Southern Living: 2017 February

February 2017 Volume 11 | Issue 06

BREAD AND BUTTER

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CONT ENTS 10 COVER STORY Baking is not easy as pie, according to Rebecca Disini

21

EATS

Chef Bruce Ricketts turns Mexican

Cover photo by Joseph Pascual 16 STYLE An effortless return of patterns

FEBRUARY 2017 04 HEALTH How being happy in love boosts health

26 RECIPE Three uncommon spreads for your toast

08 FIXTURE Buddhism can combat toxic thoughts

28 THE GET Beets are the base for this unusual peanut butter

EDITOR’S NOTE Driving force “The only reason why I say pastry is more difficult is because it’s more scientific,” says Rebecca Disini.

“Once you put something in the oven, you can no longer touch it, you can no longer adjust. You just have to accept whatever comes out.

With cuisine, if something goes wrong along the way, you can try to put a new ingredient to fix and work around it.”

This Le Cordon Bleu-trained patissiere’s 16-cm entremets with mirror-like glaze captured the hungry eyes of her followers on social media. With delicate and thoughtful toppings like edible flowers and edible gold leaves, it

showcased Disini’s discerning eye for detail and precision, which she developed by working both the hot and cold kitchens.

It’s much like how we make our day-to-day decisions: we adjust depending on the circumstance. In life, adaptability is our key for living and surviving.

There are situations where you can opt for a do-over, and then there are the irreversible ones. Because of these, one must have the resiliency to accept the outcome—the desire to move forward. In our February issue, we delve into our love for the material and the immaterial, and how people stay committed to what they love.

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HEALT H

THE LOVE PILL

Being happy and dazed in love keeps one healthy TEXT KRISTELLE ANN BATCHELOR ILLUSTRATION GRACE DE LUNA

A racing heart, flushed cheeks, and butterflies in the stomach—most people would recognize these sensations as part of the feeling of falling in love. And it’s true when they say love is powerful: More than the warm and fuzzy feeling it gives, being happily in love goes beyond skin-deep.

The same brain chemicals linked to drug addiction are activated when a person is in love, thus the feeling that love, much like drugs, can be intoxicating. Among the feel-good hormones released when one is in a lovedup state is dopamine, which is responsible for making couples feel excited about each other. Dopamine also regulates one’s mood, improves creativity, and heightens the energy level to a hypomanic-like state. Testosterone, meanwhile, is the one responsible for sparking the desire for sex. It complements oxytocin, the hormone that nurtures intimacy and binds partners closer. For new moms, oxytocin also enhances milk production.

Generally, being in love boosts the well-being, starting with the most basic protection: keeping away the pesky cold virus. People who have been bitten by the love bug are found to be more immune to the common cold.

This is also true for couples who engage in healthy arguments without retreating or stonewalling each other. They tend to develop better immune systems, contrary to those who resort to animosity who show a larger decline in immediate immune system function.

Having a significant other is also helpful for stabilizing

blood pressure. To have someone to vent to can defer the negative effects of stress and can prevent the spur of cardiovascular diseases.

Love also plays a significant role in the fight to conquer cancer. Researchers from the University of Iowa studied ovarian cancer patients who have strong connections to others, specifically in the romantic aspect. The patients were found to have more robust white blood cells, which are the ones responsible for fighting off cancerous ones.

Ultimately, people who are in love and stay in love attain longer life spans compared to those who aren’t.

This can be attributed to humans naturally seeking social connection. Longevity is associated with the joy and optimism that a happy relationship brings.

Marriage counselor and sex researcher Carol Ellison, PhD, once said the love bond is the brass ring of any successful union. Conflicts are inevitable between partners, but prolonged hostility can affect both of their health adversely. With the right approach to conflict resolution, couples can benefit from the long-term benefits of loving each other and prove that love can move mountains, indeed.

“An ideal relationship gives you a place to come home to and recharge your battery. Sitting down with your partner makes you feel calmer. You’re in a secure nest, and you�re less stressed,” Ellison says. “How could that not be good for you?”

