As a family, our penchant for great food stemmed from the fact that our mother, Martha, was a great, self-taught cook.
She wove wonders in the kitchen, no matter how simple and low-budget our meal was. From her lunchtime ‘tangigue nga escabeche’, ‘lutik nga kalabasa’, and KBL, as well as ‘linagpang nga gusaw’ and ‘inasal nga karaho’ or ‘pinirito nga alloy’ for our evening meal – they were always delightful and hearty meals, something that neighbors complimented when we shared an extra bowl with them.
I remember one evening when she arrived home late, tired but obviously happy. She then unpacked a box of a salad set, among others, as her prize for topping the salad-making contest in the Provincial Rural Improvement Club event held in Bacolod City.
“You mean you won over all the RIC contestants from other towns in the province?” we asked in chorus. She answered us with a modest nod.
To us, her children, that was a reaffirmation that we had the best food on our meal table in the town.
Her kitchen formula emphasized healthy food – and that meant less meat and more of vegetables and fish in our daily diet.
Part of her trick was that she picked from our small front yard garden organic vegetables and condiments and chose from the market the freshest meat, crustaceans and fish, especially, as she grew up with her parents owning then one of the biggest fishponds in their hometown in Banate, located in the northeastern portion of Iloilo.
I thought of writing about my late mother for two reasons – her birth anniversary was just days ago (she would have turned 108) and because a culinary celebration, Chocolate Cake Day, is globally marked this week – on Jan. 27.
Who doesn’t love or has not loved chocolate cake? Not too many I guess. I was a lover of this ‘sinful sweet’ until I was diagnosed with diabetes and had to feast on it rarely with just a small bite just to remind myself how this glorious food – discovered by Dr. James Baker 260 years ago – tastes.
Since the cake became part of the sweets fare, it has evolved with dozens of variations gaining wide appeal today, like the all-time favorite black forest and devil food’s cake as well as mocha fudge, oreo, mint, lava, mud, mug, truffle, choco chip, chocolate coconut and opera cake, among others.
I remember we were helping mother prepare and mix ingredients, careful not to overdo the task as she warned it would affect the texture of the finished product. My siblings and I had to take turns checking that the cake is in the old oven (this was two scores-plus before microwaves were developed) observing the proper time – that it was neither under or overcooked.
I’d like to think now that our kitchen technology then, no matter how crude, with our mother’s guidance, developed our taste literally and helped us, siblings, become appreciators of well-prepared meals.
More than that, many of my siblings, especially my two sisters, Lucy Apostol and Glenda Atonson, took after our mother her cooking acumen (which we joked about our mother following the domestic skills of her biblical namesake in the household of Lazarus.
Mango Cobbler, a recipe of Lucy, who resides in Michigan, has been published in an American cookbook. Glenda, on the other hand, bakes sugar-free and other sweets and prepared dishes commercially or as gifts on special occasions.
Aaaah, how we miss mother’s home-made chiffon, angel food, pineapple upside down and, yes, chocolate cakes, and other kitchen wonders.
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So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) | NWI
