From Kusina with Love

Ranniele F. Maspat @lalalaheyitisme

La!!! The oil is splattering again,” she starts complaining, trying to flip the tilapia she’s currently battling to fry for their dinner. She tries once again to flip but she fails miserably and splatters more oil towards her, forcing out a scream comparable to that of a banshee’s.

“Tsk.Tsk. Apo,” her Lola enters the kitchen after a minute of endless complaints and screams, “you have to first lower the heat, wait for the oil to calm for a bit, and then,” her Lola takes the tongs from her and takes a spatula from the rack, gearing herself to do the unthinkable (she thinks).

With bated breath, she watches her Lola flip the fish with ease.

She whistles in awe, “wow.”

“Galing ko noh?” her Lola beams trying to pose like Ultraman.

They laugh together at how silly it is. A grandmother and granddaughter duo frying fish like they were in the battlefield. As the fish gets cooked, the duo starts preparing. She opens the rice cooker, the aromatic fluffy rice cooked with pandan fills the entire house.

Following the trail of aroma, hurried pitter-pattering of feet rushes to the tiny room.

“Lola!” came the excited cheers of the children.

“Sorry Nay. They were very excited when they smelled your cooking,” her Auntie Susan explains proceeding to help her set the dining table.

Her lola smiles, “ayayay, let them be excited. Afterall, they just love their Lola’s cooking,” she coos as everyone starts finding their seats at the table.

The dinner starts with a lively chatter, with each bite from the meal cooked by their grandmother, happiness blooms on their faces and within their hearts.

All her life, her Lola has been a constant guiding presence in it. Her grandmother taught her everything she knows about cooking; how to live, to laugh, and to exist without reason except for living.

She laughs at how silly the whole memory is. It was a scene she will greatly miss. Tears begin to fall once again, as she whispers her final goodbyes.