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SPACE

MESS HALL

There is room for creativity amid clutter TEXT OLIVER EMOCLING ILLUSTRATION IANNE VILLANUEVA

There is a collective fascination for spatial order, expressed by our desire for the symmetrical, colorful world of Wes Anderson’s films and the minimalist aesthetic of Japanese and Scandinavian spaces. But while a messy space is commonly subject to disgust, some of the greatest minds reveled in disorder. Mark Twain and Steve Jobs were never bothered by a chaotic workspace. Photographer Ralph Morse had documented Albert Einstein’s office, revealing the jumble of papers atop the scientist’s table. In the words of the genius, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?”

A 2013 study published in Developmental Science found that children learn faster as they create mess.

“It may look like your child is playing in the high chair, throwing things on the ground. And they may be doing that, but they are getting information out of [those actions],” the study’s senior author Larissa Samuelson explained. Meanwhile, behavioral scientists from University of Minnesota discovered that disorganization sparked creativity among individuals. The lead of the study, Dr. Kathleen D. Vohs, wrote, “Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition, which can produce fresh insights.” On the other hand, the scientists also learned those who work in a tidy environment are more conscious of their choices, especially when it comes to health.

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SPACE

A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder authors David H. Freeman and Eric Abrahamson suggest clutter as a sign of productivity. They believe that the time allotted for organizing clutter could be used to accomplish other tasks. However, neuroscientists from Princeton University say otherwise. In 2011, they compared people’s efficiency in an organized environment versus in a cluttered one, and observed that a disorganized space decreases concentration, leading to poor performance. A 2010 study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin discovered that a messy space leads to the production of a steady level of the stress hormone cortisol within its occupants, indicative of their chronic stress.

Before you excuse yourself from cleaning your paper-cluttered table or rush out to buy an organizer from the nearest Japanese stationery shop, you must also take cues from your personality. In a report

by The Sydney Morning Herald, psychologist Susan Nicholson suggests that a person’s space reflects his or her Myers-Briggs personality profile. She posits that those with a “perceiving” profile are generally creative and comfortable in mess. On the other hand, those with a “judging” profile prefer structure and tidiness.

Take your job into consideration as well. A space in disarray could be fit for a creative, but imagine a surgeon with a chaotic table. That sure won�t work.

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FIXT URE

PRACTICING ZEN

Adopting the fundamentals of Buddhism leads to healthier thinking TEXT KRISTELLE ANN BATCHELOR ILLUSTRATION DANICA CONDEZ

The humdrum of everyday life can be mind-numbing, leading to creative blocks that are, at their least, frustrating and, at their worst, risky to any career that is based on the generation of ideas. People encounter different creative blocks that require varying solutions.

The most common would be when a person finds trouble solving a problem, as they are locked within a limited perspective. Thus, they fail to see other possible options and are generally unable to think straight.

Studies over the years have found meditation as a dynamic tool for remedying the condition. Practicing the Buddhist mindset impacts the brain in myriad ways, with the cultivation of a more compassionate and content nature in a person the best evidence of its effectiveness.

Dzogchen, the highest teaching of Buddhism, teaches people to “rest in the nature of mind” and to let go of all unnecessary emotions. In the context of science, University of Wisconsin professor Richard Davidson said the human mind can be trained, much like how the body develops through physical exercise.

One of the teachings of Buddhism is how to conquer oneself. Learning how to not be overwhelmed by thoughts can help break off a mental block. As the saying

goes, “You may not be able to stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can certainly stop him from building a nest in your hair.” In this case, mindfulness is the key. Meditation can activate happy links in the brain and positively affect a person�s attention and decision-making while bolstering their resiliency.

Emotional barriers are also considered a type of creative block. The unknown can induce certain feelings, such as confusion and fear. For Buddhism, training the mind to think positively can affect the outcome of an undertaking. A popular quote from Buddha goes, “All wrongdoing arises because of mind. If the mind is transformed, can wrongdoing remain?” Thoughts can become good things when the thinking determines the actions.

