February 2016 Volume 10 | Issue 6
EDIBLE ARCHIVES
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CR AF T
GOOD HAIR DAY
A dry shampoo that takes out the grease from your crowning glory TEXT, STYLING, AND PHOTOGRAPHY INA AMOR MEJIA
DRY SHAMPOO What you’ll need: Half a cup of cornstarch 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder A few drops of basil essential oil (optional) Kabuki brush or large makeup brush Clean mason jar or salt shaker
Procedure: 1. Combine the cornstarch and the cocoa powder. 2. Add a few drops of essential oil (optional). 3. Gently massage the dry shampoo on the scalp and let sit for about 3 minutes. 4. Remove any excess powder with the brush. 5. Store the dry shampoo in a mason jar or salt shaker.
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M ARKET
COMFORT ZONE PHOTOGRAPHY CHOLA TOLENTINO
1. Glass pot, P645, Muji, Greenbelt 3. 2. Iris extract activating essence treatment, P2,450, Kiehl’s, Greenbelt 5. 3. Shampoo, P1,150, Muji, Greenbelt 3. 4. Soap pump, P930, True Home, Greenbelt 5. 5. Towel, P300, True Home, Greenbelt 5. 6. Sink, P19,110, La Europa Ceramica Tile Center, Robins Design Center. 7. Faucet, P23,740, La Europa Ceramica Tile Center, Robins Design Center. 8. Soap dish, P930, True Home, Greenbelt 5. 9. Body and hand lotion, P3,250, Jo Malone, Greenbelt 5. 10. Silk groom serum, P1,235, Kiehl’s, Greenbelt 5. 11. Hand cream, P1,498, L:a Bruket, Univers, One Rockwell East Tower. 12. Towel, P1,295, Dimensione, Bonifacio High Street.
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SHOT ON LOCATION LA EUROPA CERAMICA TILE CENTER, ROBINS DESIGN CENTER
The indispensables and dispensables of bathroom intimacies
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COV ER STORY
HEAD OF THE TABLE
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COV ER STORY
Chiffon blouse, P1,995, Sfera, SM City Makati.
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COV ER STORY
On Happy: Pullover, P2,250, Debenhams, Rustan’s Makati. On Rod: Long-sleeved shirt, P2,450, Perry Ellis, SM Aura Premier.
Both Rod and Happy have treated their family restaurants as their first training grounds (right). Although Rod originated the concept, his mother Chit improved the recipe of the Crispy Pata we know today (below).
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COV ER STORY
“The main thing I consider in building a restaurant is coming up with something first and different.” Revisiting the legacy of the clan who made an influence on our dining culture long before Crispy Pata even bore its name TEXT PRISTINE L. DE LEON PHOTOGRAPHY ARTU NEPOMUCENO
Crispy Pata is Rod Ongpauco’s proud—if not accidental—invention. Though he was convinced not to attend the shoot today (the first in a few years), Rod now stands in the living room clad in a suit, and someone from our team whispers to us, “I just really want to shake his hand and say thank you [for Crispy Pata].” Long before it became a staple, a guilty pleasure, and the archetypal centerpiece of any Filipino fête, matriarch of the clan and Barrio Fiesta founder Chit Ongpauco told her son Rod to stop selling Crispy Pata, in turn frustrating a local crowd with a newfound mania for the deep-fried pork. Rod then set out on his own, with sacks of pride making up for the lack of cash, and elevated the Crispy Pata from a cult favorite to a household staple. “The main thing I consider in building a restaurant,” shares Rod, “is coming up with something first and different.” It was in Chit’s kitchen that Rod’s influence took hold. “Mama Chit [told us to] stop treating friends [to the restaurant], so I got leftover lechon, seasoned it with patis and betsin, and deep fried it.” While we’ve all since pigged out on the crispy paa ng lechon, back then it was laughable, almost nonsensical, to purchase a paper bag full of it. To Rod, though, “it was a kind of unexplained feeling when God gives you a gift.” He sold it for three pesos a piece and soon enough, Barrio Fiesta became known for serving the notorious Crispy Pata. Mama Chit’s eventual prodding for him to pay due expenses for the income he was earning resulted to a brawl that lead him to stop selling in the restaurant and instead open up his own. A friend who owned a funeral parlor lent him coffin makers to construct a second Barrio Fiesta. This was a time when branching out was practically alien to the public. “It was called Barrio Fiesta Balot-Balot House. . . It was discouraging at first; customers were trying to buy balut or penoy at the restaurant.” Soon enough, though, movie producers and celebrities were taking out Crispy Pata by the palayok. “I know about the food scene in 1965 only from the older generation,” shares food writer Clinton Palanca. “But what everyone seems to agree on is that there
