Southern Living: 2017 December

December 2017 Volume 12 | Issue 04

GOOD TIDINGS

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CONT ENTS 12 SOUTHERNER The well-kept secrets of Cavite, according to a food historian

16 COVER STORY Creative couple Ryan and Garovs Vergara celebrate the season

Cover photo by Cenon Norial III 24 EATS A Poblacion tap room is putting beer in everything

DECEMBER 2017 04 FIXTURE Tracing the origins of caroling

26 RECIPE Cured egg yolk livens up a salad

06 HEALTH How to eat smart at Christmas feasts

28 THE GET Japanese liquor to lift the holiday spirit

EDITOR’S NOTE Great divide “For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more,” wrote John Steinbeck in The Pearl. A story on greed and the nature of man, Steinbeck’s novel reveals that “luck…brings bitter friends.” As traditions of the holiday season call for lavish celebrations, especially here where wealth is displayed as a badge, the divide between social classes becomes even more ostensible. While most people scramble to survive, December gives companies

an excuse to sell more and consumers to buy needlessly.

We want to change that mindset. In this issue, we ask notable voices what they’d like to give this Christmas with sustainability in mind; pool together music experts to discuss caroling; and coax a food historian to tour us around his hometown.

However, the spotlight is on visual arts duo Everywhere We Shoot, who has been behind the camera for so long, we felt that it was time the lens was turned on them.

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SOUTHERN living

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GROUP PUBLISHER BEA J. LEDESMA ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR BEA CELDRAN ASSOCIATE EDITOR ALYOSHA J. ROBILLOS ONLINE ASSOCIATE EDITOR PAULINE MIRANDA EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS OLIVER EMOCLING, BEA LLAGAS, YAZHMIN MALAJITO, ANTHEA REYES CREATIVE DIRECTOR NIMU MUALLAM ART DIRECTOR EDRIC DELA ROSA ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR DANICA CONDEZ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER AND VIDEOGRAPHER PATRICK SEGOVIA, NICCOLLO SANTOS INTERNS JV DELA CRUZ, MANU FERNANDO CONTRIBUTORS WRITERS GRAI ALVAR, JOSCEPHINE GOMEZ, SEPTEMBER GRACE MAHINO PHOTOGRAPHERS CENON NORIAL III, TRISTAN TAMAYO STYLISTS GRAI ALVAR, MELVIN MOJICA ILLUSTRATORS LEE CACES, MARK MAGNAYE HAIR AND MAKEUP AU DELA CRUZ COPY EDITOR SEPTEMBER GRACE MAHINO PROOFREADER ERIC NICOLE SALTA EDITORIAL CONSULTANT RIA FRANCISCO-PRIETO BOARD CHAIRPERSON ALEXANDRA PRIETO-ROMUALDEZ FINANCE ADVISOR AND TREASURER J. FERDINAND DE LUZURIAGA LEGAL ADVISOR ATTY. RUDYARD ARBOLADO HR STRATEGY HEAD RAYMUND SOBERANO VP AND CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER IMELDA ALCANTARA SVP AND GROUP SALES HEAD FELIPE R. OLARTE AVP FOR SALES MA. KATRINA MAE GARCIA-DALUSONG HEAD OF OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LURISA VILLANUEVA KEY ACCOUNTS SUPERVISOR ANGELITA TAN-IBAÑEZ SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES CHARM BANZUELO, ABBY GINAGA, LIZA JISON, THEA ORDIALES ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE ANDIE ZUÑIGA SALES SUPPORT ASSISTANTS RECHELLE ENDOZO, MANILYN ILUMIN ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR PAM BROOKE CASIN EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS SHARM DE SAN JOSE, KRYZETTE PAPAGAYO, CHRISTELLE TOLISORA SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES SHANNA MALING, SARAH CABALATUNGAN ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE INA MATEO SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST JAYCELINE SORIANO GRAPHIC ARTISTS CHEE FLORES, NICO ORTIGOZA, KRISTINE PAZ PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION MANAGER JAN CARIQUITAN PRODUCTION ASSISTANT MARICEL GAVINO FINAL ART SUPERVISOR DENNIS CRUZ FA ARTIST ARGYL LEONES MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER JELLIC TAPIA TRADE MARKETING SUPERVISOR BIANCA DALUMPINES BRAND MARKETING SUPERVISOR MA. INA RODRIGUEZ BRAND MARKETING ASSISTANT NICOLE USON EVENTS ASSISTANT MERJORIE YOUNG SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST ROI DE CASTRO