The ears also play a crucial role, as they can cause a creative block in terms of communication. Not everyone relates to each other on the same level of understanding, thus raising the potential for misunderstanding in every interaction. Seeking to understand is one of Buddhism�s lessons: it teaches people to cease anger first before taking action in any situation. Listening will give you a better understanding of a situation and can make you work more towards attaining peace than appeasing the superficial need to prove that you are right.

It is common to feel stuck or perplexed with one�s thoughts; everyone does once in a while. But the brain is also touted as the most powerful tool, and we have the capacity to control it. Adopting the fundamental principles of Buddhism has been proven to make daily life more zen, whether or not one is a follower of its teachings.

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Rebecca Disini has a growing following, thanks to her glossy, mirror cakes. In this photo, she adds a 22-carat edible gold leaf to her signature entremet.

COV ER STORY

The young team behind Piopio sees a way in the future for the traditional and the treasured TEXT DENISE DANIELLE ALCANTARA PHOTOGRAPHY JOSEPH PASCUAL

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HAIR AND MAKEUP BULLET REYES

NESTING INSTINCTS

COV ER STORY

LAYER CAKE

Rebecca Disini’s establishing a name through her elegant entremets, multi-faceted career, and unwavering pursuits TEXT DENISE DANIELLE ALCANTARA PHOTOGRAPHY JOSEPH PASCUAL

Denim dress, Cos, cosstores.com.

Pierre dress brick, P2,200, Anika, wearanika.com.

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COV ER STORY

“Employers prefer men, because they assume that only men can carry things, that they can stand for longer hours in the kitchen, that they would complain less about the heat.”

“I first uttered the words ‘I’m going to be a chef ’ when I was nine.”

Unlike most folks in their twenties or even thirties who are still trying to figure out what to do with their lives, Rebecca Disini had hers figured out as early as childhood. And after traveling all over the world in search of flavors and food trends for almost two decades, she returned to Manila (hopefully for good) to focus on family while finally reveling in her lifelong passion.

Shortly after coming home, Disini started posting on Instagram photos of cakes with flawless, mirrorlike glaze, and decorated with either edible gold leaf or flowers. The posts got her friends excited, and they started asking when she would be able to take orders.

Each time, she would reply, “I’m just having fun in the kitchen for now.” Disini allowed herself the time to get engrossed with developing different recipes as her cake posts filled her Instagram feed—until she was finally ready to make an announcement. After almost two months of baking, she presented Ooh la la! by Rebecca Disini, now accepting orders for pick-up.

Without any marketing plan or even a new Instagram account dedicated to her cake brand, word about Disini’s creations spread like wildfire, and they were an instant hit. She currently offers only two kinds of cakes: the Le Matcha, a matchaflavored entremet or her 16-cm cake with layers of flourless chocolate genoise (Italian sponge cake), matcha panna cotta, white chocolate mousse, and her signature matcha glaze, topped with imported edible flowers; and the Les Trois Chocolate, with layers of genoise, crémeux (creamy milk chocolate), Madagascan vanilla chocolate mousse, and dark chocolate glaze, topped with a 22-carat edible gold leaf. All done with finesse and precision, the entremets’ visual simplicity is the complete complement to their silky texture and restrained flavors.

But this display of mastery and sophistication comes with a colorful and painstaking past.

Unyielding beginnings Disini’s teen years weren’t typical. When she told her parents at 15, that she wanted to pursue a career in the culinary world, she was immediately dissuaded. “Most people don’t want their daughter working in a very hot environment, so I worked every summer since I was 15 until college to prove a point to my parents,” she says.

She worked in the kitchens of Angelino’s, Bean Street Café, and Street Life for free, but Disini’s father still disapproved of her desire to become a chef even after she had finished high school. He gave her a condition: she must finish a college degree first before going to culinary school. Disini then took up marketing at De La Salle University.

