice fields or the grass at the Sunken Garden of UP in December. I love it either warm or cold, depending on the weather, but its temperature affects its flavor too. Cold Genmaicha somehow makes the tannins and tea flavor more powerful while warm Genmaicha raises the smoky flavor to the surface.

Cheers! :) pictures next update :)

Yes... But Not Really... uhmm No

It's funny when people mistake you for having the opposite of something you have (or don't have). It begins with this joyful appreciation of what you actually have or don't have, then comes the denial, then the awkward silence, and finally the self-doubt. For example, a girl I know are a little bit rounder for the past month and when some friends saw her the dialogue was something like this:

Friend 1: Ohemgee! ang cute mo ngayon... napakablooming! (OMG! you are so cute today... so blooming)
Friend 2: Eh natural mare, baka batang babae ata ang dinadala niya (Naturally, she's probably conceiving baby girl)
Girl: *smiles bashfully* uhm, di ako buntis (I'm not pregnant)
---------insert the sound of crickets here-----------------------
Girl: I'm not eating tonight or tomorrow!

Sometimes, side comments also cause the same effect even if you are not directly being referred to. Going to the gym to exercise naturally causes muscle growth and with it weight gain... here are a few awkward comments (especially if you are a guy) that one can hear as he/she exercise and try to get healthier/leaner:
"Uuuuy! Tumaba ka na sa wakas. Ang laki-laki mo na! *tone is similar to as if you are being compared to an elephant*
"Hala magpapayat ka kaya. Parang may cleavage ka na eh... bakit matigas?"
"Bakit parang ang taba mo, pero ang ulo mo pareho lang. Tapos wala ka namang double chin"
"Bumilog katawan mo... Pero wala kang tiyan... para kang palaka!"

After hearing those comments, you begin to doubt if you have been doing the right thing. LOL

On the topic of misconceptions, a certain type of wine comes into mind... What could be the worst that a full glass of very sweet, brilliant, fruity, juicy, and luscious red wine do to you? If it is Port, it could probably cause you to sweat profusely and would probably get you dizzy even if you have just finished half of it.

Port is a fortified wine produced only in the Douro Valley of Portugal. It is typically sweet because before all of the grape sugar is converted into alcohol, Brandy is added to the wine to stop the fermentation process. This produces a full-bodied wine with an alcohol content of 40 proof or 20 percent alcohol by volume. Ports are mainly classified as Ruby, Tawny, or Vintage, based on the aging process. Through aging, red wines turn lighter and the color turns from red to brown. Ruby port then can be assumed to be younger than tawny port.

Partners Ruby Port is produced by Sandeman. It has a ruby core and a garnet rim. The smell is a stronger and fruitier version of the Mateus (see Mateus Post, April 19, 2011) since the grape varieties used are similar. It has a very sweet and fruity bouquet  similar to figs, raisins and cranberries. It is very sweet, full-bodied, and has a similar flavor to dried fruits. It has a sweet finish that doesn't cloy.

Note slow "legs" in the sides of the goblet as a sign of high alcohol content

Comparisons

Growing up with two sisters is hard especially during the puberty years. It meant not having someone to talk to who has a similar age. You know that you don't want to talk to your parents (Yeah! Admit it or not, you know what I'm talking about) about stuff regarding your life. And it didn't help that my sisters disliked me because all their teachers, when they found out that I was their brother, instantly compared them to me

I was a consistent honor student since grade school (I graduated at the top of my class then) and that was the main point of comparison for my previous teachers. My sisters hated me a little bit because they felt like they were being cast under a moonshadow. What my sisters didn't know was I envied them a bit  because they didn't face any high expectations from family members. All they had to do was go a bit more than what is expected of them and they received the greatest praises for their work. I on the other hand, have always done my best in any challenge, and should I reach a goal and fail to achieve more than my goal, I feel some backlash. It stings a little bit when for example, you gain a bronze medal in a national competition and the comment you receive is "bronze lang?" (just a bronze?) or when you graduate with honors and the first thing you hear is "cum laude lang?" (just cum laude?) Don't get me wrong though, I love my family but sometimes, I just feel like I'm being taken for granted.


