Sira-sira store: Big eat

“BIG eat” is Ceblish or Cebuano English, which means “to have a big appetite,” or “to be a gourmand,” or “to eat huge amounts of food.” In Cebuano translation, that is dakog kaon, an expression that has more flavor than the English counterpart.

A visiting American friend, Jake, and his Filipina wife joined my family at dinner this week. We went to a popular restaurant in Ayala Center Cebu one evening when the air was humid and tempers were in danger of exploding because of the undue heat.

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It took no convincing when my Uncle Gustav suggested that we all had better get packed in the family van so we could invade one of the hip restaurants in Ayala Center Cebu.

Dressed faster than you can say cheese burger, we were all ready by 6:30 p.m.

“A man has to have his steak. I’ll have that,” Jake told me as he scanned the extensive menu. His wife, Biol, had the pasta with white sauce and creatures from the sea.

To the waiter Jake said: “Are you sure the beef is tender?”

The poor guy, not used to being grilled about the tenderness of their prime steer, nodded. “Yes, sir, they are tender—oh, wait, I’ll have to ask if it’s available.”

Jake guffawed and nudged Biol. “I think they still have to catch the creature. So, are you sure about the pasta?”

“It has seafood and veggies, so yes, I want ‘em, honey,” she told him.

Uncle Gustav mulled between the juicy steak and prime ribs, until Jake told him they could share a few slices.

“I’ll have beer with my ribs,” Uncle Gustav said and smiled.

I got lost in the vast field of food choices—five ways with seafood, over a dozen ways with beef, not to count the nachos and the salads. I chose the baby back ribs, while my aunt, Tita Blitte, took the grilled pork. Krystal had the salmon and Joy chose the nacho plate (some dinner!).

We also had two types of salad, pumpkin soup, one of the sizzling plates. Naturally, we all went for the bottomless iced tea, except for my uncle and Jake who preferred beer.

I had the fish with the potato ribbons, deep-fried to a crispy perfection.

When the orders arrived, our eyes collectively grew wide. The portions were kingly and cooked with just the right amount of salt and sauces.

During our dinner, the matter of eating came up. Jake commented that Cebuanos are fond of eating.

“Everywhere I go, I see people biting on something—barbecue, banana-cue, and other ‘cues’. It is interesting. I also see a lot of food stalls, diners and restaurants in every nook and cranny of the city.”

My uncle agreed. “We should have been created with our mouth where the heart is. We do eat a lot. We say we are ‘big eat,’ or dakog kaon.”

Krystal delicately skewered a piece of her salmon and judiciously said: “We are people who know our food. With food we entertain even strangers. There are still some towns in Bohol where a total unknown is welcomed into the home to break bread with the family.”

Jake said that he likes this trait in the Cebuano. “I think you guys eat four times a day.”

Joy corrected him. “Uncle Jake, let me count the ways. The first meal is the painit (to make warm), which is at 4 a.m. when the family’s elders wake up. It’s usually just coffee. Then at 7 a.m. comes the real breakfast of rice, fish, eggs and more coffee. Then at 10 a.m. there’s the snack.

“Noon arrives with more food, followed by the 3 p.m. snack and dinner at 6 p.m. Just after dinner, most of us call for hot bread, and so we have hot bread—sometimes with some cheese and soft drinks. Just before we go to bed we have a snack.”

Jake spoke to me across the table. “What do you say about this, Ober?”

He caught me forking over Biol’s pasta into my plate, which also contained part of Tita Blitte’s food. “To love, to life, to food—in that order,” I told him.

(ober.khok@yahoo.com)