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MERRY MELODIES The business and tradition of caroling, as told by a pool of musicians TEXT JOSCEPHINE GOMEZ ILLUSTRATION MARK MAGNAYE

The month-long celebration of Christmas in the Philippines is highlighted by the singing of carols, hymns, and folk tunes, especially after misa de gallo or the midnight mass. The tradition of caroling began as the group singing of villancicos in Spain. As a Spanish colony for 333 years, the Philippines eventually took it on as its own tradition.

Carolers may be neighborhood kids singing at the gate or doorstep of a house, or professional groups “contracted” or hired to sing in private residences or in public places.

As far as any Filipino generation could remember, caroling was simplified by going house to house without prior notice where belting kids would be given coins and bills by the homeowners. “When I was in the University of the Philippines (UP) in the early ’80s, our choir would go caroling at chosen residences, mostly of the affluent, though letters would be properly sent to them beforehand,” says mezzo-soprano Maricris Joaquin. The carolers would be given either cash or a check, and it was common for the homeowners to prepare dinner or snacks.

“When I conducted the Ateneo de Manila University Glee Club, we would write letters to prominent alumni for permission to carol in their homes. We would prepare 15 to 20 minutes of standard repertoire: Hark the Herald, How the Bells Ring, Deck the Halls. We also sang Filipino Christmas songs like Pasko Na Naman, Diwa ng Pasko, then end with Simbang Gabi. We’d bring our minus ones, at first, analog and then, digital,” says conductor Joel Navarro. The choir raked in a lot of money—up to the hundreds of thousands.

And in a span of 30 years, caroling has taken many forms—no longer the usual visits by small ensembles to houses or busking along street corners in snowy weather, which is still being done in the USA. Now, it can be serious business.

In the Philippines, caroling is imagined as kids with their tansan tambourines and the carols abbreviated whenever they get shooed away.

According to classical singer Benjamin Filippone, there are professional groups and there are larger volunteer groups with paid professionals. Some church choirs have a few paid singers, too. “There’s also what is called a flash mob where a group goes to a crowded place like a department store or a train

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station and starts singing among everyone as a surprise. It’s often spontaneous, unless it’s a choir that organizes caroling events,” he notes.

Even if you are paying, do expect the choir to stick to a repertoire. “I usually insist on a three-part program where Christmas carols are featured in the end. The first part consists of more familiar pieces; the second part, a more experimental repertoire; then I close with an almost participatory repertoire, ‘yung puwedeng sabayan,” says composer and conductor Raymond Roldan.

But caroling has evolved. From its quickcash rackets by street kids to benevolent acts of good will. “I remember going to a

government hospital for children in Manila with some friends to sing. It was organized by the late stage and film director Behn Cervantes.

In that case, we did not ask for money. Instead, we shared our songs with the sick and lonely,” says Joaquin. “Sometimes the carolers would prepare a script, like what the officers of the UP College of Music Alumni Association did in 2010. The script was about Christ’s nativity and had a narrative and songs.”

Despite having gone through century after century, caroling in the Philippines has not faded and continues to grow­ —from neighborhood kids looking to make a quick buck to the pros who can actually demand a price.

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HEALT H

NO EXCUSE FOR THE PALATE How to prevent overeating this holiday season TEXT BEA CELDRAN ILLUSTRATION DANICA CONDEZ

It’s that dreaded time of the year when we bid goodbye to fitness goals begrudgingly made at the start of the season. Even though we live in a tropical country, the drop in temperature during the holiday season is undeniable—it’s like a signal to the body to crave warmth in comfort food.