Yet after she had received her diploma, Disini’s father denied her dreams once again. With proper culinary training still not a choice open to her, she offered her services for free at the kitchens of Via Mare in exchange for learning. “I had to be there at five in the morning and then I would come home at seven in the evening, six days a week. Back then, you hardly see women in the kitchen. If you were a woman, you would be relegated to doing pastries.” Disini wasn’t an exemption: she was assigned to the pastry section, and this was where she discovered her love for baking. Yet when her boss told her to pick between cuisine and pastry so that her hands wouldn’t suffer, “I chose to pursue cuisine because I loved to eat.”

Disini then flew to London to study classical French techniques at Le Cordon Bleu. After a year, she went back home, only to be gravely disappointed. “I didn’t think it was going to be that tough to find a job, considering I had studied abroad. I was so naïve then.

No kitchen wanted to take me here even though I was willing to work for free.”

Gender discrimination was the major challenge, and Disini even had to point out how unlawful it is to one employer. “Employers prefer men, because they assume that only men can carry things, that they can stand for longer hours in the kitchen, that they would complain less about the heat.”

Beyond restaurant kitchens With the job search not yielding anything, Disini took the opportunity when a friend told her about a teaching job at the newly opened School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde. There, she taught catering classes for a year.

Another unplanned circumstance fell on her lap soon after: working for the British High Commission in Singapore as its executive chef, where she would be in charge of degustations and banquets for the ambassador’s diplomatic receptions. On her very first day at her new job, Disini was tasked to cook for an

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COV ER STORY

STYLING MEG MANZANO MAKEUP CATS DEL ROSARIO HAIRSTYLING RICK DIOKNO OF KIEHL'S STYLIST SERIES TEAM

Silk top, P860, and silk trousers, P1,400, both Beetroot, beetrootph.com.

Knit cardigan, P1,695, Zara, Greenbelt 5.

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COV ER STORY intimate dinner with special guests. Only after when the dessert was sent out that the butler informed her that Mick Jagger was one of the dinner guests. In disbelief, she asked if she could meet the rock star, but protocol prevented her from doing so. “[That job] was so interesting; they had Lee Kuan Yew all the time.

We also cooked for the Queen Mother’s birthday,” she further recalls. The ambassador’s wife even told Disini that she could fly in any ingredient from anywhere around the world. “That was a really awesome job, until SARS happened.”

After nearly 10 years of working in kitchens, Disini decided to take a yearlong break, but another fateful call from a friend took her on her next culinary journey—this time in the corporate world, where she got to use her proficiency in both cooking and marketing. “Unilever provided me an avenue where I didn’t have to stay in the same spot every day. I don’t like to stay in the kitchen every day, and I don’t like to stay in a desk job every day either. I like to move around. So here, I got to meet a lot of chefs because I had to sell products to them, and I could develop products for different markets.”

Journey back home Seven years ago, Disini gave birth to her daughter, and she juggled work with motherhood adeptly. She even got to return to Philippines at one point and started an all-natural baby food brand Oh Baby! When her marriage ended, Disini flew to Thailand for another corporate job. “That one basically taught me the science of food. As a regional chef, I was supposed to create the benchmark or golden standard for a product,” she says.

While spending the holidays with her parents one year, her father, in a completely different stance from before, advised her to do further studies in pastry: “‘You’re never too old to chase your dream. Just do it and everything else will follow.�” That inspired Disini to fly to Paris to study at Le Cordon Bleu. “When I was there, I thought that maybe it’s time to open a small pastry shop or a commissary and sell pastries day in, day out. I’ll bake and sell only when I have the time. No pressure from any person, no numbers to meet.”

She started working on her cakes upon returning home, and then her brother-in-law offered her another corporate job as a culinary strategist. “For me, this is the perfect life right now: I work half the day at Monde Nissin, then when I’m home, I work on the cakes, which are really my passion. There’s nothing like a text message from a customer saying, ‘You made our Christmas dinner special,’ or ‘I never had a cake like this my whole life.’” With all the twists and turns her life took, Disini finally found herself living her dream.

The long journey to get here made her the woman she is now: mature, delicate, and sophisticated. Just like her cakes.

