Duman is one of my favorite things. It reminds me so much of those days when my lola would call us to the round table for breakfast. The round table at Everybody's Cafe was her office. She ran the restaurant from here. At breakfast, she'll call all her apos to gather together for some Duman and fresh Carabao's milk. In a bowl, she would put a handful of grains, a cup of milk, a spoonful of sugar and a pinch of salt. My family doesn't get Duman very often nowadays but when we do, we eat it for breakfast like cereal, for snacks by itself and for dessert (which comes in all our meals by the way).
What really is Duman? All I know is that it comes from a very special grain prepared thru a process perfected by time and tradition. It's like rice but it's dry. The flavor is very delicate with a little sweetness to it. How it's made is something I have yet to explore. Reading about it makes me more and more curious. This is something I'd like to see on my next trip home. The blog on the Duman Festival is a very well researched and well written article about it and it's origin. It illustrates how special Duman is.
We eat Duman in many ways. I like it with salt and carabao's milk. My mom said I'm like my Lola Mameng when it comes to salt. But I think salt makes it taste better. I don't salt it to make it salty. I salt it because I think salt adds dimension to sweetness. I think salt keeps me from tasting just the sweetness of the sugar. Salt allows me to taste the duman and the milk too.
Sometimes we eat it with our very own Tsokolate Batirol. We make our own chocolate paste from roasted cacao beans and peanuts. We run them together in a stone grinder and it comes out like some dark nuttela. The chocolate drink is made using that paste and some hot water and cream, whisked using a malonillo, it's like a wooden whisk.
I would put Duman in it and have a Duman Champorado except that it taste like fresh grains soaking in chocolate rather than ricked cooked in chocolate.
My mom eats Duman by itself. My dad like it with coffee and cream. Sometimes we eat it with coconut milk too. It's also used to make other native desserts.
Maybe I can try putting a little flare to it and top it on a Panna Cotta or mix it in a Bavarian or make a simple Duman Rice Pudding. I'll eat that with fresh ripe mangoes. Now that's a sweet dream! Knyaman!!!
I just had to go to Boracay. I feel bad that my parents felt neglected because I haven't been home for more than a year now and here I am, flying away again as soon as I arrive. But I just had to go to the Beach. It's the first thing I did after I saw my parents so I can get it off my list and spend the rest of my time with my family and friends. (excuses...)
I was so excited when I saw the long white shores of Boracay from the plane. It only takes 35 minutes from Manila to Boracay. I can't wait to hit the beach and play with it's fine white sand. It's so fine and white, it feels like flour almost!
Day 1 was still a bit cloudy. Typhoon just went by. Some houses were destroyed. Some boats were blown away. Some lost loved ones. But one thing I admire about Filipinos is their ability to face the situation and move on. They went out with brooms to clean their surroundings. They started rebuilding what was destroyed. And life on the island goes on.
The next few days are a lot better. The sun was out. The sky was blue. It was time to play! We did a lot of things on this trip. I rode the parao. My friends parasailed. We went up Mt. Luho via ATV. And then we did the staples: massage on the beach, foot-spa on the beach, dinner and drinks on the beach, beer, beer, beer and more beer on the beach.
Away from it or on it, Boracay is beautiful. It's a little more commercialized thanI remember. Hotels are being constructed left and right. D'mall is the place to be. D'talipapa is on its new concrete site. Food is more expensive. I must say it has gotten very touristy.
I've been to other virgin beaches in the Philippines where there's nothing else to enjoy but the beauty of it, the colors in the sky at dusk, the noise that the waves make, the smell of the ocean, the whispers of the wind.
But Boracay has its own charm. I can't help it. I just love it.
This is one of my entries to my 'art-of-dining alone' journal. And a catch up from my California internship days a few months back.
Boulettes Larder. For a free spirited traveller like me who tends to talk to other travellers on the road (including random strangers I really shouldn't be talking to), this place is perfect... I liked Boulette Larder for it's family meal set up. There's just one big table where everybody sits. They serve simple mediterranean food that are represented by fresh local produce. I enjoyed the savory yougurt with purslane and barley, I never had purslane this way before. I just love how it's lemony tang with the hearty savory flavor of barley complemented the fresh creamy yougurt it was served with. It's wonderfully complex!
I had a great time and I met fabulous people: Norma and Allen, Bossa Nova Artists. It all started when I took pictures of my food and tasting each item with gusto. They asked me what I do because I seem to be so much into my food. They even asked what I ordered so they can order the same thing. They are from Mexico and we had a great conversation about its regional cuisines and Italo Calvino who introduced me to the food 'Under the Jaguar Sun'. (Thanks to Jojo who introduced me to Italo Calvino's literature.)
