Kids in the Kitchen

I love to eat. I get kilig (giddy) over food. I rave about favorite food places and restaurants. I'm a self-confessed foodie. That is, when unwanted and inconvenient pounds don't get in the way.

But I don't know how to cook or bake. Well, I've had several attempts. Some of them successful like my tried and tested tuna pasta with olives and a few failed ones like my ham and cheese omelette that looked like plain scrambled eggs. I always tell friends my "culinary masterpiece" is anything I can just pop into the microwave. ;)

But I had a eureka moment of some sorts this weekend - I want to seriously learn how to cook and bake!

Yes, you read it right. It's always been at the back of my mind, I guess. I enjoy watching cooking shows, browsing cook books and looking up quick and easy recipes online. But that's about it. I don't really put them to use. And besides, it's not that fun to cook for yourself only. I need someone else to affirm my pasta is indeed good. :D

So, what brought about the gastronomic realization? It's those truly amazing and talented kids in Pinoy Junior Masterchef, a reality cooking show franchise featuring kiddie kitchen geniuses. It's been airing for several weeks now but this weekend was the first time I caught it on TV and am I hooked!

I'm so amazed and impressed with the young kiddie chefs, who are able to instantly whip up sumptuous dishes even from a limited selection of ingredients and under time pressure at that. Yesterday's episode featured what many would consider exotic fare already (myself included), frog legs, but I would willingly try any of the imaginative and delicious recipes they came up with - from pasta with frog meat balls to squash bread pudding with apple caramel sauce and stir fried frog legs.

In Sunday's episode, the challenge was baking the birthday cakes they want for themselves. I was watching with my mouth literally open - from amazement (amaze is such an overused word in this post) and hunger. The cakes looked so tempting and you can really see how much effort and imagination the kiddos put in every culinary creation.

After the show, I was texting family and friends about the uber gifted kiddie chefs and telling them how amazed (there goes that word again) and inspired I am by them. Maybe it's not yet too late for me to develop my almost non-existent cooking skills after all. And I think I'll start by working on my omelette fold first. ;)

The Adow-bow Project

There we were on a lazy Friday night grabbing couples at our favorite watering hole in Rockwell when E, a terribly geeky, funny, and witty new friend of ours, suddenly asked if we know how to cook. He was the only guy in the group and as it turned out, knows more about the kitchen and cooking than the three of us supposedly independent women combined.

When asked to name at least one specialty of his, he answered "adow-bow" in this really cute and endearing way. We didn't let the "adow-bow" pass but when he started describing the different ways he cooks the dish in this seriously vivid and passionate manner, it was as if we could taste every little alluring flavor in our, by then, seduced and hypnotized palates. We had to make him promise to give us a sample of his mouthwatering "adow-bow" the next time we meet.

A few days after, a friend who worked in another country mentioned there are two must-haves for our Filipino expats - a magic sing and adobo, to assuage homesickness.

Which got me thinking, is the adobo our national food? I totally love adobo! I can never have enough of it and I know many Filipinos share the same sentiment. Even foreigners love adobo, for that matter.

So, I started googling adobo. I suddenly had the urge to know more about this perennial Filipino favorite - its history, the variants from different places and regions, and a really easy recipe I can try.

I came across interesting and informative essays and features on adobo and probably, a thousand and one recipes. But apparently, it's not the ultimate national dish as stated by historian Ambeth Ocampo based on a revolutionary essay by noted food critic, Doreen Fernandez. (click here to read)

Still, it doesn't discount the fact that the adobo is one of the all-time favorite Filipino food. Probably every region, province, city, and town has their own version of the adobo. It's not unlikely for friends who come from different places to compare their hometown's respective versions of the dish - from brown, soy sauce-laden adobo to one prepared with coconut milk topped with chili or even adobo cooked in sugar. The list goes on and on. Even other races and nationalities have noticed our archipelago's incomparable love affair with the globally famous adobo. (click here to read one sample) So popular has the adobo become that there are now a multitude of adobo-flavored food products - from nuts to chips to crackers and what have you.

In the meantime, I'm ditching all the "easy" recipes I got from the Internet. I'm just going to call Mama later and ask for her simple, no fuss recipe (the rich, brown adobo I've always loved). It's still the best tasting adobo in my book. If I get my adobo to taste half like Mama's, then I'll be one proud Pinay who knows how to at least whip up a decent adobo. Even if it's the only dish I get to master in this lifetime.

So, let the adow-bow project commence! ;)