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COV ER STORY

“For me, this is the perfect life right now.�

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Le Matcha consists of layers of flourless chocolate Italian sponge cake, matcha panna cotta, white chocolate mousse, glazed with matcha glaze, and topped with edible flowers.

ST YLE

BACK TO EARTH Re-discover folksy fashion through patterns and traditions STYLING MELVIN MOJICA PHOTOGRAPHY JO ANN BITAGCOL

WANDERING FREE Saunter around the city in light and free-flowing fabric STYLING MEG MANZANO PHOTOGRAPHY ARTU NEPOMUCENO

Caftan and earrings, both Piopio, piopio.ph.

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ST YLE

Maillot, Vivienne Ramsay, eairth.ph.

Jumper dress, sandals, and earrings, all Piopio, piopio.ph.

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ST YLE

(Above) Maillot, Vivienne Ramsay, eairth.ph.

Top, Slaves of Liberty, www.slavesofliberty.com.

(Below) Jumpsuit, Eairth, eairth.ph.

Sandals and earrings, both Piopio, piopio.ph.

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ST YLE

Robe and earrings, Piopio, piopio.ph.

Shirt and shorts, Eairth, eairth.ph.

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ST YLE

MAKEUP BAMBI DELA CRUZ HAIRSTYLING DARWIN SABLAYON MODEL PAULINE PRIETO

Shirt, Euniform, euniform.co.

Skirt, sandals, and earrings, all Piopio, piopio.ph.

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EATS Paloma is La Chinesca�s version of the margarita. It�s composed of grapefruit juice, lime, tequila, and soda water (right). In focus is the Guisada de Res Taco, made with stewed beef shoulder, lengua, bell pepper, rice, and pinipig (extreme right).

ORIGIN STORY

La Chinesca is Bruce Ricketts� return to his first culinary love: Mexican TEXT DENISE DANIELLE ALCANTARA PHOTOGRAPHY JL JAVIER

It was a surprise to most followers of chef Bruce Ricketts to hear that he was opening a taqueria. After the successes of Sensei Sushi, his own concept, and The Moment Group�s Ooma and Mecha Uma, no one expected that his next move would involve Mexican food. But anything and everything Mexican is actually what he does best. “This is and always will be the passion,” he explains. “When I feel lost in my cooking, I eat Mexican food.”

Hence it’s a very personal side of Ricketts that we see at La Chinesca. As he was fondly called “chino” back in the United States where he worked for six years, Ricketts decided to name his latest venture after Mexico’s Chinatown. His sixth restaurant sits on a nondescript street corner not far away from Sensei.

There are no signs bearing its name; the only landmark is the restaurant Amalia’s right beside it.

Enter and find the concrete walls of the 20-seater space filled with posters that were handpicked by Ricketts and his fiancée Jae Pickrell. Every poster is an allusion to their personal lives—favorite movie posters, pictures of pets, family members, and favorite artists, and fashion magazine covers—and was Photoshopped to death by

Serious Studio to make it taco-related. They even had Tupac’s “Thug Life” tattoo edited to “Taco Life.”

La Chinesca is meant to be Ricketts’ hangout place after service, “a place where he can eat food he loves without actually cooking it,” adds Pickrell. Their staff underwent rigorous training with him to perfect cooking tortillas from scratch. With a hot griddle, a secret mixture of corn and water, and a precise number of flips, Ricketts and/or his staff cooks every tortilla upon order. There are seven taco variations to choose from, or one could try their sole tostada offering.

The Huachinango is an ode to Ricketts’ days spent vacationing in Baja, California, a Mexican state where seafood abounds. Apart from the battered fish fillet sitting atop a fresh piece of tortilla, the combination of burnt garlic cream and different kinds of salsa makes this taco burst with flavor in every bite; it surprises you with the right punches of tanginess, heat, and even sweetness. His take on Carnitas is another story: taking the familiar sisig and combining it with the sweet-sour taste of pineapples, Ricketts has created a dish that denotes his boldness and creativity. One order of the Tuna

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EATS

Tostada introduces a new take on Mexican food, with slivers of fresh tuna, slathered with doubanjing mayo and salsa, sitting atop puffed tortillas.

