I want to go to Batanes!

Yup, that is the first blog/post of one of the many places I want to go to in the Philippines.

As I've said and noted here in this blog, this is just a "remind me" blog of yummy recipes/food I want to taste/cook AND a list of things to do and places to go to.

I've been to most "touristy" areas in the Philippines. While I must admit I have not travelled that extensively, I can "boasts" that I've been to Luzon, Visayas and Minadanao.

In Luzon, I've been to Baguio and La Union as far as north. As far as Bicol, Laguna, Batangas, Cavite, Metro-Manila in the south. And Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan and Olongapo in central Luzon.

In the Visayas, I've been to Cebu, of course; Tagbilaran (a couple of hours on the pier... hehehee enroute to Dumaguete City to attend The 13th Rizal Youth Leadership Training Institute in Silliman University... hey fellow RYLTI'ers I am "pedia"!), and Dumaguete. I've travelled in Palawan semi-extensively and of course, to Boracay in Aklan.

In Mindanao, I've been to Zamboanga City for a week while on vacation when I was small. My Ate Aida use to live there with her family. That was my first airplane flight!

Now as for Batanes, this is what I came up with:

"There's no other place in the Philippines as beautiful as Batanes, says Asian Spirit executive vice president Joaquin Po. (Of course, they are the only airline that flies there!)

The island boasts of a mixture of Hispanic and Oriental cultures aside from the natural beauty of its untouched forests and sparkling, blue waters. Here is where the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea meet in a majestic clash of waves that surrounds Batanes. From the cold northern winds that plow through the famed Marlboro Country, the 155 steps of the Chawa Viewdeck all the way to the romantic view of the cliffs and waters from both the Sabtang and Basco Lighthouses, Batanes often gives tourists the impression of being in another place and time."

According to Roel H Manipon, in his Daily Tribune article entitled: Capturing the Romance of Batanes; which is actually about the movie Batanes by Adolfo Ali Jr.

"The waves are towering, and the cliffs and hills, blanketed in green grass, resonate with beautiful desolation. The villages are quaint and quiet, and life moves in a pensive pace. Many people who have been to Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippines made up of small islands strewn between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, swear that the place is like no other in the country.

I immediately fell in love with the place. I didn't think there was such a place in the Philippines that mixes the beauty of Greece, Tibet and New Zealand, exclaimed young filmmaker Adolfo Ali, Jr. The landscapes, the mountains and the raging waves. Wow! No amount of words can actually describe the beauty of Batanes.

For him, Batanes is a perfect place to fall in love. It complements the beauty and heartache of love in general with its landscape and raging seas."

According to Anita Feleo in her article: Batanes: Another World:

"Batanes is not for tourists out to shoot Kodakchrome views. It is rather for those still blessed with a sense of wonder, for whom uncharted roads lead to discovery. There are plans to urbanize Batanes. The young are agog: the old dread change. In the old days, the Ivatan believed that when they die they become stars. On cloudless nights, the Ivatan's dark world is lit by hundreds of brilliant stars. Up there is balm to pain of change. Up there is a cairn to folk memory."

While I have not seen Batanes, the movie; I've heard so much of the bahay na bato (stone house) of Basco, Batanes and the Babuyan Islands that inspires me to go there and experience the place. So Batanes is definitely on my list. See you there!

Kesong Puti

Above courtesy of Pinoyfoodtalk.net as lifted from Green Grocer. It shows the Pan de Sal and the Kesong Puti.
I just wanted to remind myself of the white cheese to spur me on to make some!


Well it all started with a liter of rancid milk.

We usually buys a two liter jugs of fresh full cream milk. We normally consume that much due to my grandson, Kallen being still on the bottle. Plus we usually have capuccino whenever we have the time make it.

But this week, we somehow was too busy to make coffee. I though of making white cheese, as we have in the old country. Being from Cavite, I tasted this cheese and relished it with hot pan de sal or Filipino bread. White cheese is usually made from carabao's milk. So I googled a recipe and found one. This one was posted by Kayenne So from a recipe from San Miguel, Bulacan.

But instad of making the white cheese, I followed and read Kayenne's posts at Green Grocers and Chef Kayenne. Saw some interesting links, like Oggi's I Can DoThat, a lady from Virginia, USA to Dhanggit's Kitchen. Another Filipina now living in Provence, France.

So here I am still reading and looking at these mouth watering recipe's without my white cheese. We did bought another 2 liter jug of milk and a small block of fetta cheese, but still too lazy to make that kesong puti. The fetta is different from the white cheese I love.

Maybe before the milk expires, I will make that cheese. All I need is a cheese cloth and a bit of effort.

Orange and thyme roasted olives and Antipasto & Tapas Bar

Antipasto Photo by Ben Dearnly

I've seen this recipe in a Daily Telegraph paper (page 17, 20 Nov 2007). As seen on the super food ideas (SFI) TV, according to the spiel.

"Recipe of the Week: SFI food editor Kim Coverdale shares her best entertaining tips and advice (I guess in the SFI TV show or mag?? Check the link.). This week: a wonderful way with olives!

Serves 8 to 10

1 orange, rind thinly peeled with a vegetable peeler, juiced

375g jar Green Valley Greek pitted kalamata olives (or whatever brand kalamata you can find, obviously!), drained

350g jar Green Valley Spanish pitted black olives, drained

450g jar Green Valley premium stuffed queen olives (no nationality! :)...), drained

or 460g Green Valley stuffed olives, drained

10 sprigs fresh thyme

6 garlic cloves, peeled

1/3 cup Moro olive oil

Assorted antipasto ingredients (see you local Italian or any Deli), to serve

1. Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Combine orange rind, orange juice, olives, thyme, garlic and oil in a large ceramic baking dish (How easy is that!). Roast for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Remove from oven.

2. Serve olives warm as part of an antipasto platter."

I love antipasto and tapas. Whenever possible friends, families and I go out in a nice Spanish restaurant and just order tapas. Here in Sydney, some of my favorite Spanish restaurants (which I can afford!) are in the "Spanish quarter" in Liverpool St in the city CBD.

One of the first ones I've been to is Miro Tapas Bar. Also I've been to a couple of times to the oldest and original in that street, Capitan Torres.

In Don Quixote Restaurant just off Liverpool St on Kent St, they make a mean lechon de leche or roasted pork yearling... very very tender you can cut the meat with an ordinary plate!

Like Thai retaurants, they are sprouting all over the place now, Newtown, Darlinghurst and Newtown to name a few. There is also this one in Glebe Point Road with a Filipino cook. Maybe its time to get re-acquainted with tapas again! With a nice Spanish sherry or a cool Sangria. Salud! Ola!

Welcome to my Yummy recipe collections.

Well it's not my recipes, its just recipes that I collected so I can make them (or ask the wife to make them for me!) one of these days.

Until that "time" comes, at least I know where they are. You are most welcome to try these recipes and if you find them yummy or whatever, please leave a comment or something.

Better still you can invite me and we will try them together :)...

I am a foodie, or I try to pretend to be one. I love eating food (which I think makes me a foodie pretend to be, I got to start somewhere!) and I am one to try at least one dish or food. I am that adventurous when it comes to eating, nothing goes to waste.

Love watching those food and travel shows... it makes sense. You are in the comfort of your own home and it's not expensive. You do get all the good tips and when you do have the time and budget to go out, then you are at least prepared.

From time to time I will also post places I would love to go to and places I've been. At least I can give back to you tips of what to watch out for or what to look for. In short travel tips.