AFTER a week staying with relatives in a northern municipality in Cebu, my family was one in saying that they had eaten enough meat dishes to last them a lifetime.
That’s not to say we were not thankful for the red carpet that our relatives rolled out for us. We were treated like the royal family. We did have one advantage: We could have garlic.
The latest hint from online news about Prince Charles and his co-blue-blooded family? They can eat anything, except anything with garlic. That made me stop chopping garlic just this week. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and wife of the Prince of Wales, confirmed this to reporters recently.
Camilla said Charles loves anything with cheese and eggs, but too bad no garlic. You don’t want a well-clipped prince or duchess talking to the media. And then next day land in the news about “breath smelling like garlic.”
So though we are commoners, we can have the king of spices, which to me is garlic. It is a matter of opinion, but our food featured garlic. We had hamonada or pork stewed in soy sauce and garlic. Another day we had succulent pork barbecue infused with garlic. More meat graced our table the whole week. The crowning glory was inasal nga baboy or roasted pig.
Upon reaching home, we all decided to give meat some rest. The whole week since we got back home, we had nothing but plant-based food.
My aunt Tita Blitte prepared green salad: Coarsely torn salad greens, avocado cubes, a handful of sliced seedless grapes for sweetness, diced tomatoes and diced cucumber. She tossed the salad with a dressing made of olive oil, salt, black pepper and a touch of honey.
Dona, my cousin, thought of making puso sa saging or banana blossom burgers: Boiled banana blossom finely chopped and mixed with grated carrots, squeezed grated singkamas (jicama), minced garlic and red onion, minced green onions, flour for binding and one egg.
She served the fried puso burgers with a dressing made with very finely sliced cabbage, a handful of chopped raisins, grated carrot, tuna mayonnaise, salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
My smart-kid nephew Pannon invented a salad made with boiled cubed potatoes, cubed cucumbers, cubed carrots, sliced salad greens and a mixture of yogurt and mayonnaise for dressing.
Krystalle, my niece, came up with a fish salad that we liked. She fried very fine bolinaw nga buwad (dried anchovy, the very fine type), then added turbinated sugar (locally referred to as “central,” perhaps after a certain brand). She next added a lot of chopped ripe tomatoes and garlic. She turned off the heat when the tomatoes had softened, then added cubed cucumber and thinly sliced radish sticks. Just before serving, she drizzled the salad with lemon juice to taste.
I wanted to write more but I’ve reached the end of my bites, I mean bytes.