Meant to be a late night haunt, La Chinesca also serves cocktails that don’t scrimp on liquor and complexity of flavors. La Fresa is Ricketts’ interpretation of agua fresca (cucumber water), a gin-based drink with lime, cucumber, aloe vera, and hints of sesame leaves. The headache-inducing Marocha, meanwhile, has papaya, pineapple, orange, and mezcal.

La Chinesca does not claim to be an authentic taqueria; instead, it is Rickett’s celebration of flavors, culture, and life. “It’s easy to make food taste good, but the goal is to make the person from that culture happy. If I cook Mexican and a Mexican person comes in my restaurant, even if my food is not authentic [to his culture], I still want him to feel that it was made by someone who respects it,” he concludes.

Tuna Tostada (above); Serious Studio created tacorelated posters for La Chinesca (right).

La Chinesca. 248C Aguirre St., BF Homes, Parañaque City, 738-0724.

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EATS

SECOND COMING

Tomatito takes fun dining seriously, especially in its new home in Manila TEXT PAULINE MIRANDA PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

Flamenco costumes on the walls of Tomatito; Salmon TNT, smoked salmon on breadstuffed with sour cream and truffle honey.

“I love how happy the people in this country are. It’s amazing,” chef Willy Trullas Moreno of the Shanghaibased El Willy F&B Group says as we sit down with him at his newest venture. I suppose it really is easier to feel at home when you’re surrounded by happy faces and there’s good food for everyone at the table to share. Perhaps we can owe this kindred connection to history and our formed culture. Or perhaps, our innate hospitality and bustling city life play a bigger part in making Manila the obvious choice as the second home of Trullas’ Tomatito.

Named after the famous flamenco guitar player Jose Fernandez Torres and literally means “little tomato,” Tomatito is an ’80s-inspired tapas bar that first opened in Shanghai. The Manila arm, however, goes beyond being an imported replica. Dubbed by the chef himself as Tomatito 2.0, this tapas bar is part of a different scenery and ultimately serves a different type of dining crowd.

Harking back to its Shanghai origins, large neon lights spell out the bar’s name over a semi-open kitchen, bathing the dining area in red. To add a more Spanish flair, representations of the cuisine find their places along the walls: empty tins of Spanish tuna, vermouth sifons (an icon of Spain’s bar culture), and even paelleras.

But if there’s really anything in the bar decor that says Tomatito is younger, sexier, and more fun than its brand relatives, it’s the flamenco dancer’s costume— complete with rows upon rows of polka-dotted shoes

and fans—and the matador’s jacket, which, Moreno recounts with a laugh, caused one of his business partners at the La Lola group, Dani Aliaga, to be stalled at customs. “They asked him, ‘Are you gonna kill a bull or something?’”

Tomatito’s fame doesn’t lie alone in its adherence to the traditional forms of the cuisine. The menu also includes dishes with other Latin influences. The Tiradito de Pescado Blanco for example, which features thin slices of tanigue served in green chili sauce made from local chilies, olive oil, ginger, lemon oil, corn, and shallots, has Peruvian origins. Meanwhile, the Presa, a dish of grilled pork served on a bed of rice, has Mexican mole on the side, adding a spicy and at the same time nutty, almost chocolate-like flavor to the meat.

You can also opt to start your meal with the Salmon TNT, which, true to its name, results in an explosion of flavors in a single bite. Served in bite-sized pieces, smoked salmon is placed on top of a bread “pillow” filled with sour cream and truffle honey.

If you’re torn between ending the night with drinks or dessert, the Panacota de Vainilla con Fruta de Sangria is a happy medium. Surprisingly (or perhaps, as expected), the punch pairs well with the sweetness of the vanilla panna cotta, while the watermelon and strawberry bits and orange crumble add another layer of texture for each bite.

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EATS Clockwise: Montaditos de Gambas and Presa, grilled pork served with mole; The El Pirata; Tomatito�s kitchen features a special oven that uses a mix of wood and glass.

