Mommy and Mama
March 14, 2009
catesbool
My mother was one of the busiest Moms during her day. She was very dedicated to her job as a public school teacher, sometimes it even eats up her Saturdays and Sundays and even night time supposed to be spent with us. But we never complained. Mommy was complemented by Mama, her eldest sister who took very good care of us we thought at one time she was our real mother.
Having two women around the house to take care of us felt almost like heaven. Mommy makes sure that the fridge is always full (and locked too because I keep sneaking a peek to see what I can feed my always hungry belly). Mama, on the other hand, patiently prepares our daily meals. As a result, we grew up in a household of glorious food, a legacy which my brother and sisters have kept up with all those years, even with Mommy gone.
Saturdays and Sundays are always the best time of the week. This is the time when Mommy cooks a combination of Italian, Spanish, Ilocano and Tagalog dishes. The motto in the Bool household was, money may run out at some point but good food can never run out. Mommy was brilliant at turning simple dishes into heavenly delights. Friends who come over for visit at some point will remark on the food we have. And Christmas and special occasions are always marked with people commenting on the food both Mommy and Mama can whip up all in good time.
My two sisters inherited the knack more than I did. These days, Christmas and birthdays and whatever special occasions are spent in Las Pinas with them doing all the cooking. I just bring something which they no longer have the time to prepare. And mind you, between the three of us, I’m still considered the worst cook. They still laugh at some of my cooking, including my father who I haven’t quite forgiven yet because he thought frying siomai was silly (and I was vindicated because you now see fried siomai all over Mini Stop).
I miss Mommy and Mama’s cooking. There is always that secret ingredient they put in when they cook. My two Ates, they both learned about that secret ingredient earlier than I did. So the years of practice probably made them better cooks.
Give or take a few more years, my Ates and I will be able to pass on the legacy to our kids. Over the years, we have discovered a few new ingredient to add, a new spice to use, and a new twist to old dishes that seem to have worked on our taste.
My fear now is for my daughter. Very early in life, she knows what high quality, good food means. Something which is not an exclusive result of the good food she eats from my side of the family. Her fairy (ei, fairy daw oh) godmother, Myra, spoils her so. Brianne is often kidnapped by Myra and taken to some fine restos around Ortigas and Makati area and I only learn about that when she is all full and happy to chat with me. And she can appreciate good food by simply sniffing the air.
I try to keep her grounded, though. Simple cooking at home on weekends has its own magic. She never fails to tell me whenever I cook on weekends how much she loves those simple dishes I can whip up.
Perhaps, Mommy and Mama were both right. Cooking is all about love. Cooking is all about patience. And cooking is all about letting your love ones feel how much you feel for them.
Tonight’s recipe is sinigang, a simple Filipino dish taught to me by Mommy and Mama when I was in fifth grade. I am going away again to Magat next week. I have no worries about Brianne and Edwin missing me. My fridge is very well stocked (I’m running out of food space again, I need a bigger one). I spent the afternoon marinating chicken and pork, again with ingredients passed down by Mommy and Mama, with Ate Joy’s twist. When I come back from the trip, I will make it up to them by cooking Mommy’s Pochero, which Brianne now calls “Mommy’s Beef cooked with love”. This is a simple dish I learned from Ate Dulce, with my own twist: meeting Mommy’s Spanish version with my mother-in-law’s Bicolano version and harmonizing them as my own. It will take me three hours of slow cooking fire to prepare it. But as Mommy and Mama always said, you can’t hurry up good food.
(A special thanks to my friend Mon Soliva, who sent over a poem for some of my critiquing. The list of food in his poem menu made me want to whip up something different again for Brianne.)
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to comments via RSS Feed
