The Pilgrim's Pots and Pans

The Filipino sweet tooth is reflected in our cuisine – from a multitude of kakanin (usually rice-based snacks) to mouth-watering confections that leave everyone asking for more. There’s also the other side – how the popular palate demands to sweeten almost everything – even that which is supposedly not meant to. Established transnational companies have to come up with sweet versions of catsup and sauces for the Philippine market. A Japanese friend noticed how our Japanese restaurants serve good food up to her standards, except that it’s sweet and I didn’t even notice. We also horrify purists with our sweet spaghetti sauce. But then, each culture adapts imported food to its local conditions. Not even established food staples are spared a local interpretation. For commercial institutions most especially, what is of utmost importance is to satisfy their customers. Though not commercial in scope, I also had some satisfying to do two Sundays ago.

Late on a Saturday afternoon, I found myself having to do some cooking the following day even as I had to attend a godson’s first birthday party and fulfil previous commitments. If I hadn’t come home from the city the night before, it would have been easy to make excuses but right at that moment, I was in the centre of it all. I couldn’t refuse any task as they were of equal importance. My godson is the first child of one of my best friends, M, who’s also a classmate from kindergarten till high school. Only a matter of life and death, or extreme forgetfulness, could make me miss his party.

The cooking duty was mainly my own doing when I found out Sunday was also the little girl next door L’s fourth birthday. She is the only child of a couple my mom and aunt recently took in. More than just hired hands, they’re almost like relatives.

Anyway, L’s father intended to buy a kilogram of chicken for lelut manuc (arroz caldo or chicken congee) for the next day’s merienda celebration. How could that be, I asked, since birthdays, no matter how simple, are usually celebrated with pancit – noodles to signify long life. Concurring with me yet not wanting to intervene with the couple’s plans, my mom and aunt thought of surprising L with a very simple dinner and unilaterally assigned me to kitchen duty. It was decided that we’d have spaghetti instead of pancit since more than a kilogram of pasta was just sitting somewhere in the pantry.

We settled on a basic meat sauce since this was what was commonly known to accompany spaghetti. We usually use ground beef like in the classic Spaghetti Bolognaise, but we didn’t have any in the freezer and the local butcher only sells it on Wednesdays and Saturdays. On Saturday evening, the market was already closed and groceries do not sell fresh meat. So we had to make do with pork. The other concern was to suit the sauce to the child’s taste, someone who only has it from fast food restaurants, meaning we needed hotdogs.

It was a busy Sunday that I wondered how we could manage to pull off the birthday dinner. After a hectic morning, I still had to go to my godson’s party. Together with G, my other childhood best friend, we tried to make a hasty exit after eating the usual burger, spaghetti and fried chicken. I still had to go to the grocery but we just couldn’t leave. There was a supermarket beside the fast food restaurant but I was almost cashless and had to withdraw money from an ATM with a long queue. Then the grocery blitzkrieg: Italian sauce, check! Hotdogs, check! Cheese, check! Related items, check! Around 6.20 pm G and I were on our way back to Santa Rita.

At this point, my mother already sliced the onions and crushed the garlic. She and my aunt were busy with other things. They were waiting for me to bring the rest of the ingredients and get in front of the stove. Since it was already dark and the birthday girl might get sleepy, I thought of asking her over to watch me cook. She still didn’t know it was for her and gleefully peeked at the simmering sauce and “helped” me test the pasta.

When the food was ready, L still didn’t know it was for her. I asked that she help her mother bring some to the neighbours across the street. In our town, the practice of sending neighbours food is not just during celebrations. At least once a week, we find ourselves as both recipients and givers of produce, sweets and whatever can be shared.

Dinner was served around 7.30 pm. Not bad, considering that just an hour beforehand, I was still on the road. L’s verdict: An excited “manyaman” (delicious!) after getting over the shock of realising the dinner was really meant for her, to which her parents agreed. My mom and auntie were very satisfied. From unsolicited feedback a few days later, I found out from the neighbours across the street that it was the best spaghetti they ever tasted. That’s coming from folks who are more discriminating. However, that does not really compliment my cooking skills but indicates what kind of spaghetti those who are not accustomed to pasta commonly eat in our town. How I liked it: Ok, but I didn’t really get to sit down for a meal that evening, having just eaten spaghetti from the clown’s restaurant. The next morning, I adjusted the sauce by adding more olive oil, onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes, plain tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese and of course, a good amount of dried herbs.

Filipino Kiddie Spaghetti ala Karen

½ kg. finely ground pork (if coarsely ground, chop to desired texture)
½ kg. hotdogs, diced
7-10 medium ripe tomatoes, quartered
75 ml. (1/3 cup) garlic, finely crushed
75 ml. onions, finely sliced
500 ml. Italian-style spaghetti sauce
8 tbsp. olive oil (you can reduce this to half)
3 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. rock salt
250-500 ml. (1-2 cups) water
loads of dried basil and assorted herbs
grated cheese, Cheddar or whatever you prefer
500 g. uncooked pasta

In a large saucepan, heat half of the oil then fry onions till caramelised. Add garlic, stirring gently till it softens. At this point the kitchen will attract attention through the aroma alone. Be prepared to entertain anyone who drops in because the sauce won’t be ready for another 30 minutes, at the very least.

Stir in the chopped tomatoes, simmer over low fire for 5-8 minutes then break up with the ladle. If the mixture gets too dry, add 2-3 tbsp. of water. Cover with a lid for around 5 minutes.

Add the pork and let simmer in its natural juices. Season with salt and herbs. Upon browning the pork, add a cup of water, simmer then the sliced hotdogs. Let the pan simmer for another 5 minutes.

In a separate pot, cook the pasta according to package instructions. I usually just trust my judgement on what is al dente, making sure the water is on a rolling boil before dropping the pasta.

Back to the saucepan, gradually pour the spaghetti sauce, add more herbs and the sugar then stir gently. Apply high heat till the mixture thickens. Pour in more water, stirring only after the pan simmers, then sprinkle around 8-10 tbsp. of grated cheese. Stir thoroughly, add the rest of the olive oil, simmering for another 5 minutes then turn off heat. Cover saucepan and let stand for around 15 minutes if your guests or your hunger pangs can wait.

Drain the pasta, pour the sauce over it and toss well. Garnish with grated cheese and serve.

Post-mortem: I don’t normally use packaged spaghetti sauces for my pasta since I prefer fresh tomatoes and then adjust it to my taste. At most, I cook with plain tomato sauce simmered with a lot of onions, garlic and herbs. Even in one instance when I had a craving for pasta during a work cramming session, I bought some packaged sauce but added wine and herbs as it simmered. In this case:

1. I used Italian-style spaghetti sauce since there was less than an hour to cook, no more time to purée and simmer tomatoes.
2. I don’t think I’ll use it again under normal circumstances but now I know that in similar emergencies it’s a good substitute.
3. For the kiddie recipe, I used the softer Cheddar cheese since it melts faster than Parmesan and also has a milder taste.
4. The hotdog bits and the sweetness satisfied the popular Filipino palate.
5. The use of fresh tomatoes, olive oil and herbs imparted more value to an otherwise ordinary run-of-the-mill fast food-style recipe.

If you’re wondering how I was able to take pictures under the circumstances, the answer is I did not. The photos were only taken last weekend, after the little girl requested for an encore. Now, that makes me think if she’ll ask for spaghetti each time she sees me home.