I have just finished reading my second book for the year (too slow eh?). A Taste of Home: Pinoy Expats and Food Memories is a "collection of Filipino expats’ reminiscences – especially during the writers’ growing-up-into-adulthood years – primarily of home and hometown, but having Filipino cooking as the unifying thread: favorite dishes and native delicacies, family recipes and food rituals, favorite watering holes and memorable eating places anywhere in the Philippines." The book, which was edited by Edgar B. Maranan and Len S. Maranan-Goldstein, is Lina's gift to me on my 44th birthday. Maybe because I'm fond of cooking and she's just proud that the article written by her ex-pat sister is included in the book.
I was able to relate to the anecdotes shared by the contributors. While in Thailand for my master's study, I craved Filipino dishes even as I learned to appreciate Thai food such as khao pad, tom yum, phad thai, etc. Good thing we're in the same region hence, sourcing of ingredients had never been a problem. I also joined a group that availed of the services of a Thai cook so we were able to demand dishes cooked the Filipino way.
In the US particularly in New York, New Jersey, and California, I was pleased to find Asian stores offering tropical (and even Filipino) delicacies, canned goods, and other food items at thrice the local price. In some cases, we had to make do with substitutes to complete the desired dish like spinach as a substitute for kangkong for the all-time favorite sinigang. We just had to make sure that there's plenty of sinigang powder or cubes stocked in the pantry.
Now we know why our folks abroad would always ask for local food items whenever we send them pasalubong. During my first trip to the US, my sister who was pregnant then asked me to hand-carry fried Purefoods hotdogs. I was really scared as I went through the tight security because foot and mouth disease was a problem then. My sister was too glad to devour the "successful" hotdogs. We are fond of the imported corned beef but my sister would always request us to send her the meatier, chunkier, local corned beef.
And who does not want adobo, kare kare, sinigang, arroz caldo, sinangag, and the like? Chow!