Before we start rejecting all the invitations to holiday dinners and their accompanying calorie-laden spreads, know that there are ways to prevent overeating and to stave off the feeling of bloatedness that comes after.

Don’t starve yourself It has become second nature to deprive ourselves of food when we know that a feast awaits us later—a common way of readying the stomach for the amount and variety of food we’d be taking in. However, starving yourself pre-party does more damage than good. Hunger pangs push you to overcompensate later, causing you to overeat. Rather than starving yourself, have a protein snack to get you through the hours before your holiday gathering. A banana-peanut butter smoothie, some lowsugar granola, an apple, a boiled egg, or even a handful of unsalted popcorn could stabilize Choose whole foods Practice self-control when it comes to refined your hunger and help pace your eating. carbohydrates. Consuming high glycemic foods, a.k.a. those with high sugar content, Eat like a bird spikes your body’s insulin, which is the My mother once asked a very slim septuagenarian hormone that balances blood glucose levels how she retains her figure, and she replied, “I eat and stores excess sugar directly in the body like a bird.” More often than not, when faced as fat. Choosing low glycemic foods like with a spread of various dishes, our all too human vegetables, Greek yogurt, nuts, and organic tendency is to try everything. Go for the healthiest meats will stabilize your appetite and satiate foods first, like salads, veggies, and grilled meats. hunger longer.

This way, you could have little bites of everything.

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THE NICE LIST

When stumped for gift ideas, go the sustainable and ethical route TEXT BEA CELDRAN ILLUSTRATION LEE CACES

The holiday rush frequently raises childhood memories of my mother dashing off to join the crowds in Divisoria to buy our Christmas presents.

There were even a few years when she would take me along with her and I would see garish representations of my favorite cartoon characters decorating the stalls in 168 Mall. We would buy items in wholesale, of course; mostly gifts that bore cheap plastic casings and were made in bulk in China. Unsurprisingly, anything that involved electric wiring never lasted more than a couple of months.

Now that I’m older and wiser, braving Divisoria during the holiday season is out of the question. And given the currently highlighted mindset to save the Earth in our own little way, why not give the gift of sustainability to your loved ones instead, and maybe even spark change in their lifestyles?

A few of today’s names in the green and creative fields share the eco-friendly gifts they’d give their loved ones this Christmas, and may their wishlists inspire the rest of us to follow suit.

Hindy Weber, founder, Holy Carabao Farm ‘‘The Holy Carabao X MNL Grow Kits Bahay Kubo plant kit. It’s great for everyone on your Christmas list, from children to adults. It comes with a biodegradable pot, rich soil, organic fertilizer, and organic local seeds from the Bahay Kubo song. It’s truly a gift that grows.’’

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Pacita “Chit” Juan, co-founder, ECHOstore Sustainable Lifestyle ‘‘A basket of local Specialty Arabica and Fine Robusta coffees sourced from the International Women’s Coffee Alliance Philippines chapter and the Philippine Coffee Board Inc. They have good Philippine coffee that’s sourced from Benguet to Sulu.’’

Tina Fernandez, owner, Artinformal Gallery and Aphro Living Art and Design ‘‘Stoneware pottery made by our local potters.

I work with very talented potters in my store and gallery, and they are quite well-known: Pablo Capati, Joey de Castro, John and Tessy Pettyjohn, to name a few. I use their products myself at home. They’re all hand-built, oneof-a-kind pieces you will not find anywhere else in the world.’’

Rita Nazareno, creative director, Zacarias 1925 ‘‘Card cases and keychains made by our talented leather makers at our workshop. I will also give Stoa Earth soaps, which are locally and ethically sourced and made in small batches, with ingredients like elemi, a local frankincense of sorts. They’re available at Aphro.’’

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A cookbook designer by profession, Ramos turned to food writing after designing Felice Sta. Maria’s The GovernorGeneral’s Kitchen in 2004.

