COOKING FOR HEROES

When Bryan of Fire Water Husband submitted his theme idea (and interest to host) in an email thread about forthcoming Lasang Pinoy events, I was initially dumbstruck. What, indeed, given the chance, would I cook for a hero? Given the list of prominent Filipinos declared as national heroes, the second challenge was to choose a hero to cook for. A very brief exchange of ideas with my friend and housemate Bum Tenorio helped me decide on Andres Bonifacio who is regarded as the “Father of the Philippine Revolution.”

However, while listening to a lecture on JUAN LUNA by Ambeth Ocampo, Chairman of the National Historical Institute, as Sitio Remedios in Ilocos Norte paid homage to the 150^th birth anniversary of the artist last 27th October 2007, I immediately changed my mind and discarded the initial draft of an entry I have already written about Bonifacio. The lecture with very interesting anecdotes and never before seen photographic presentation about the artist’s life got me inspired.

JUAN LUNA y NOVICIO, the first internationally known Filipino painter was born in Badoc, the southernmost town of Ilocos Norte, on 24^th October 1857. LUNA passed away in Hong Kong on 7^th December 1899.

The Luna family moved to Manila in 1861 where LUNA went to study in Ateneo Municipal de Manila and Escuela Nautica de Manila. He began his formal art training at the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura in Intramuros, studying under Filipino artist Lorenzo Guerrero.

At a young age of 20 in 1877, he left for Madrid, Spain, to continue his studies in painting at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. There, major awards established his reputation as master Filipino painter in Europe. The awards include one of the 3 gold medals in the 1884 Exposicion National de Bellas Artes in Madrid for “Spoliarium” and another special gold award in the 1888 Exposicion Universal de Barcelona for “La Batalla de Lepanto,” a work that was commissioned by the Spanish Senate with the consensus of Don Alfonso XXII, then the King of Spain.

And for the next decade or so, LUNA lived, worked, and traveled around Europe – Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, and primarily in Paris where he established residences and studios in different areas. It was in Paris that he met and married Paz Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho; raised two children – Andres (Luling), who then became the renowned architect Andres Luna de San Pedro and Maria de la Paz (Bibi), who passed away at age two. It was also in Paris where he was detained in jail for five months for the alleged murder of his wife Paz and mother-in-law Doña Juliana Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho. He was absolved of the crime and paid 40 francs for documentary stamps. He then moved back to Madrid with his son and continued painting.

In May 1894, a year after the tragic events in his life and after 17 years of absence, LUNA arrived in Manila from Barcelona with his son Luling and brother Antonio. My entry to Lasang Pinoy 21 takes off from here . . .

AN ILOCANO FEAST

Seventeen years is a long time to be away from home. Being away in a foreign land also meant not eating food one has been used to. Even though it is said (supposedly in a book published by Ateneo de Manila which I have yet to read) that LUNA’s mother-in-law, Doña Juliana Pardo de Tavera, would prepare Filipino dishes for their guests during special gatherings in Paris, it would still be almost impossible to fully recreate the real flavour of Filipino dishes if limited to using only locally-available ingredients. This is based on my own experiences while I was away from the Philippines for fourteen years.

For LUNA’s homecoming, I will organize a grand “bienvenida” (welcome) event fit for a king where he and guests will partake on a feast of delectable spread that will feature traditional, home-cooked Filipino and Spanish-inspired dishes which he has been possibly accustomed to eating during his early years in Manila, and not to forget – dishes which originated from his native Ilocos Norte province, which, he may have already forgotten.

The Ilocano fare in the spread will be a bit more extensive than its other counterpart regional dishes that will be served. Exotic Ilocano dishes will indeed be the highlight of the feast.

The hardy Ilocano fare will include the succulent (1) pokpoklo seaweed and tomato salad; the seasonal (5) abuus (delectable eggs of fire ants sautéed in tomatoes); piping hot and sour sinanglaw (soup made of cow or goat sweetmeats cooked in onions, garlic, kamias, and bile for the bittersweet taste that the late food guru Doreen Fernandez identified as uniquely Ilocano); the ubiquitous (2) pinakbet (a medley of freshly harvested garden vegetables stewed in anchovy paste); the cholesterol-deadly (3) bagnet (deep fried pork belly) served with KBL or kamatis-bagoong-lasona condiment; ipon (white fish fry of the dulong variety, sautéed with peppercorns); dinardaraan (dry Ilocano version of dinuguan, meat stewed in its own blood); the igado (pork, liver, green peas and bell peppers cooked in vinegar and black pepper); the (6) poqui-poqui (mashed, boiled eggplant sauteed with tomatoes and eggs); and the original (4) Batac empanada made of mashed mung bean (monggo) sprouts, longganiza, and whole hard-boiled egg wrapped in annatto coloured thin pastry dough deep-fried to a golden crisp and served with sukang Iloco (black Ilocano vinegar), garlic and onion dipping sauce.

For desserts, everyone will be treated to inkalti (trunk of the male papaya cooked in molasses); (1) impaltaw (glutinous rice wrapped in coconut leaves and cooked in molasses); lubi lubi (boiled green bananas mashed with margarine, molasses and other ingredients, the Ilocano version of nilupak); dudol (another rice cake made of powdered glutinous rice with coconut milk and molasses, similar to the majablanca); as well as (2) tupig, (3) nilapet, patupat (other Ilocano variations of the suman).

And maybe, LUNA will get to try the first (4) pinakbet pizza in the world direct from Herencia Cafe in Paoay!

Mangan tayon!

Related Posts:

1. Lasang Pinoy 13: DEFINITIVE PINOY [ Lasang Pinoy 1st Anniversary ]
2. Lasang Pinoy 15: Recycled, Reloaded!
3. Celebrating Lasang Pinoy’s First Anniversary
4. Lasang Pinoy 17: EGG’S A DEAL!