№ 727. Food Security in the 21st Century

UN Food and Agriculture Organization

№ 713. Why Add Salt to Tea?

Meanwhile, in the Twitter-verse

№ 705. 14 Entrepreneurs Who Built Food Empires

 

№ 675. Zero Waste Cooking

Reddit

 

№ 562. Terroir

 

Woodberrys

№ 558. Trang

Spencer Gurley

№ 530. The Politics of Spam

I am in good company. The war-time delicacy is also known as Special Army Meat.

Who knew The Iron Lady shopped for Spam? Who knew Spam also fed the Soviet army in World War 2?

Spam was my go to staple at 11pm dinners after work from Makati. 

"In his memoirs, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev writes that "without spam we wouldn't have been able to feed our army," while British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher recalled serving spam and salad to friends over Christmas in 1943, along with "one of our very precious tins of fruit which we'd saved from the pre-war days." Even decades later, when she was living in Downing Street, Thatcher still bought a can of spam as part of her regular supermarket shop."

 

 

№ 415. Bellini is a Papa-Paparrazi

With my cellphone, it's been a cinch
taking shots of food and travel.
I've long ditched my DSLR for the handy all-in-one gadget.

Maybe it’s just as well that Bellini—as well as other photographers, of any genre—have laid down their Leicas and Nikons. The current culture of Me, Me, Me and anyone who can hack an online account has taken away a significant chunk of the paparazzi’s power, and the need to spring attacks to show how celebrities look and act when stripped of glamor and polish. Anyone with a mobile phone can now act just as despicably—or honorably, as revelations can swing both ways. Anyone with just enough crazy and lack of conscience can be a harbinger of the truth, whatever truth it may be.

№ 281. Palate Wonderland

Toilet door at VASK

Two Sundays ago, we had fun dining in this feast-of-the-senses, molecular-gastronomy-inspired bar and restaurant in the quiet side of the Bonifacio Global City.

Because it was drizzling that early evening, we missed out on the al fresco night view of Makati. No matter. The snappy service made up for that missed opportunity. And both the edible and non-edible art pieces more than satisfied the senses.

Scallop and Black Ink Risotto: Squid Ink, Tinawon
Heirloom Rice, Parmesan Chips and Green Asparagus

№ 264. Food Porn and Feasting Festival

"The World Street Food Congress 2016 (WSFC16) will be held in the Philippines, what CNN calls one of “the world best food destinations”.

№ 229. Feast of the Senses

№ 228. Jiro is a Borg

"While watching it, I found myself drawn into the mystery of this man. Are there any unrealized wishes in his life? Secret diversions? Regrets? If you find an occupation you love and spend your entire life working at it, is that enough? Standing behind his counter, Jiro notices things. Some customers are left-handed, some right-handed. That helps determine where they are seated at his counter. As he serves a perfect piece of sushi, he observes it being eaten. He knows the history of that piece of seafood. He knows his staff has recently started massaging an octopus for 45 minutes and not half an hour, for example. Does he search a customer's eyes for a signal that this change has been an improvement? Half an hour of massage was good enough to win three Michelin stars. You realize the tragedy of Jiro Ono's life is that there are not, and will never be, four stars."

Ooma in Megamall has one of the best Gyozas in town.

№ 210. Hangry?! Let's Eat Al Desko, Mkay?

These are new words according to the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary. Awesomesauce!

№ 180. Venice Through Square Lenses

St. Mark's Square at 7 AM, May 2014. Pre-wedding photo deals are,
I think, trending among Chinese. I saw a few of these
during the three-day stay.  

It's been three months since the late spring visit. I finally have the time to post these itinerant snap shots.

Venice, after my first visit more than ten years ago, has lost none of its magic. It's still littered with tourists and their trash. This time there are more Chinese than Japanese and Americans combined. I was one of them.

St. Mark's appears half-emptied after the tourists dispersed,
mostly back to Mestre. Venice, May 2014.

№ 157. Cafeteria at the Edge of the Universe

 

№ 152. Edge of the Word

Little Sparrows

He quivers,
a pat of butter
on skillet.

She's ice cube.
All it takes is his
Warm patience.

More? He asks.
Yes! Yes. Oh God yes.
Lips bitten.

№ 135. Day 2 of Monsoons: A fine sushi lunch

№ 110. Binondo Rising: Part 1

Say "Ahh" for Tikoy, kid.

Binondo is still a study in controlled chaos.

Many Filipinos already know that Binondo is home to Manila's Chinatown. Many Chinese-Filipinos call it their spiritual home, I think, mainly because it's a transplant of their roots in China. I had lived in Binondo for almost two decades before college beckoned me to the hills of Valencia.

Binondo is so different now and yet oddly familiar in equal parts.

For one, it has become gentrified: cleaner, although the esteros still stink; littered less with horse manure and other organic refuse; and, freshened up with new high rises and coats of paint. Another reason for the ambivalence is while I can still eat at the staple restaurants like The President's, Eng Bee Tin, Ha Yuan and Country Chicken, et cetera, there are many that have already upgraded while a few have not done so well.

Fried garlicky peanuts, chicha-corn
(dried and  fried crisp with coconut oil) and other street delights.

№ 85.Habits of the Mind (2)

Anxious. Here's a balm: "Making Paper Boats with Papa".

Open publication - Free publishing

№ 84. Habits of the Mind

It's the climate change on a planetary scale, for starters. Then there are the rabid monsoons. Did we mention the floods thick with our sewage and rich with our possessions? How about the waste segregation floating on our dead rivers?

It's all the irresponsibility and ineptness in this vast urban sinkhole.

"Anxiety: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease
about something with an uncertain outcome."---David Mansaray

And talk about another habit of the mind---anxiety. Anxiety because of and amidst all of these.

Thankfully, it's one that can be cured by a simple smack or noogie. Thankfully, the cure is mainly mental not planetary. But if you wish, it could also be physical, a break from an unproductive helplessness that's fast becoming a pattern, or worse, a cycle. It's this loopy possibility that can be self-defeating.

Daniel Smith says, "Anxious thoughts — the what-if’s, the should-have-been’s, the never-will-be’s — are dramatic thoughts. They are compelling thoughts. They are thoughts that have no compunction about seizing you by your lapels and shouting, “Listen to me! Believe me!” So we listen, and believe, without realizing that by doing so we are stepping onto a closed loop, a set of mental tracks that circle endlessly and get us nowhere. This makes the anxious habit very hard to break. Over time those mental tracks deepen and become hardened ruts. Our thoughts slip into grooves of illogic, hypervigilance and catastrophe."

So here's a smack! Figurative, for now.

--------

"One day last year, I called my brother Scott in a state of agitation, self-hatred and incipient despair. Scott was at work and short on time. I got straight to the point. 'I’m in a state of agitation, self-hatred and incipient despair!' I cried.

'Tell me more,' Scott said. 'What is it?'

'I'm anxious — again! I’m anxious day and night. I wake up anxious and I go to bed anxious. I’m a total wreck. And I’m not doing anything to help myself! I know what helps and I’m not doing it! What’s wrong with me? Why am I not doing the things I know full well will make me feel better?'

Vice Grips and Some Such

'Oh,' Scott said. 'That’s an easy one. It’s because you’re an idiot.' Then he said he’d call me after work. (NYT Opinionator)