SOUT SOUT HERNER HERNER

ROOTING FOR THE ROOTS Guillermo Ramos wants you to go to your local market and explore TEXT YAZHMIN MALAJITO PHOTOGRAPHY TRISTAN TAMAYO

When you’re accustomed to the convenience of grocery stores, it’s hard to find a reason to go to farmers’ markets. No air-conditioning, no shopping baskets and carts, and no credit cards? You might be thinking, “It doesn’t seem worth it.”

And that’s where Guillermo “Ige” Ramos comes in to tell you otherwise.

For this food historian, best deals and purveyors from farmers’ markets are more than enough reasons to support local markets more. “Go to the roots. Get to know the

source to skip middlemen and uphold the purveyors directly,” he says.

Purveyors—the most repeated word in our conversation—seems to have a special place in his heart. These sellers make up the underpinning of the award-winning food writer’s advocacy: to bolster the roots of our food and build them a pillar until they become the consumers’ first choice.

“We don’t need to build things up [to show development]. We need to work with what we have, like clean markets, make them

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SOUT HERNER Ramos’ food tour includes trips to Cavite City’s Dizon Bakery established in the ’30s, wet markets, and Tanza’s Calle Real restaurant

accessible, and identify and build a narrative about the foods in a locality,” says Ramos. By doing these, he believes that we don’t have to bring regional produce to Manila for fairs, or at least those from provinces close to the capital.

“That will just add carbon footprint. Food is always good when eaten in its locality anyway.”

Ramos, president of the non-profit organization Culinary Historians of the Philippines, is also known for heading food tours in Cavite called “Lasang Republika.”

This is where he brings tourists to some historical sites and presents to them food from an almost unknown cuisine made by the best purveyors in the province. “Cavite’s food is under the radar compared to those of Bicol, Ilocos, and Pampanga.”

The purveyors he features are those with solid histories and with legitimate sources of raw materials and ingredients. “People don’t normally divulge these data right away.

They’d first consider you a threat to their businesses, so I needed to forge relationships with them and develop trust,” he admits.

And, indeed, he’s one to trust. In fact, he’s known them for more than five years now: the alamang-based fish sauce makers in Tanza and Naic, the producers of organic longganisa from Imus, the tamales experts from Cavite City, and many more.

Now, Ramos is working on a series of books on the Southern Tagalog province. “Cavite is very big, so I had to divide the [series] into topographical regions. We have coastal, highlands, and midlands. The research is very anthropological, but I don’t want it to sound too academic,” he says.

Cavite is just the beginning for him.

Soon, Ramos will be releasing more books about nation-building, grassroots tourism, and farmers’ markets. “Somehow, I’m being pulled to this direction, valorizing culture,” he ponders. He’s prepared for the next few years to widen and deepen his advocacy with the arsenal of information he has collected during the last decade.

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THEIR KIND

OF CHRISTMAS

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The year may be winding down, but Garovs and Ryan Vergara are just gearing up for their next creative venture TEXT SEPTEMBER GRACE MAHINO PHOTOGRAPHY CENON NORIAL III AND EVERYWHERE WE SHOOT

The Christmas tree has been up at the Vergara household since early November, and it’s pretty true to form to Ryan and Garovs’ style: fun, colorful, on the right side of unconventional and chaotic. A green wig is caught among the branches, as if it had gone flying through the air then landed splat on the side of the tree, and a whitehaired bespectacled cloth doll sits at the top in lieu of the typical star. The couple isn’t sure yet, though, if the tree would simply be the first phase of their holiday décor or if that would be it for them when it comes to Christmas decorating. Another round of general cleaning would be needed to locate a box of holiday trinkets that is lost somewhere among the couple’s collections of artworks, shoes, photography equipment, and other doodads.