weren’t many restaurants back then-people mostly ate at home-and not many were Filipino restaurants. So to go out to eat Filipino food was a bit odd, but you’d do so if you could get something that you couldn’t readily cook at home. So Crispy Pata was a perfect centerpiece dish.” Over years of turning far-fetched concepts into unparalleled hits, Rod has established a colony of restaurants and done a host of firsts for local dining: the first lechon manok at Bakahan at Manukan, the first Pinoy food servings on banana leaves, the first “IhawIhaw,” the first Singing Cooks and Waiters that saw the staff singing and dancing to the pompous tunes of the ’80s, the era when his restaurants were not only novelties but tours de force. Back at the shoot, Rod nitpicks one of the dishes that his daughter Happy prepared. “Ano ba ito? You put bagoong in the egg.” “I just got the creativity from you, Dad,” she retorts. Taking her cue from her father, chef Happy OngpaucoTiu made her mark in an industry that was once shaped by Rod and Chit but now nearly belongs to a generation over whom Barrio Fiesta wields a waning influence. Arguably, the family restaurant stands as a sentimental structure that recalls how Filipinos used to dine, before the fads and the fusions took the stage. It’s natural to presume that the craft is in the Ongpaucos’ blood, yet upon closer inspection, we’d see that it’s the culture passed through generations that has really made the chef. “In the summers, [my sisters and I] were required to work. I was seven, selling outside all the kakanins, billing out customers, running around. For us, it was play, but for [my dad], it was really training.” She had a papaya farm in Antipolo which would supply fruits to the family restaurants. “He didn’t give us allowance. Our money came from that.” A decade later, Rod’s Singing Cooks and Waiters was theirs to helm. “[But] I’m sorry to say that I fired them, one at a time,” recalls Rod, which Happy rebuts with this little detail in good humor: “Actually, he fired my sisters! I don’t know why he’s saying he fired me!” After formal culinary training, Happy now has several restaurants to her name.
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SHOT ON LOCATION PAMANA AT TAGAYTAY HAIR ANGELU DOMINGUEZ MAKEUP CAMILLE VILLARUEL
“Airfares had gotten more reasonable so more people traveled . . . The Japanese, Italian, and Thai restaurants really boomed during that time. . .There were already the beginnings of a modern Filipino food scene.”
Knit top, P1,950, Debenhams, Rustan’s Makati.
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FEAT URE
CATCHING NATURALLY OCCURRING FIRE How we can change the way we power our lives through the way we live TEXT LEX CELERA
When the phrase “solar energy” comes to mind, the image that usually accompanies it is a flat plot of land in an arid desert, large sheets of steel with wide glass faces basking in the sun. There’s nothing organic nor natural about these structures in the middle of nowhere, about power surging from these seemingly miraculous devices. But concerned voices are getting louder about how, in the face of impending global environmental crisis, a renewable energy source is needed more than ever, from large industries to the confines of our homes. The prospect of solar energy isn’t new, yet why don’t more people use it? Author Andrew Smith has said that people fear what they don’t understand, and solar energy is admittedly confusing. How can sunlight charge a phone battery? Wouldn’t a power source that relies on weather be intermittent? The sun sets as much as it rises; how cost-effective would solar power be compared to other energy sources? Like all technologies, solar panels have gone cheaper since they were first introduced. Their usefulness, however, doesn’t degrade the environment as much as,
say, the latest smartphone. There has been sunlight far longer than humanity has existed, and harnessing the power of nature doesn’t seem like a bad idea when it has more than one benefit. Whether you care for the environment or for your own pocket, going solar looks like a brighter option now more than ever with companies like Yes! Solar. The people behind it, Alex and Sara Black, take the promotion of solar energy as their advocacy to save the earth without compromising financial integrity. Alex, the company founder, calls it “a movement away from traditional sources of energy and toward a modern way of energy consumption. It is about sustainable and responsible stewardship of our environment.” Having a conversation about the way we live is already a step towards a more sustainable lifestyle where consumers have a voice. Carlo Canieso, business development manager of Yes! Solar, puts its well: “Your utility provider dictates the price of electricity; you don’t have control over it. Rates have increased and spiked. Having solar [energy in your home] means having more control because you produce your own.”
Yes! Solar Philippines. info@yessolarphilippines.com. 425-5021.
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ST YLE
On Kim: Off-shoulder dress, P3,495, Topshop, Alabang Town Center. On Kyong: Sleeveless dress, P1,475 Forever 21, SM Aura Premier.
BEHIND OPEN DOORS A pair teetering between the delicate and the unrestrained STYLING EDLENE CABRAL PHOTOGRAPHY CENON NORIAL III
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ST YLE
On Kyong: Dress, Lanvin, 8 Rockwell.
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ST YLE
On Kyong: Dress, Lanvin, 8 Rockwell. On Kim: Dress, P2,199, Sfera, SM City Makati.
