Cooking For A Non-Filipino

I confess to having modest cooking skills. Ask me to make a pasta dish and I can whip up one for you in a jiffy with even the simplest ingredients. Ask me to cook Filipino food and I would have to think long and hard about it. Suffice it to say that I am not confident when it comes to cooking Filipino food. Ironic but true.

Earlier this week, my friend Craig emailed saying he was free the whole week as his girlfriend was back home (I could feel my eyebrows starting to twitch - in a different time this would have sounded like an invitation to misbehave. Then again this is a different person we're talking about here so no, nothing malicious there.). We should have dinner, he says. He then broaches the idea of cooking Filipino food for him in exchange for hauling my boxes up the bunk bed. In the next sentence he says he will cook British food for me too. Sounds like a fair deal so I agreed, albeit with a bit of uncertainty.

The next few days were spent thinking about what to prepare. My criteria: 1) It has to be edible. 2) I wanted to offer something new for the tastebuds but nothing too exotic. 3) It has to be relatively easy to prepare and must not be too much of a challenge to my modest cooking skills. 4) It must give an idea of what Philippine cuisine is all about.

Adobo and sinigang would probably be the default answers to my query. I've done sinigang (this is my favorite) several times but I was not too sure if I could find the proper vegetables to go with it. I have also tried cooking several versions of adobo but none came out the way I have envisioned it to be (FYI, I almost burned the adobo in my last attempt. This was definitely not an option.).

I then thought it would be nice to let Craig experience the concept of dips. I had to think of a dish that would go well with different types of dips. I thought of putting marinated pork belly in my trusty Imarflex turbo broiler. Then I said it would be nice to have ensaladang mangga (a salad consisting of green mangoes, tomatoes and onions) with matching bagoong (sauteed shrimp paste) and itlog na maalat (salted eggs). Dalandan (Philippine orange) juice would be the perfect partner to quench our thirst. Thus the Filipino summer picnic theme was born.

Unfortunately, the Filipino ingredients can only be found in the older part of the city. Hence, I had to take a 30-minute train ride all the way to Karama (one of the little Manilas in Dubai) in the sweltering heat just to look for salted eggs and green mangoes. I reminded myself that I needed to represent my country well so it is worth the effort. Although feeling very patriotic, I felt like fainting already. (Hey it was almost noon and nobody in their right mind will visit the Karama Fish Market when the mercury is almost hitting 40 degrees - except maybe me.)

Philippine dessert is pretty tricky to make so I decided I would just do a Filipino twist to a regular recipe. I ended up bringing out my stock of fruit cocktail, condensed milk and all purpose cream to create a typical fruit salad. I decided to add little cubes of cheese to the mix for that Filipino twist.

At 7pm sharp, my guest arrived. I was still battling it out with the remnants of the green mango (I do not know how to peel with a knife. Being clumsy, it's most likely that the knife will slide and so will a slice of my skin or worse, a finger.). We talk about how our weekend went (Oh yeah, mine went fussing over what to prepare for you! haha!) and how he took the train to Deira to get his car. I prepare myself for the little speech of what Pinoy cuisine is like. Yikes. (To the uninitiated Pinoys, you might pick up a few tips here.)

I began by telling him that our cuisine is very simple - we season our food sparingly (just salt and pepper most of the time) compared to other Asian cuisines which use herbs and spices extensively. This is where the concept of dipping sauces comes in. As I explain, he sees me bringing out one strange bottle after another (Mang Tomas liver-based gravy, soy sauce, vinegar and bagoong. I give him a little background on the salted eggs (why they had a fuchsia color). I explain what was in the salad.

After setting the table, we pose for a few pics (surprise surprise) then we started eating. As customary, I serve him first. He then asks how to eat the food (Is it the salad first or do you eat everything all at once?). I explain that we all dump everything in the plate and eat freestyle - you can either eat with your hands or use the fork and the spoon. I mention that we do not use knives to cut the meat. I let him smell the bagoong and taste a small bit. I was surprised he didn't scrunch up his face in disgust (like they did with my blue margarita - see previous entry). He just said it smells and tastes a bit strong. Honey, it's okay to say it's smelly and salty. Haha. I then scoop half of the salted egg and he gets the other half. I told him to mix it with the salad. He said it was good. I then pick up my pork belly and use my hands to cut the meat. I told him to try it with the dipping sauces and tell me which one he likes. He thinks the soy sauce vinegar combo was good. We continue to talk about history, cuisine, accents, languages, politics and jobs. He leaves out the fatty portion of the belly but he sees me eating it and he follows suit. It was crunchy and started dipping it in the gravy. Out of the corner of my eye I can see him licking his fingers too. I smile. Success!

It was then time to go. I show him my room and jokingly tell him it looks like a hospital ward now that the partitions are in place. He effortlessly hauls the boxes up while I had to stand on a stool to clear some space. I knew I got the right man to do the job. Haha.

I'm just glad that I have survived another first. I realised it was tough answering questions from a foreigner. In effect, the dinner was not only an opportunity to showcase my country's cuisine but also a chance for me to tell people about my country and its rich history (the question about what the Philippines was called before the conquerors came was tough - must search for a clear answer on that one). It was also a good opportunity to show them how other people live and hope that they begin to appreciate the kind of lifestyle that they lead in Dubai.

On another note, it was fun having somebody over and just enjoy free-wheeling conversation. It's been a while since I've had conversations about culture, etc. Perhaps my time in Dubai is not yet done. There's still so much to learn about the world and if I have to cook for each and every single new expat friend I meet then I will. Just don't ask me to cook adobo. For now. :)