When I was a young lad of about 3 years, I can remember my father and my grandparents bringing me to the beach every morning near their house for a shower of vitamin D. They would always take me to the jetty (pantalan) because it is the cleanest part of the beach. The entire strip sand is covered with garbage. Tons of it! But thats another story. Here is my diet when I'm at home.
NAVOTAS BEACH DIET
1. Patis
Patis is synonymous with our small town. It is a part of every meal. In fact, some of us cannot eat without it. An average Navoteno household may consume a bottle of patis in a month or more. No meal is ever complete without it.2. Bagoong Alamang
Another staple food of a Navoteno. No one cooks the best shrimp paste in the world but my parents! They somehow make it not too salty and a little bit sweet. You can eat it with rice because they put a lot of pork in it. Everytime I go back abroad my dad prepares 3 cans of this good stuff. Most of the time I end up with just one, because I give some of it away to my anxious friends.
3. Tinapa, Tuyo at Daing
The simplest of food can turn the rice cooker upside down. Especially when my mama prepares her special garlic rice! It never fails to boil my gastric juice to a heaping lava! Mama uses used oil to cook her rice, it puts a lot of flavor in it. Kasi used oil nga e! Don't use car oil. Vegetable oil will do.4. Squid
My visit to my parents house is not complete without my fathers pusit recipe. He will cook it any way he wants and it will always taste good because it is fresh! I like it adobo(the darker the sauce the fresher and tastier it gets) , relleno (stuffed) or just plain grilled. I don't know why but it always taste good with overnight rice (bahaw/kanin lamig). One time I tried it with with pandesal (dinner rolls) and it still taste good.5. Fish balls
My afternoon is not complete without my favorite merienda. This is also a bahaw kanin meal. Often sold my Mr. Johnny Bola (because he barks it that way. "bolaaaa!") in the afternoon about 5pm. I don't buy it in sticks. I get a bowl and Johnny fills it up with vinegar, soy sauce and chilli combo sauce. I spent about P.10-20.oo on this and about half a kalero of cold rice. => Sarap! Happy balls talaga!
6. Jollibee
I love everything in Jollibee! Because it truly has the Filipino taste. The first time I tasted this is when I was a kid when we went to watch Superman in Cubao. We bought it in the first Jollibug in Pinas. And I got to tell you, this bug isn't that big before. Now his ass is bigger that its head! Eventhough there was a scare that the burger patties were not made from 100% beef, because it came from cultured worms, we still shoved those glorious tasting burgers in our mouths. But its sad to say that the old recipe is not the same anymore. It tastes different now. Or perhaps my taste buds aren't the same as it used to be. I love you Jollibug!7. Galunggong
Our household, especially during the times when my father use to earn his living as a fisherman, we always have fish on our table. One of the best thing you can do to a fresh fried fish (FFF di ba parang 666 yun?) is to eat it with pandesal. A habbit that I learned from my Tito Cito (the youngest sibling of my mother, and by far the coolest tito in the family.) He said its like being in the days where Jesus fed his followers with fish and bread. Try it and tell me how it is.8. Talangka
Sorry I can't find the pic of my favorite crab. I already found them like this, bottled and prepared. After the rainy season there used to be a guy selling Talangka in our neighborhood. Usually carried in nets balanced on a flat bamboo pole on a mans shoulders, be would call out to the neighbors to sell his crabs (ay kadiri! lets use talangka ulit. pangit ng crabs parang kuto so bulbo....reminder! PG 18 tong blog ko mg chong ha!) Mom would buy a small basin full of those creepy crawlers, wash them in fresh water, put salt in them to cook, and them after an hour voila! Dead crablets ready to eat! You open the shell first, and then you sqeeze the hell out off the crabs until you get all the orange colored things on your rice. Some put kalamansi on it, but I prefer it plain. Squished out crabs! Yummy!9. Kapeng Barako
Translation: Kape = Coffee, Barako = Male/Macho/bull/musculineMacho Coffee, as some may call it, is one of the most strongest coffee in pinas. If you make espresso out of it, you better be ready for a kidney transplant. Its like a horse kicked you in the head! gosh!
When I was a kid an uncle of mine called me "palos". Palos is a quick slippery fish, an alias for a slippery criminal or something like that. Now dont know why they would call me like that, but then during my adult life I remembered my Tita Daisy (my moms cousin) feeding me pandesal and kapeng barako every morning. Then I said "thats it!" This is the reason why I'm so active when I was a toddler. Now I know what I shouldn't feed baby Diego.
10. Pula, Stainless and the Saint
Pula = Emperador Brandy
Stainless = Ginebra San Miguel
The Saint = San Miguel Beer
Usually, my friends and I have a night cap, every night! Then I was rehabilitated here in Bahrain for 4 years. We have all sorts of alcoholic drinks here, but nothing compares to these 3. In my town, you should know how to drink stainless or else you will get beaten up by the mob. Thats why my father recommends gargling gin in the morning! Hehehehe! Joke!
PAHABOL:
11. Tahong
Lastly, the all time favorite pulutan tahong! This is a seasonal delicacy. Some men have been inspired to compare this shell fish to a woman. hmmm... Maybe because of the seasonal harvest, they both have red tide! hehehehe! But beside the fact that it looks like the female genetalia (uy! scientific ang dating ha!), I never heard of a Navoteno that died of red tide. Lucky sons of the beach! (kasi laki sa tabing dagat)
That ends our lecture about the special diet of the Sons of the Beach. I would like to congratulate everyone from my home town for its 100th year this coming January 2006. Thanks for the info Commander Mang Carling Bernardo, retired US navy. I hope you enjoy your vacation next year!
After counting the 10 things I like in Pinas, I might say that I am a bit relieved of my headache. Like Julie Andrews said in her song "my favorite things": I simply remember my favorite things and then I won't feel so sad. Its true pala. Because we had an accident last night. Tita Cory slammed on a concrete fence, denting the rear bumper. Hayyyyy!!! Im just glad that my family is ok.
What to do yani?!
posted by the "KING OF BEER" Dennis na taga-Navotas
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