Gunita

Mela Roque

“GROWING UP, I lived with my grandparents, and my Lola Liling was very involved in the kitchen. Her Beef Stroganoff was a very prominent dish in my memory. Whenever this would be served, I would go wild about it — and so did everyone else in the house!

She was such a great baker, and she has been my standard ever since, but she passed away when I was five. A couple of years ago, when I finally had the strength to go through her stuff, I found all her recipe notebooks. I’ve transcribed three out of her 20 notebooks and even though her handwriting gives me headaches, it really helps me feel close to her. I’ve tried recreating the recipes before but they never really felt the same. It isn’t always intentional but after I make a dish of my lola’s, it’s as if I’m trying to keep her memory alive. My mom is very sentimental about her childhood too, so anything in relation to her is something we treasure a lot.

Now, I cook for my family almost every day for lunch. I take it upon myself to really take charge of the food. It’s a social thing that we get to sit together, and also eat healthier and more mindfully. We get to prolong our lives, spend more time with each other, and feel our Lola Liling’s presence.”

Beef Stroganoff (adapted from Lola Liling’s original recipe)

Servings: 4

Ingredients

250g fettuccine

250g sukiyaki cut beef

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

3/4 tbsp salt

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 can sliced mushrooms,drained

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 Knorr beef cube

1/2 cup sour cream

Mela’s note: I like to use cuts with a good amount of fat,but leaner cuts are fine too!

Procedure

1. Boil a large pot of water with a tablespoon of salt. Cook pasta until al dente.Save 1 1/4 cup of pasta water for later.

2. In a bowl, combine flour, pepper, paprika, and salt. Lightly dredge the meat inthis mixture.

3. In a deep skillet or pot, melt half the butter. Add half the olive oil. Over mediumhigh heat, brown the meat in batches, making sure not to overcrowd. Cook eachbatch for two minutes. Then, set the meat aside.

4. Add olive oil to the same pot if dry. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Addgarlic and cook for a minute. Add mushrooms and cook for another minute to heat through. Add meat back to the pot and mix.

5. Ensure that the pot is hot. Add white wine to deglaze and scrape the bits atthe bottom. Leave to simmer for a minute to allow the alcohol to evaporate.

6. Add the pasta water and beef cube. Once the sauce is boiling, reduceheat. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes for the meat to tenderize. This maytake longer depending on the thickness of meat.

7. Once meat is tender, taste the sauce and adjust with salt or pepperas needed.

8. Turn off the heat and stir in sour cream before serving with noodles.

Agatha Jimenez

“THE KITCHEN WAS a place for me, my sister, and my mom to bond. Growing up, we hadto take care of our sick dad, so we bonded over cooking and baking. That’s a really specialmemory for all of us.

Arroz Caldo was always my family’s comfort food. Since we were little, it’s the dish that Mom made for us every time nagkakasakit kami. This dish is for my mom and for my sister because they are the people I remember the most when I see this dish. Now that we live miles away from home – my mom is in the Philippines, I’m in Canada, and my sister is in the UK – it’s something na hinahanap-hanap namin. It’s special because you can get the ingredients anywhere.

It reminds me of my memories with my mom and my sister in the kitchen and it makes us miss each other. Lalo na we don’t know how often we are going to be together na kaming tatlo lang; it’s always food that will connect us. It’s funny because whenever we would video call each other, we are always cooking in the kitchen. My mom cooks breakfast, my sister cooks dinner, and I cook snacks.

Recently, my mom visited me here, and we had Arroz Caldo every other night. It’s very touching because she knows how tired I am from work. So, she always makes sure that there’s food at the table when I get home. It’s the simplest way for her to show her love for us. It’s like she’s saying, ‘You don’t have to worry about anything, you get home and you can eat. I know you’re tired. There’s food, ako na bahala dito.’”

Arroz Caldo

Servings: 5

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 piece ginger, sliced

1 kg chicken, cut into pieces

1 tbsp fish sauce (Optional)

5 cups chicken stock or broth

1 cup glutinous rice

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: 1 green onion, chopped or chives 1 lemon, sliced 1 tsp fish sauce for sprinkling 5 boiled eggs

Agatha’s note: Replace 1 cup glutinous rice with 1/2 cup glutinous rice and 1/2 cup jasmine rice. I use a mix of both to avoid a thick and sticky Arroz Caldo.

Procedure

1. Place rice in a bowl, cover with cold water andset aside to soak.

2. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and add half of the chopped garlic. Stir continuously until the garlic is golden brown, then remove and drain on a paper towel and set aside.

3. In the same pot, sauté the onions until translucent. Add the rest of the garlic and ginger in the pot, continue sautéing until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken pieces; stir and cook for about 1 minute. Stir the fish sauce into the pot (optional) and cook for another 2 minutes.

4. Drain the rice and add into the pot and continue cooking for about 2 minutes or until therice is well coated.

5. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil; cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirringoccasionally to make sure the rice is not sticking to the bottom of the pot. If the mixture getstoo thick, thin with extra stock until the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Once you have reached your desired consistency, serve in a large bowl. Garnish each withgreen onion, lemon slices, and boiled egg.

Cristina Batalla

I was never the cook. I grew up watching my mom Imeeand our kasambahay Ate Clarisa whip up fantastic disheson the dining table every day. That is how they expressedlove—through food.

I remember the warm feeling of home and family throughthis tuyo pasta, a dish my Ate and mother began cookingafter my Papa passed away in 2007. Mama oftendistributed the sauce as Christmas gifts packaged in oldjars, upcycled decorations, and handwritten notes. Shewanted to make you feel that our home was welcome toanyone.When you come by, there will always be space foryou around our old Narra table.

"Love, like fam recipes, can al be preserved shared."

When Mama died in 2017, I didn’t know what to do withDecember anymore. Our dining table, which used to bevibrant with life, felt an eerie silence. There was nothingand everything to talk about at the same time. Amidstthe grief, what kept our family together was food. Despitemy parents’ deaths, Ate stayed. She has been here for 16years—long enough to memorize every recipe that wouldfill not just our empty stomachs, but more so our hearts.

She holds time and memory in this household— remembering the texture, precise flavors, and ingredients of the dishes my Pangasinense parents loved. We eat everything she makes. This is her way of giving my siblings, who lost so much when they were only so little, a taste of identity and history. We owe our lives to this woman who taught us that love, like family recipes, can always be preserved and shared. Even in death, the memories of what you love do not have to fade away.

Gourmet Tuyo Tomato Pasta

Servings: 5

Ingredients

5 cloves garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

Fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 can mushrooms, sliced

400g can peeled tomatoes, crushed

220g jarred gourmet tuyo, himay or removed from the bones

500g penne pasta

Parmesan cheese, for topping and garnishing

Procedure

1. In a pan over medium heat, sauté the garlic in olive oil until slightly golden brown.

2. Next, strain the canned mushrooms and save around 1/2 cup of the mushroom water for the pasta sauce later on. Then, add in the mushrooms.

3. Add the jarred tuyo along with all its oil and spices inthe pan, then the chopped basil. Make sure the tuyo isbroken into flakes beforehand.

4. Once everything has been tossed together, add inthe peeled tomatoes and mushroom water then stir.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add olive oilas much as you desire.

6. Let it simmer until the oil and tomato sauce havebeen incorporated well.

7. In another pot, cook the pasta in boiling water untilal dente.

8. Toss the sauce and pasta together and top withparmesan cheese.