At the end of our meal, I got an open invitation to visit them in Baja! I didn't know they were famous till I checked the website on their card 6tosentido. Norma even emailed me to make sure I'm accepting her invitation. I can't wait to visit them!
I tried the new top rating restaurant in the country recently. It's in Chicago too where I'm currently at. I had to spend a bit of my savings for this dinner. (This is what I save for now). It was quite an experience. We had a 24-course tasting menu. They were more like, bite-size tasters but there was so much to taste on each plate: the sauce, the gelee, the bubbles, the foam, the smear, the topping and oh, the main item, I almost forgot. Each element explodes with flavors. Very entertaining!
In the middle of dinner, I curiously asked one of our servers about their food. I asked her, 'so how would you describe your cuisine?' and she proudly replied, 'Oh, we're serving Progressive American cuisine!' And so I asked further, 'What is Progressive American cuisine?' Is it like fusion?' and she replied, 'It's a little bit of fusion.' It's mainly American cuisine with Asian and Italian influence but no French.' And I got more curious, 'No French?' because in my mind, it must be hard to discount the influence of French cuisine in fine dining. I'm not pro french or anything but they must have really something special to even mention it.' She replied, 'Definitely, no French.' I was about to ask more questions but bread service started. Set on our table were beautiful butter quenelles.
Fish class is now my new favorite class. Unfortunately, it only lasts 13 days and we're on Day 11 tomorrow. We do fish fabrication and preparation in this class with matching advance sauces and plating exercises.
Chef Elaine Sikorski teaches this class. She's very knowledgeable. She's very thorough. Discriminate and uncompromising. She only expects of her students what she expects of herself i.e. A LOT! She's known to be one of the toughest chef instructors but she's one I really look up to because she practices what she preaches, commands respect and reflects the integrity that I believe all cooks MUST posses.
On our Day 10 in Advance Fish class, we had a plating exercise on lobsters and broth-like sauces. I've seen lobster plated before but I've never done it myself. Coming from only 6 months of professional experience, I've only gone as far as watching the line prepare food. The challenge was to come up with a $40 looking plate. First of all, what does a $40 lobster plate look like? What's in it? Is my lobster too big or too small? What's worth of being on a $40 dollar lobster entree? I had no idea. My planned plate didn't seem to be $40. We had 3 other dishes to be worried about so we didn't get to think about this to the last few minutes.
My partner and I tried to the best that we can to come up with one. We went to the fine dining kitchen and asked the chefs if we can pick up some ingredients from their walk in because we really didn't have much in our walk-in but carrots, onions, celery and tomatoes. We were able to solicit some baby vegetable and tomato water so we used those. It was crazy. I wasn't happy with my plate, but I just have to get it done and get it out.
Right when the dishes were 'picked-up' (simulated) Chef Elaine tasted it, sipped some water and spat it out. She obviously didn't like it. It was horrible! But later she asked, 'do you know Michel Richard?' I replied dumb-founded, 'No, Chef.' She said, 'You don't? You seem to be going towards his direction. Your homework for today is to go to Borders and browse thru his book. You'll see what I mean' I frequent borders for books but I haven't gone in about a month and a half now because I'm studying and working at the same time.
So today I got the chance to browse thru Happy In The Kitchen (September 2006) by Michel Richard and I was just beyond flattered. Of course I'm far from that level but 'going towards the direction of his style' coming from Chef Elaine is a HUGE complement! I don't know what to say or do but to keep practicing and practicing so I can live up to her expectations (now that she had made it known).
Which reminds me, time to work on my prep list for tomorrow. I have Sea Urchin, Skate, Trout and Sardines or Tuna on our 'Fish-of-the-day' so I have to make sure I can get-it-together, get-it-done and get-it-out beautifully ON TIME!
Duman is one of my favorite things. It reminds me so much of those days when my lola would call us to the round table for breakfast. The round table at Everybody's Cafe was her office. She ran the restaurant from here. At breakfast, she'll call all her apos to gather together for some Duman and fresh Carabao's milk. In a bowl, she would put a handful of grains, a cup of milk, a spoonful of sugar and a pinch of salt. My family doesn't get Duman very often nowadays but when we do, we eat it for breakfast like cereal, for snacks by itself and for dessert (which comes in all our meals by the way).
