Zugschwang - "a compulsion to move"

Friday, April 13, 2007

Adobo Identity at Kulturang Pinoy

I love cooking Adobo. I don't mind that it fills the house with its scent, how it stubbornly clings to my clothes. The scent somehow find its way to some part of my brain and tricks it into thinking that I'm just in Manila. It makes me feel that my parents and siblings is just in the other room watching TV. It comforts me that way.

Everybody has their own recipe for Adobo. Different meats, different parts and different ratios of ingridients. My "Ate Karori" likes using chicken wings not much vinegar. My wife uses lots of vinegar. My adobo always uses lily flower (dahon ng saging ?), bay leaves, garlic, ground pepper and almost exclusively chicken thigh.

My mom is the only person I know who successfully jazzed up adobo. She uses pork (liempo) and hibi (small dried shrimps) with sesame oil, she usually cooks for my grandmother on sundays. It's a knockout dish.

Inspired by Ma, I will be embarking on jazzing up my own Adobo Identity. Yesterday I tried using red wine vinegar instead of white. Had I have short term memory disorder, I wouldn't have recognized it as my own cooking. Next on my list would be to experiment with different meats, soy sauce.

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Minsan ay kailangan mong lumayo para makita at maintindihan ang kabuohang anyo at pulso ng ating kultura. Natatandaan ko nuong ako'y nasa Maynila pa, hindi ko binibigyang pansin at halaga ang ating tradisyonal na okasyon gaya ng Flores de Mayo, Mahal na Araw, kapaskuhan, bagong taon at ang mga katangi-tanging Pista sa kani-kaniyang siyudad/kabayanan/probinsya.

Gawa na siguro nang malakas impluwensya ng mga bayan sa kanlurang bahagi ng mundo, ang ingles na linguahe bilang behikulo sa ating edukasyon. At ang mas malawakang pag gamit ng ingles sa pahayagan, radyo at telebisyon. Gawa ng mga nabanggit, mas pinupuna ko ang kulturang ibayo, kulturang hindi atin.

Magaling kasing mag hikayat ang kanluran, karamihan sa atin any napa-paniwala nila na mas maganda, makulay at masaya ang kanilang kultura at pamumuhay.

Tayo ay natatakam sa kanilang prutas gaya ng peaches, pears, plums, nectarin, cherries. Kinakailangan pang dumayo sa Ongpin o sa supermarket para makabili ng (napaka-mamahal) mga nasabing prutas.

Tayo'y nabibighani sa kulay ng kanilang buhok na kakulay ng araw, mga nagta-tangus-ang mga ilong at maninipis na labi.

Mahigit kumulang isang taon na akong nagtratrabaho, nakikihalubilo, nakikibagay at nakikiisa dito sa New Zealand. Aming nasaksihan ang iba't ibang paraan na pagbigay buhay sa kanilang kasaysayan. Nariyan ang kanilang Guy Fawkes day, Queens Birthday at Parada ng kanilang siyudad.

Ang mga sumusunod ay aking mga personal na opinyon. Sana ay hindi bansagang marahas ang aking pananaw.

Kung aking ikukumpara ang kanilang Guy Fawkes day at ang ating Bagong taon, Pista ng Nazareno sa Parada nila dito eh hindi ko maiwasang bitiwan ang salitang "Malabnaw". Hindi ko maituro kung alin o bakit, pero meroong nagkulang. Sabi nga sa alak eh parang nagkulang sa sipa.

Oo, hindi ko ikakaila na "lubhang" mas mataas na antas ng pamumuhay, mas maayos na serbisyo at pagpapatakbo mula gobyreno, at ang mga inprastrakturang iyong maa-asahan. Pero hindi ito ang pakay nang aking sanaysay.

Ako'y magiging tapat sa sarile, sa aking panlasa eh walang nang tatalo sa sarap at tamis ng ating pambansang prutas. Ang Mangga (bow). Ang kanilang alimango dito ay malaki nang bahagya lamang sa alimasag. Kulang sa tamis ang kanyang kalamnan.

Hindi ko rin ikakaila na mas gusto ko ang mga ka-isdaan nila dito. Mas gusto ko rin ang klima at kalinisan ng hangin dito. Ang mga kabataan dito ay magalang at matulungin, tila wala silang tukso ukol sa kaanyuhan ng kapwa (payat, mataba at kapansanan).

Karamihan sa kanila ay matatangkad ngunit ang uri ng kanilang buhok ay manipis, mukhang marupok at parang lanta. Ang atin nama'y puno nang sigla, makintab na tila'y bumagabay sa ating pala-ngiting pananaw sa buhay.

