Bedford - At a table heaped with mangoes, durian, tamarind, and other exotic fruits, a show-and-tell of Filipino food is underway at Iskwelahang Pilipino , a Filipino cultural Sunday school. The air is aromatic with garlic, sauteed vegetables , and shrimp as husband-and-wife team Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan prepare the filling for lumpia , the Filipino version of fresh spring rolls encased in delicate crepe-like wrappers. A last - minute addition of puffed rice noodles for crunch and a spike of seaweed flakes and sugar creates depth for this classic dish.
"Lumpia may have Chinese origins, but this is an example of how Filipinos take a dish and make it uniquely their own," says Besa.
She and Dorotan own Cendrillon , a New York restaurant that features Filipino-inspired cuisine. Their new cookbook, "Memories of Philippine Kitchens: Stories and Recipes From Far and Near" highlights the foods and table of their native homeland. For its blend of recipes, culture, and history, the cookbook recently received an award for scholarship and research from the International Association of Culinary Professionals ; "Memories" was also a finalist for the Julia Child First Book Award. "We are thrilled that Filipino food is recognized," says Besa.
Today Filipinos are the second largest Asian group in the United States. The traditional cuisine is a combination of Malay, Chinese, Mexican, and Spanish. Besa doesn`t use the word "fusion" to describe it. "I like to use `indigenization,` " she says. " `Culture ingested` is about how Filipinos borrow foods and make them their own."
At the cooking program, the children are crowded around Reggie Aguinaldo , a frequent guest chef at Cendrillon, who is assembling the savory lumpia filling into thin pancakes. She tells them secrets for perfect lumpia: Make and refrigerate the filling two days ahead of time so the flavors can intensify and the juices drain. The filling should be as dry as possible so it doesn`t make the wrappers soggy.
Another tip is ideal for this group. "It`s a recipe good to do with the whole family because everything is prepared by hand with love," says Aguinaldo.
The air crackles and sizzles as Dorotan prepares ukoy , a deep-fried vegetable and shrimp fritter in light rice batter. To keep the delicate nest of julienne vegetables from falling apart in the hot oil, he takes a square of banana leaf, dips it in the oil, then places the ukoy patty on it and lowers it into the hot fat. "The leaf helps the ukoy to keep its shape and won`t stick to it," says Dorotan, who grew up in the Irosin region of the Philippines. Early in his career, the author studied economics and worked in a restaurant, where he discovered his ability for cooking.
Says his wife, "While Romy was working, the chef quit and they put him at the stove." The two have owned Cendrillon since 1995.
To write their book, the couple traveled throughout the regions of Luzon and the Visayas in the Philippines to collect recipes from Filipino home cooks with a family tradition of delicious food. "For Filipino food, the predominant taste is sour, from vinegar and sour fruits," says Besa. Guava, tamarind, and the kalamansi lime are common souring agents. Vinegary notes are prominent in dishes such as chicken adobo, which is an aromatic braise of soy sauce, garlic, and vinegar.
Filipino family parties often feature the crackling skin and fork-tender meat of roast pig, called lechon and noodles (pansit ). Other favorites include oxtails simmered in peanut sauce (kare-kare ); vinegar-flavored blood stew (dinuguan ); and the use of pungent seasonings such as bottled fish sauce (patis ) and salty shrimp paste (bagoong ).
For centuries, as foreign cultures settled into this Southeast Asian archipelago of 7,000 islands, their foods were transformed to suit the Filipino palate. "Filipinos are very curious and adventurous eaters. It`s a very intelligent outlook," says Besa.
For the afternoon`s dessert, Dorotan makes a kind of French tarte tatin. Instead of apples, this version has mangoes, which are fanned across puff pastry, then baked and caramelized.
After the program, parents and children enjoy a potluck buffet of homemade Filipino food.
And so another layer of culture is added to the cuisine: Filipinos living in this region, using local ingredients, to make the tradition al dishes they remember from home.
Source: www.boston.com (7 Mei 2007)