In the five years since they got married, the Vergaras have formed their own holiday traditions. In celebration of their first date, the couple goes to the first Simbang Gabi every year with the determination to attend all nine masses (they have yet to be successful). The 24th and the 25th are for family on both sides, though they hold pre-Christmas gatherings with friends in their own home. “But we serve take-out or call delivery,” Garovs admits; practical reasons aside, she has given up on slaving in the kitchen for these get-togethers since an attempt to cook pasta a couple of years ago ended with a Spaghetti Cake that none of the guests ate. There’s also no midnight giftgiving that goes on between the two, as they have usually picked out a costly item that they both like earlier in the year.

Not quite traditional practices by most Filipinos’ standards, but they work for the couple.

Twelve years since they established their identity as the photography and graphic design team Everywhere We Shoot, the

Vergaras now find themselves at a cross roads of sorts. As the Southern Living team sit down with them to eat a spread of children’s party fare—the same one the two played with during their cover shoot—Ryan reflects on the EWS trajectory for the past decade.“From 2005 to 2009, our works were all experimental, they were all arts-inclined.

We were kind of arrogant then, because we were just kids and we didn’t have to worry about things like rent. We wouldn’t just take on any project. ‘No, that’s too baduy, that’s not our style.’”

Since getting married in 2012, though, and moving into their Makati home a couple of years after, the once les marmots of the local lifestyle scene—the newcomers who dreamt of shaking up the frequently too clean and too polished sheen of fashion images in the media—grew up and began looking at the bigger picture. “We started talking to people from advertising agencies, and all of them said that they thought all we wanted to do was art—that we didn’t want to do something as simple as product shoots,” Garovs says. “But that’s where the money is, right? In corporate projects?”

The feedback they received, plus the gradual increase in corporate gigs, got them both re-evaluating the EWS brand and their approach to their art. “After how many years, we finally understood that it’s possible to do more than just purely creative projects, that being creative can be approached as a business, too. Ryan and I reached a point where we thought, ‘Shit, how would we be able to live next year if all we do is experimental work?’”

They still have the playful personality and the bravado that typify an EWS work, whether in photography or graphic design, but responsibilities, maturity, and the changing creative landscape have undeniably

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COV ER STORY tempered both. “Do we choose to produce work that we really, really like [but we won’t be paid a lot for], or to produce work that’s okay and also pays the bills?”

Ryan muses. “That’s the constant question we asked ourselves. It’s not easy to find a balance between the two, so it’s something we really think of a lot.”

“At the very least, we learned how to stick to our ‘aesthetic’—our favorite word. We found our niche, and we’re happy that we get projects because of what we do, because clients now appreciate our style,” Garovs adds.

However, with most of their projects lately coming from well-paying corporate gigs, the two, who have cut their teeth doing editorial work for print, have become nostalgic for the early days when what they basically did were fashion shoots on shoestring budgets and almost no creative limitations. “We thought it was the industry norm to be assigned to shoot and style an editorial, to find locations, and basically do everything,” Ryan says. “All we thought then was, ‘Wow, the editors trust

us so much so we have to live up to that trust,’ even though we didn’t know yet what we were doing. And that’s how we learned: while on the job. It’s something that we really miss.”

“Also, as we’ve gotten older, it’s hard to avoid feeling as if our contemporaries have become more successful than we are, because we see their works everywhere,” Garovs admits.

It’s not just their peers that are giving the Vergaras pause in terms of mapping out their next step.

There are also the new names that are now doing what they

Not a lot of people know that Garovs also has a deep love for music. When she’s not making art with Ryan, she plays the piano. Together, they collect books, artworks, trinkets, and an assortment of odd objects.

