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Thursday, June 15, 2006
Magsaysay: The banquet begins
By Jo Magsaysay
Whatever
An embarrassment! Whereas I should have asked Joao Caetano Da Silva, the amiable Portuguese Ambassador to the Philippines, a remarkably good-natured gentleman who shucked off his coat for the cool informality of a polo shirt and tie, I, foolhardy and idiotic, asked him a ridiculous question about why a poisonous jellyfish is called a Portuguese man-of-war.
To his credit, with poise and tact of a true diplomat, he grinned, “I’m here to answer questions but I don’t think I have an answer to that one.” Pardon my faux pas, señor.
***
More relevant to the occasion should have been questions about the cultural ties between his native country and ours, really more to the point, about Portuguese food, this being a Food Festival. Moving casually around the tables in Uno at the Waterfront Hotel, Señor Da Silva spreading geniality all around, exchanging pleasantries with his dinner guests, among them Mayor Tomas Osmeña and his retinue of admirers, encouraging one and all to savor the flavors of Portugal. Without question, the tall and swarthy man in his apron and toque, Chef Antonio Santos, the Portuguese Chef de cuisine, kindly obliged us with a handwritten menu of the special dishes he prepared for the festival.
An exotic repast of octopus salad, alfalfa and micro greens, red beans with chorizos in a thick soup, carne de porco alentejano (roast pork with potatoes and clams), baked spareribs with small spring potatoes and three variations of bacalao, the codfish that is practically a national treasure of Portugal, this beautiful maritime country.
Unlike the bacalao with olive oil and tomato sauce that we know, the bacalao dishes were shredded with potatoes and beaten egg, baked with cream and mixed with flour and fried with eggs. The Ambassador came back with a small cup of Portuguese dessert, leite-creme, something like tocino del cielo flavored with vanilla and cinnamon. Seeing Mila Espina bringing a bowl of halo-halo with two scoops of ice cream, I nudged my dear diet-watcher Myra, to bring me one too. She of course frowned her disapproval. To ease my guilt, I recalled the liner in our press kit extolling the culture of a people “who give themselves unashamedly to the pleasures of the table…” “Gluttony therefore, is not regarded as a sin but as a mystical experience.”
Bravo! I knew there was something more to the Portuguese soul than the heart-rending fada, its rich heritage, its colorful history, its magnificent baroque palaces and cultural encounters.
***
Speaking of which, the cultural ties between the Philippines and Portugal took another significant note when the Kiosk of the Cross of Magellan, the Portuguese navigator who discovered the Philippines and had the Cross of Christianity planted in Cebu, having been rehabilitated was blessed and unveiled amidst great ceremony last week, Portuguese Ambassador Da Silva, Mayor Osmeña, Vice Mayor Michael Rama, Rev. Fr. Andrew Batayola, rector of the Basilica del Santo Niño, were among the honored speakers.
Therese Bowler Gonzales, project director of the Parks and Playgrounds Commission, gave the closing remarks, expressing her thanks to those responsible for the rehabilitation of the Kiosk, the Cebu City government, the cultural and historical affairs commission, the Embassy of Portugal and Calourke Gulbenkian Foundation.
***
It isn’t fair for a grandmother to look like you! I exclaimed when I saw Therese looking more like a Barbie doll, her heavy fall of blonde hair and slender form belying her status as a certified lola! No less attractive is her daughter Aimil (Mrs. Marco) Sarmiento who is drop-dead gorgeous! Therese and Ed attended the Food Festival with their family in full force and glory that included son Marc and pretty wife Melanie Mercado, granddaughter of an old friend from STC, Maria Velez Oliva. Incidentally, I am told by Zonette Balbuena, the prize-winning ballroom dancer and former classmate of Therese, that a recent purchase of a watercolor now adorns her home in Northtown. The painting looking like a replica of her own house, was among those exhibited by Phyllis Zaballero whose Portuguese seascapes and landscapes were displayed at the Waterfront during Portuguese week. With Zonette was her daughter Elke, who has the slender form and spritely grace of a ballet dancer but is more into physical therapy. Speaking of physique and such, a stunning surprise is Marco Protacio who has lost a wowie of 31 pounds to diet, exercise and “attitude”. The hotelier has lost his “baby fat” and chubby pink cheeks that invited pinches. Now whittled down to absolutely fantastic, the Waterfront GM may become lost to us all when some lucky girl in America will pluck him from Cornell U. where he intends to pursue a short refresher course in hotel management. My radiant friend Renee Villacin no doubt, believes that the hotel will not be the same without its GM, but being a staunch PR herself knows Waterfront will survive!
***
Fiesta de Sabores in Golden Cowrie, ole! They’ve gone and done it: enriched the menu with its Spanish accent! Home cooking never tastes as good as it does than in Golden Cowrie where Lutong Pilipino attracts dining patrons to overflowing capacity day and night do not seem to tire of pinakbet, sinigang, dinuguan, Bicol Express, crispy pata, sizzling squid, bangus in coco cream, but now looking over the new menu, they discover something exciting, something Spanish, have been added.
Waxing ecstatic, Golden Cowrie invites us to a “cornucopia of gustatory temptations with recipes inspired by the flavors from various regions of Spain dusted with Filipino cooking tradition”… “a tour of the senses”… “a tribute to a charming legacy that has molded many a Filipino’s persona today…a love for celebration, food and life itself”… They have it all: callos pollo al ajillo, salpicao de solomillo, lengua sevillana, caldereta de cabrito, pescado en salsa verde…and then some more.
Still I have a thing about paella, and what Golden Cowrie serves is just about the best I have had so far. Like the Valenciana, which has the tang of the sea and the saffron rice glistening with olive oil, each grain separate and distinct from the other and have such a bland, insipid taste. The paella Negra is sensational, mostly because it reminds me of my youth when the adobong pusit in its black ink was spicy, saucy and wonderful way for bahug-bahug!!! I know I’ll be going to Golden Cowrie time and again for the paella and I hope I won’t be disappointed each time!
There’s always time and again for sampling every single dish in what is certainly the first and only Spanish restaurant in town…not to mention Casino Español of course but “dejar el banquete commenzar!”
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 15, 2006 issue)
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