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SOUTHERN living
HAIR BULLET REYES MAKEUP CHUCHIE LEDESMA OF MAYBELLINE NEW YORK
MODEL KIM AND KYONG OF ELITE MANILA SHOT ON LOCATION THE HENRY HOTEL
On Kim: Long-sleeved shirt, P1,999, Sfera, SM City Makati. Skirt, P915, Forever 21, SM City Makati. On Kyong: Long-sleeved blouse, P2,199, Sfera, SM City Makati. Trousers, P2,295, Dorothy Perkins, Power Plant Mall.
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EATS If there’s one dish you would have to try at Roux, let it be the Beef Bourguignon— thickened with roux, local mushrooms, and a potato purée.
PARDON HIS FRENCH
A seasoned chef’s take on the French-American fast casual bistro TEXT LEX CELERA PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA
The term “chef-driven” seems simple enough, but what does it imply about the restaurant’s kitchen? For chef Joseph Margate, it means being given the creative freedom to handle a restaurant not through compartmentalized sections but in its totality. Simply put, at the chefdriven Roux, Margate was given the space to declare as his own. The result is a French-American bistro that hosts a more relaxed setting compared to other French joints. “The dishes will be presented in basic, clean lines—what I like to call ‘refined rustic’—with not too many garnishes to clutter the dish,” the chef professes. For starters, try the Spaghetti with Spanish Sardines and Roasted Garlic Butter, or any of the other five variations of spaghetti
available on the menu; spaghetti is a personal favorite of Margate. Follow it up with what Margate hails as the star of Roux’s menu, the Beef Bourguignon. The beef is soft and tender, lying on a bed of rich broth with whipped potatoes, a dish that defies those who plan on having just a spoonful of it. It’s a French classic, a perfect example of the cuisine as a source of comfort instead of mere pomp. For dessert, get a spoonful of the Banana Tarte Tatin with salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream—light and puffy textures mesh well with the softness of the ice cream, and the flavor is heightened by the salted caramel sauce. Of course, all the other dishes are worth a try. Based on them, “chef-driven” becomes synonymous
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with passion that comes from Margate’s experiences. In a city where French-American restaurants are few and far in between, Margate simply wants to reinvent French cuisine into something more approachable. “I don’t want diners to think they’re in Paris. I want them to feel that they’re still in Manila but trying something new. I want it to be a good balance of adventurous and friendly,” he says. Roux is not a half-baked concept that jumps on the bandwagon of other chef-driven restaurants. Rather, it makes its own name and soon its own place on the local food map. Ignore the finer details and simply enjoy your meal, or keep your inquisitive eyes peeled for the smaller things.
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EATS Clockwise from left: Cured Salmon; the Mathilde, Roux’s version of sangria; Black Pepper Tuna Steak with couscous, olives, yogurt, and harissa.
Roux. Level 2, Greenbelt 3, Greenbelt, Makati City. 729-0467. www.facebook.com/rouxph.
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RECIPE
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RECIPE
POTATO CORNER Giving the boring potato a facelift TEXT AND STYLING CHARLIE CARBUNGCO PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA
HASSELBACK POTATO ES
INGREDIENTS
4 to 5 small potatoes 1/2 cup softened butter 4 to 5 sage leaves 4 to 5 dried mushrooms Rock salt to taste
PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to180째C. 2. Peel the potatoes and shave some flesh to achieve a smooth round shape. Slice the potatoes crosswise 3/4 of the way. 3. Place them on a small baking pan or tray and brush with butter. Tuck sage and dried mushrooms into the slits, and season with rock salt. 4. Bake for around 20 to 25 minutes. Brush the potatoes with butter occasionally for that extra crisp.
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T HE GET
PERFECT STROKES
History and craftsmanship create an excellent coiffeur's tool TEXT RENZ NOLLASE
In Acca Kappa, the hair brush takes the spotlight as a historic piece, developed through collaborations with industry professionals: men and women we trust to tuck, trim, and cut that most important of accessory: our mane. Since 1896 H. Crull & C. has produced a line of renowned quality brushes ergonomically designed to ease the untangling of unruly locks. Their creations range from simple combs to styling brushes designed for professionals. Part of this professional line is the pneumatic brush made of Kotibe wood and heat resistant pins that massages the scalp improving circulation, while its rubber cushion absorbs and distributes pressure evenly for a gentle brushing action. For the harried populace who rely on quick fixes and on-the-go solutions, one hundred brush strokes seem too daunting a task to complete, leaving the hair brush a neglected tool. But there is comfort in the hypnotic motion of bristles untangling locks that evoke memories of afternoon siestas spent on a mother’s lap: the gentle caress of fingers calming boisterous children to sleep. This time, however, instead of a refreshing snooze, one gets a healthy scalp and a shiny, tamed mane.
Acca Kappa. Rustan’s Makati. 813-3739 loc. 243.
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