Anyhow, since we are talking of comparisons, I compared two wines today. Both are Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Cabernet sauvignon wines typically are full-bodied with robust flavors. The grape variety is a cross between Cabernet franc and Sauvignon blanc so the flavor is a cross of the two as well. It has the spicy flavor of Cabernet franc and the crisp and grassy flavor of Sauvignon blanc. These wines are very tannic and usually astringent too.



 

The first wine is a 2009 Tie Angola from Argentina. It has a fruity aroma reminiscent of berries (reminds of creme de cassis) with a tinge of bell pepper. It has an almost mahogany core with an ochre rim. It was dry, fruity with vanilla notes, and tart. It was a full-bodied wine with a slow finish.











The second wine is a 2010 Luis Felipe Edwards from Chile. The aroma was very robust and spicy, very reminiscent of smoke and bell pepper with a hint of mint. It had a vibrant garnet core with a purple rim. It was dry with a very robust spicy flavor very similar to sour apples and roasted bell peppers. It was full-bodied and had a very slow and lingering finish.







To compare, the flavor of the Tia Angola was mellower than the Luis Felipe. This is probably due to the longer maturation time of the wine. A supporting factor for the longer maturation of the first wine is the color since red wines become lighter as they age. The first wine is also less astringent than the second wine contributing to the mellow flavor. The peppery flavors of the wines is due to the grape variety used while the smoky and vanilla flavors were probably imparted by the oak barrels used.

Luis Felipe Edwards (Left); Tie Angola (Right)

Personally, I liked the Tie Angola more than the Luis Felipe because it was mellower and gentler. Both wines would probably be good paired with pork, beef or salmon especially if they are probably cooked with a pepper crust, barbecued or broiled.

Like the first wine, the more we mature, we become better people being less harsh about certain trivial things... Cheers!

Mateus Rosé

I have always felt a special connection with sparkling beverages probably because they are so lively that they can cheer you up fast. I woke up today feeling a little bit down because I know my days as a student have ceased and that a new world of responsibility and uncertainty already began. So, I bought this random looking wine bottle from Landmark and took it home.The green bottle caught me off guard thinking it was a bottle of white wine until  I later found out it was actually a bottle of rosé wine.



Basically, rosé wine is wine made from the juice of either white varieties of red wine grapes or from normal red wine grapes provided that the juice is only left in contact with the grape skins for a short period.

When I opened the bottle and poured it in the wine glass, I was  surprised to see bubbles... it was a sparkling wine! The color of the wine was a brilliant sunset-dark amber and it smelled of citrus fruits and like Port, smells like raisins too (no wonder though because the same grape varieties are used) It wasn't sweet but what it lacks in sweetness, it makes up for its crispness (think apples and lemons) and fruitiness so I think it's a great wine for the Pinoy palate (not to mention it was fairly priced). The finish surprisingly, even if it was a young wine, was a bit slow leaving an after taste similar to lemons. The fizz was a great bonus too! It wasn't as bubbly or fizzy as an Asti since according to their website, Mateus was just a "slightly sparkling wine" from Portugal. Apparently, it was also stocked in Saddam Hussein's palaces because he liked to drink it too.


It was an enjoyable wine good I think, as an aperitif, or with seafood. Cheers!

Sunflowers

I have been contemplating ever since I watched Julie and Julia whether I should restart my blog, just create a new one or don't bother making one at all. Who am I anyway? I'm a student or was a student (since I just graduated yesterday) from the premier university of the Philippines. During the graduation period in the university, sunflowers are planted along the main road as a symbol for a bright future for the fresh graduates. Since the end of my journey as a student already ended, the beginning of a new journey awaits and it is in this context that I have decided to start blogging again! :)

I have taken up one of the most misunderstood courses in this country... HRIM (Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management) I said misunderstood because most people think it is simply a course about cooking. I beg to disagree! It is a course which develops the critical mindedness and the management skills of the people who are willing to serve in the hospitality industry. It is not just about food preparation because if food preparation was my main choice of work, then I would have studied culinary arts, not HRIM.

Studying HRIM opens up a lot of doors as to which path would bring a person to the specific aspect of the service industry. The name of this blog reflects as to which track I have chosen... for now, the beverage aspect, specifically, wines. This blog then would be an account of how a beverage can become a metaphor for the beginning of a new journey of a person.

A toast of good Champagne for the future!