Manong Ken's Carinderia and a Little Bit of Nostalgia

In search of authentic Filipino dishes? You might find this helpful. He describes in detail how Filipinos toiled to make a fiesta succesful. I am so glad that he's kept this over the years. This is the closest authentic description of how Filipino cuisine is that I found from binayong saging to the early history of how Filipino dishes are prepared. You will appreciate what he's been saying on his site if you grew up in the Philippines during my time.

My kids would probably not appreciate this because they've only been to my mother's hometown once and that was when they were 2 & 3 y/o (over ten years ago). The rice paddies are probably non-existent anymore. I heard the creek that runs through my lola's house has dried up a long time ago because of irresponsible fishing and all sorts by the townfolks. Fishing was something I always looked forward to as a young kid. Any fish caught was simply cooked as pinangat. Hito was always broiled and cooked as either sinigang or "pesa" style. Now, I heard people fished with the aid of dynamites.

Making kakanin took my relatives overnight to do. It was always fun though. People cannot probably imagine how it is to prepare food without electricity now but fifteen some years ago, my relatives would be pounding yams, boiled bananas and cassavas in the dark (well with the aid of lamps we called Petromax). Refrigerator was not heard off so I kinda wonder now how kakanin never went bad for about 2 days then.

I do not know but it was not always the food that mattered. We always looked forward to the long trip, the stop over for lunch, fruits bought by the highway, seaside scenery, the carabao ride, fruits direct from the tree, things I never experienced in the city. Being a city kid, everyone would like to invite me for dinner. I would expect the same dish over and over--boiled eggs and chicken for as long as I was there. I had an Uncle who as soon as he learns that we are on our way to the province, he would right away go fishing for us. He would come and fetch us from the bus stop(a little modern term for lack of a better word) next town or about 2 hours by kariton. I probably wouldn't like to be on a kariton again for fear of backaches but my kids might love to.

My lola has grown old. She's been brought to Manila so my Uncle could look after her. She however went back to the province now. According to her, she wants to die there. She's turning a hundred in June next year. The roads of course have improved. There is electricity now and they don't pump water by hand anymore. And so I end this with a note of nostalgia.