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COV ER STORY used to do. “It’s now the time for the likes of don’t want to. I don’t ever want to get to a Cenon Norial—young photographers who point where I’m forced to work even when are really good at what they do,” Ryan says. I’m no longer enjoying it because I want to “It’s their time to make their own marks in the earn money. I want to remain positive when industry. So it’s really important to have that approaching work, and I want work simply next step planned. We can’t get stuck to where to sustain us financially. As Notorious BIG we’ve been; we need to get to the ne xt level.” said, ‘more money, more problems,’ right? So Their next level would be the virtual shop I remind Garovs that there’s nothing for us Day Job—an unofficial name as of press to fear if we love what we do.” Which they time—that they plan to launch before the obviously do. holidays. With the two pretty active on Either way, if things turn dire (knock on social media, Ryan and Garovs frequently wood), there are the items that the two selfencounter new talents whose work they admitted hoarders have collected through the admire, and they’d like to be able to pay years during their travels, which they could then sell; Day Job is forward the help they actually targeted to people themselves had gotten who have similar hoarding when they were still the “After how many years, tendencies as the Vergaras, industry youngbloods. we finally understood that with a similar affinity for “We envision Day Job to be a platform for it’s possible to do more than vintage cameras, unusual artworks, and hard-tothese young artists,” just purely creative projects, find collectible items.

Ryan shares. “It’ll be a that being creative can be “The thing with our stuff shop that we’d curate, featuring products approached as a business, too.” is that everything we buy isn’t meant to be thrown created by rising talents. away once they get old,” We want to offer art Ryan explains. “We really that’s different yet also affordable to the public, and at the same collect stuff, and they’re like investments.” time, help promote these new artists.” The He’s the bigger hoarder between the two, pre-Christmas deadline they had set, they by the way, and the hype man as well. say, is to help them take advantage of the “Whenever we travel, he’s the one who’d always say, ‘We have to buy this, this is great,’ season’s inevitable shopping frenzy.

The planned moniker is a play on the and I’d be the one to tell him, ‘No, we don’t couple’s frequently discussed topic of day need that,’” says Garovs. “But in the end, he’s jobs. “Around twice a year, I panic at the able to influence me.”

“Garovs used to hate shopping,” Ryan adds. thought that unlike most people, we don’t have day jobs, basically,” Garovs says. “And “She’s very simple, she doesn’t want a lot of Ryan would tell me every time that we’re things, though she does buy what she likes. lucky, because how many people wish they What I learned from her is to look for stuff don’t have to go to work every day? With this that’s not ordinary, which is usually really project, it’d be almost like a day job for us expensive. For example, I’d point out a pair of and for the collaborators we’re working with, Converse sneakers. She’d tell me, ‘Don’t get just any Converse sneakers, get the limited though it’s still not an actual day job.”

And it might as well be the nearest that edition one with Comme des Garçons.”

So he hypes her up, and she tempers him the couple would get to having a day job— at least, if Ryan has his way. “Even before I down? “Yes, that’s kind of how it works,” graduated from college, I really did not plan confirms Garovs. It’s obviously a system and on holding a 9-to-5 job,” he stresses. “I really a dynamic that works.

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STYLING MELVIN MOJICA MAKEUP AU DELA CRUZ

“As Notorious BIG said, ‘more money, more problems,’ right? So I remind Garovs that there’s nothing for us to fear if we love what we do.”

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EATS Pinoy Caprese has Italian origins, but Polilya incorporates Filipino ingredients like kesong puti

NEXT-DOOR PARADISE Engkanto’s tap room will have you wanting to stay a while

TEXT BEA CELDRAN PHOTOGRAPHY NICCOLLO SANTOS

What was intended to be Engkanto Brewery’s test lab has evolved into a space of its own.

Polilya is a tap room so inviting, I’d bring my children here for dinner. For its interiors, tropical elements are given a touch of funk, and everything, from furniture to fixtures, is either locally sourced or custom-made. “Every time I’m here, it feels as if I’m drinking in someone’s living room,” admits owner Nina Pariedes.

While giving off the vibe of a far-off island, Polilya’s name actually means “moth” in Tagalog. The tap room-cum-lounge-slashliving room is still related to the Engkanto label, but seems to have created an identity that’s not so much tied to the brewery. It’s now known as one of the newest members of the dynamic Poblacion community.

The menu stays true to its bloodline, though.

Polilya’s food is best consumed with beer, and select items like savory pies and desserts even have Engkanto’s brews incorporated in

them. Well, if you get Luis de Terry of Terry’s Selection and La Regalade Manila to develop a menu to complement your brews, expect wonderful things on the palate. Appetizers that go best with Engkanto’s famed lager include the Pinoy Caprese, Ultimate Nachos, and the Zen Chicken Nuggets.