Tomatito Manila, GF BGC Corporate Center, 11th Ave. cor. 30th St., Bonifacio Global City, 805-7840. www.facebook.com/tomatitomanila.

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RECIPE

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RECIPE

BREAKING BREAD

Guacamole and ube halaya can be delicious spreads for toast TEXT AND STYLING CHARLIE CARBUNGCO PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

UBE HALAYA WITH QUESO DE BOLA AND LATIK

SALMON TARTARE WITH PICKLED RADISH

GUACAMOLE WITH MANGO SALSA AND FISH

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp. ube halaya 1 tbsp. cream cheese 1/4 queso de bola 1 cup fresh coconut cream 1/4 cup desiccated coconut Sourdough bread

1/4 kg. salmon, fillet 3 tbsp. soy sauce 1 tbsp. minced onion 1 tbsp. sesame oil 1/4 bunch spring onions Sourdough bread

1 avocado 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 onion, minced 1 chili 1 tsp. sugar 1 ripe mango 1/4 bunch cilantro 2 to 3 tomatoes, minced 3 cups vegetable oil, for frying 2 tbsp. Cajun powder 2 to 3 strips cream dory fish, filleted 2 cups cornstarch Sourdough bread

PREPARATION

1. To make the latik, pour fresh coconut cream into a sauce pot and reduce until the coconut oil and fat separates. Turn fire into medium heat and start whisking until the fat of the coconut solidifies and turns into golden brown. Strain it and set aside the toasted coconut cream.

2. Combine ube halaya and cream cheese.

3. Thinly slice queso de bola.

4. Torch the desiccated coconut.

5. To assemble, spread the ube halaya, onto the bread. Add queso de bola and finish with toasted desiccated coconut and latik.

For pickled red radish: 2 red radishes, finely sliced 100g vinegar 50g water 1 tsp. of salt For teriyaki sauce: 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup water 3 tbsp. brown sugar 1/4 cup mirin

PREPARATION

PREPARATION

1. Cut the salmon into small cubes. In a bowl, mix the salmon with minced onions, soy sauce, sesame oil and spring onions.

2. For the pickled radish, mix the vinegar, water, and salt. Soak the red radishes and let it sit in the jar for 5 to 6 hours.

3. For the teriyaki sauce, add all the ingredients into sauce pot and cook it together until it thickens.

4. Place the salmon tartare on the top of the bread. Add the pickled radish and some chopped spring onions. Lastly, drizzle some teriyaki sauce.

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1. Make a guacamole. Mash the avocado and add half of your minced onions, lemon juice, chili, and sugar. Mix all together.

2. To make the mango salsa, cut the mango into small cubes and add the remaining minced onions, chopped cilantro, tomatoes, and 3 tbsp. of lemon juice.

3. Dredge the dory fish to the mixture of cornstarch, Cajun powder mixture, and 1 tbsp. of lemon juice. Deep fry until golden brown.

4. To assemble, spread the guacamole onto the sourdough bread. Add the mango salsa and fish fillet on top. Finish off with a sprinkle of Cajun powder.

T HE GET

NUT TO BE

Savor the goodness of peanut butter made the healthy way TEXT KRISTELLE ANN BATCHELOR PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

Peanut butter is always a good idea. Its creamy texture and flavor of lightly sweetened roasted peanuts go well on toast, and is just as irresistible as when heaped on a spoon. For a guilt-free indulgence, Fair Grounds� Organic Beenut Butter is a healthy alternative from the norm that doesn’t scrimp on flavors. Available in three variants—original, dark chocolate truffle, and Belgian white chocolate—their peanut butter has only two major ingredients: roasted peanuts and pure wild honey. Beetroot, an excellent source of folate and manganese, is an additional component, but otherwise, no sugar and salt have been added to this all-natural, low-calorie spread.

Available at Echostore, GF NDC bldg., Tordesillas,Makati City, 869-1516. www.echostore.ph.

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HLURB ENCR AA-2016/11–1584 Official Address: KM 21 East Service Road, Sucat, Muntinlupa Owner and Developer: Rockwell Primaries South Development Corp.

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