Kid Sablay: Mabuhay ang mga pango !
Kid Sablay: Mabuhay makakapal ang labi !
Kid Sablay: Mabuhay ang mga tadtad ng tigyawat (taghiyawat) !
Kid Sablay: Mabu...
Senorito : Konting katahimikaaaan !! (Sabay hampas ng kamay sa hapag )


Sa Susunod na kabanata: Baluktot na pananaw

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15 Comments:

  • At 5:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    i, too, have my own recipe. the only i've mastered that my kuya sometimes ask from me: the adobo of an engineer :)

    it's a combination of broiling then deep-frying until there's an oil slick left in the pasn to be mixed with rice.

    an evil concoction, isn't it!

     
  • At 7:42 PM, Blogger Senorito<- Ako said…

    I haven't even tried the fried adobo variant yet :) They go really well with sinangag.

     
  • At 8:55 PM, Blogger Any given madness said…

    i like the fried adobo.. and then pouring the sauce to it, with steaming hot rice. yum.

     
  • At 3:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I LOVE FRIED ADOBO!!!!!

    May masarap na version yung tinirahan namin sa BAtangas... no soy sauce! All the usual ingredients pero No soy sauce tapos lalagyan ng atchuete. :D

     
  • At 4:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I love this post.. bakit ba ngayon lang ako nagawi dito... hehehe.. sure will bookmark your blog.

    Adobo - ang sikreto daw para masarap, ay huwag hahaluin agad, hangga't di naluluto ang suka, at saka, dapat daw, medyo patuyuin ng konti ang sabaw para sumipsip sa laman ng karne ang lasa. Tama ba ako? :)

    Nice meeting you, Senorito,<-ako!

     
  • At 5:09 PM, Blogger Jovs said…

    Ayayayyy very timely, I have adobo in the pot now... with lots of boiled eggs as well! Do you put that in? And the more you cook it, the more the flavour gets into the meat (and the boiled eggs). Kamusta na si Sassy & Raya?

     
  • At 8:59 AM, Blogger Senorito<- Ako said…

    Jovs -> Both of them are fine. Thanks for asking. :) Funny I thought i was one of the few who likes hard boiled eggs in my adobo :)

     
  • At 9:13 AM, Blogger Senorito<- Ako said…

    rhodora -> Thanks for stopping by.

    I've heard about that suka technique before not sure if its fact or myth. :)

     
  • At 3:15 PM, Blogger KJS said…

    And I love eating adobo!!!

     
  • At 2:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    That is the nice thing about going abroad. You get to appreciate our country more but you also get to know our weaknesses, especially compared to other countries, and perhaps in our own way, we could help our own country overcome these weaknesses. I think your observations are not marahas. You're just being honest. I hope that all our Filipinos abroad could be like you and able to widen their perception of the world for the good of our country.

     
  • At 8:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    the suka technique has been there for a long time, iba ang lasa pag hinalo o agad sya pag di pa luto and suka

    btw, in case you don't know, the adobo is really not an original Filipino invention :(

    i'm looking of cooking my own version again one of these days. something i haven't done for a long time then blog also of the food's history like what i did for most of my food posts...

    not your ordinary food reviews :)

     
  • At 12:59 AM, Blogger Jovs said…

    Bilib talaga ako sa pananagalog mo!!! *bow!* =) Ang galing.

    Oo nga...mangga sa Pinas, wala talagang tatalo. Si A - yun ang paborito - tuwang tuwa sa mangga natin! Araw araw nakaka-dalawa o tatlong mangga kung nasa Manila sya. Sa Boracay wala nang ibang inisip kundi manggo shakes sa Jonas! Ha ha ha!

    Mga alimango at sugpo natin, sobrang sarap... Dito rin, fresh daw sa restaurant - kung walang heavy sauce, walang kalasa-lasa. Hayyy nakaka-miss ang Aranque! Hehe!

     
  • At 10:25 PM, Blogger Sidney said…

    I like adobo! In fact it is one of my favorite Filipino dishes!

     
  • At 1:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    hey senorito, i covered a jazz fest, mostly of the college jazz groups. but the highlight was the trio of christian mcbride--naalala kita.

    http://www.antiochpress.com/article.cfm?articleID=2446

    he was wonderful to listen to, more so to watch. para siyang ventriloquist, making his bass talk/sing. galing! i am now a fan.

    how's your jazz coming along?


    minotte

     
  • At 2:27 AM, Blogger SeƱor Enrique said…

    I have my own adobo recipe with just lemon and soy sauce. That's how I did it while in NYC.

    I bet New Zealand is quite picturesque, too. Nonetheless, Quiapo is fine as it is with me :)

     

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