Even their cocktails have beers. The Polilya Fire is their take on the Mexican paloma but integrates an IPA foam. The Tigrita, their alcoholic version of the tepache, comes with a homemade double IPA agave. And of course, the beginning and end to a night out at Polilya is the fresh Engkanto beer on tap.

With the Engkanto staples that include the IPA, double IPA, blond ale, and pale ale come seasonal brews. As of writing, Polilya carries Engkanto’s stout with a whopping 9.5 percent ABV and other fruit-infused ales. In fact, the seasonality of the brews alone is enough to bait patrons to visit on a weekly basis.

Polilya. 5658 Jacobo St., Poblacion, Makati City. 0998-9982017

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RECIPE

SALAD DAYS

Upgrade a healthy mix of greens with some cured egg yolk TEXT GRAI ALVAR PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

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RECIPE

GRILLED BAGUIO BEANS AND ENOKI MUSHROOM WITH CURED YOLK

INGREDIENTS 50 g. Baguio beans 15 g. enoki mushrooms 1 string of fresh dill (to tie around the mushrooms) 2 tbsp. salted butter 200 g. watercress (washed and dried) 5 tbsp. fresh tarragon 150 ml. olive oil 2 organic egg yolks 1/4 cup white sugar 1/2 cup soy sauce Salt Pepper

PREPARATION For the grilled Baguio beans and enoki On an indoor non-stick stovetop grill or pan, heat butter and grill or pan sear the Baguio beans for 10 minutes and the mushrooms for 15 seconds. Set aside.

For the watercress tarragon pesto Place watercress, tarragon, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a blender and pulse until a paste- For the soy-cured yolk 1. Pour soy sauce into a like consistency is achieved. square and airtight glass For the salt- and sugar-cured yolk container and gently put 1. In a square and airtight glass the yolk in.

2. Cover and cure for 6 to 7 container, combine sugar and hours in room temperature salt. Set aside 1/4 of for a runny cured yolk. the mixture.

Cure longer if you want 2. Using the back of a spoon, it firmer. create an indentation and gently place the yolk in it.

Assemble and serve.

Carefully cover the yolk with 1/4 of the remaining salt and sugar mixture.

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3. Lock the container and let it cure for 14 to 16 hours in room temperature.

4. Remove the yolk and gently brush off the salt and sugar mixture then rinse under cold water. Place on a dry paper towel.

5. Using a fine cheese grater, grate the cured yolk on top of the grilled salad and pesto.

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T HE GET

SPIRIT OF THE GLASS

A brief and proper introduction to a beloved Japanese liquor TEXT OLIVER EMOCLING PHOTOGRAPHY TRISTAN TAMAYO

Japan’s cuisine has always been an arresting aspect of its rich culture. The meticulously prepared sushi or a hot bowl of ramen is often the gateway to this fascinating fare, but all roads eventually lead to a shot of sake. Japanese food has become so ubiquitous and familiar to our own culture that we tend to overlook its history and the proper practices its chefs observe.

Sake, for example, is a general term for Japanese liquor. The right word for the Japanese fermented rice beverage we know is nihonshu. While nihonshu is more popular for foreigners, its distilled

counterpart, shochu, is more favorable in Japan.

Today’s uninformed palates must not be intimidated by the complex sake, though.

Made by Yardbird’s Rairaku Brewery, the Hong Kong bar Ronin, and Sunday’s Grocery, Sunday’s Junmai Nigori is a good introductory sake. The unfiltered sake has bold umami notes that, according to Yardbird’s beverage director Elliot Faber, pairs well with longganisa. But if the need for caffeine-infused liquor rises, opt for Sunday’s Coffee Shochu.

Japanese liquor is far more complex, but it’s one thing we can all understand without getting lost in translation.

12/10. 7635 Guijo St., Makati City. 0915-6632823

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