Helen’s kitchen is Kris’ envy

Now I understand why Kris Aquino (photo) was gushing about Helen Gamboa’s kitchen and culinary know-how when Kris shot an episode of her Kris TV show at Helen and husband Sen. Tito Sotto’s house in White Plains, Quezon City, with a prolonged stop at Helen’s kitchen.

When Helen hosted a birthday dinner for A-list talent manager Shirley Kuan (whose newest client is boxing champ Nonito Donaire Jr.), she gave Raoul Tidalgo and me a quick tour of her much-talked-about kitchen which is so spic-and-span, so immaculately clean that, we surmised, it’s comparable to, if not better than, the kitchens of Hollywood celebrities. No kidding!

“It’s so big,” Raoul and I gasped, “it’s almost a house in itself.” (Check out the photo at the top of this page.)

Helen recalled Kris saying, “It’s so big, I don’t think it will fit in my house.”

It was in that kitchen where Helen herself prepared the food shared by the barkada, including Kare-Kare with Prawns, Crispy Hito with Buro, Adobo, Sotanghon and Relyenong Bangus. Like most Kapampangan, Helen is a whiz at the kitchen.

“When Kris was here,” added Helen, “she enjoyed the food, especially the Tsamporado. She kept reminding me, ‘Tita, keep sending me food ha.’ Aside from the demo, ipinagbalot ko siya ng take-home.”

The guests kept on going back to the buffet table for more servings. Had Sen. Tito been there (he was out of town on important mission), he would have done the same, stuffing himself with the Sinigang which is, according to Helen, his all-time favorite. “Any sinigang okey sa kanya,” said Helen.

Over desserts, the barkada swapped showbiz tidbits (all off-the-record) with retro music from the stereo as fitting soundtrack.

It was a pity Helen couldn’t find a copy of Thirty-First of June, one of her own top hits way back when, which happened to be the favorite of Helen’s once-upon-a-time suitor-actor.