The Christmas Season has officially begun

Christmas has always been associated with giving and receiving gifts, family reunions and celebrations to honor the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when you have celebrations, food is always shared among friends. Of course, the sight and smell of food always attract your favorite food columnist, ever ready to render a culinary accounting to my beloved readers.

Mrs. Amparito Lhuillier hosted a merienda cena to honor the graduates and faculty thesis grantees of ALLEF, a foundation she created to assist deserving scholars in their pursuit of academic excellence. The basic dream of Filipinos is a college degree and Mrs. Lhuillier, who is an educator herself, has assisted dozens of students to make such dream into a reality.

Held at the Casino Español last November 29, 2006, I was joined by Dr. Harutoshi Hayashi, a Japanese veterinarian who was in town to donate and administer anti rabies vaccines.

Mrs. Lhuillier personally selected the menu for a hundred guests consisting of Millionaire salad, Chicken cordon bleu, Pescado a la Viscaina, Lasagna al forno and Surtidos. Very lucky for these students, Amparito scholars na, honored with such with a lovely dinner pa!

The next day, November 30, 2006, all roads led to the Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort for the traditional Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Later, Shangri-La's GM Timothy Wright and Director of Communications Sharon Samarista invited the guests to the Annual Media Christmas Dinner, which was held at the Aqua restaurant.

Italian Chef Marco Anzani opened the dinner with the Rucoletta Balsamica: argula salad with Parmesan cheese, herbs, filo crisp and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. With a glass of Hardy's Semillon Chardonnay, it was a refreshing start to a great dinner.

Carbohydrate source to replenish energy was the Fettuccine al funghi porcini e panna: homemade pasta with creamy cepe mushrooms. Aqua's ever-efficient service brigade quickly refilled my glass while I recalled what an Italian chef told me about the requirements of an authentic Italian restaurant. "It should have an Italian Chef, a wood fired oven, and authentic ingredients from Italy." Definitely, all such qualities are present in Aqua Restaurant!

A fish entry, Sogliola in salsa piccante, came next. Sole fillet with vegetable julienne, pepperoncino lime and butter sauce served with steamed rice. A white wine almost always blends with fish, and this food columnist is always thirsty so that I almost asked the waiter to leave the whole bottle!

Savoring the zuccotto, an ice cream cake covered with meringue, I am reminded of a Christmas prayer:

"Christmas is a time for joyful celebrations for we remember Your gift sending your Son Jesus Christ to save us all. And we remind ourselves; here lies the true meaning of Christmas"

Thank you, Lord, for Christmas!

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