A tribute

The dust has settled, so to speak. The celebrations have all been held. Today the University of Santo Tomas (UST) celebrates its 400th year, leading to more decades of opening and molding minds. We were a student of UST high school and later of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Much has been said of the university’s strict discipline and quality of education. To them we add our own tribute – to the institution that developed our character, inspired us to meet the challenges of the world of aggressive and very competitive professionals and strengthened our Christian values: thanks, UST! 

Every time we pay a visit on our friend Chit at her Le Bistro Vert in Makati, we get some good news. She has just gotten back from a trip to Laos where a group of coffee growers/sellers from the ASEAN countries, whose growers acknowledge the high quality of our barako variety, met for the second time to consolidate efforts to “promote Asian coffees to Asians.” Actually we take the liberty of calling Chit a “coffee crusader,” for strongly advocating the use of the local bean, whenever an opportunity comes. So in Laos, a united front has been realized by the formation of an ASEAN Coffee Federation, with the following member nations – the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. Chit and Nicolas Matti, co-chairs of the Philippine Coffee Board, are part of the board. The common goal is to have regular dialogues that would benefit the industry.

We missed Chef Sao that day but we sampled his latest creations, among them the tender and flavorful parmesan crusted chicken with mango salsa sandwich, marinated gindara with tomato and zucchini, mushroom ravioli, native longganisa pasta. A dessert not to be missed is banana cashew brittle. On Saturdays, the restaurant lays out a sustainable lunch buffet (P595+). The diner is allowed to choose an item from each category – soup, salad, appetizer, main course, pasta, pizza or sandwich. One must take only what he/she can consume, or leftovers will be charged individually. Great lesson for those with a big “eye appetite.”

A change of ownership has changed the name of Deli France to Café France. We noted that at its Ayala Town Center (ATC) restaurant, the same baked products are sold and quality of food is happily maintained. Try their beef lasagna served with a slice of foccacia bread (P140).

There are those who spend more for quality goods and those who only look at the price, choosing stuff with comparatively lower cost. We stepped into an outlet of imported goods one day and, as we have been trying to save, we got this pack of four boxes of facial tissues made in Japan. We grabbed it at P88 thinking this was a reasonable bargain, since info on the box said it contained 100 2-ply pulls. To our dismay the tissues are much thinner, more like onion skin paper, not so absorbent which required us to combine two sheets in order to use them effectively. Wrong buy. Next time, evaluate more carefully.

We found an easier way to prepare chicken curry, by using available prepared products, like Madam Pum instant curry paste made in Thailand, with red and green variants. It comes in bottles of 200 gms and already contains coconut cream. It sells for P140 a bottle.

Half of this is enough for a chicken that weighs about l.2 kilos. Depending on how thick you want the sauce to be, you may add kakang gata (first press). We also got the Wil-Pack brand of sweet sliced mango chutney at around P89.

For those interested in serving chicken curry at home, here is the recipe. You need one whole chicken, about 1.3 kgs; one fourth cup worcestershire sauce; one stalk each of celery and leeks, chopped; juice of two calamansi; two onions, chopped; 100 gms of green (or red) curry mix; two tomatoes, chopped; one apple, diced; and 2 tbsp cayenne powder.

Marinate chicken in worcestershire sauce overnight. Sauté greens in a little oil and add onions, then the chicken. Add the spices and continue cooking. Add all other ingredients. Cook for a few minutes more or until sauce has thickened. Serve with chutney, bacon bits, hard boiled eggs (crushed with a fork), raisins and ground peanuts on the side.

Have a good curry lunch!

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