The culinary icon of Quezon

I want others to continue to enjoy and savor my treasured dishes even when I’m gone; food, like God’s other blessings, is meant to be shared and relished in a communal feast.— Milada Dealo-Valde

At the foot of Mount Banahaw lies one famous yet relatively small province known for its yearly Pahiyas festival, with houses decorated extravagantly with the colors of the rainbow, and a flood of good food that welcomes tourists and guests from all over the world. Quezon province has endeared itself to Filipinos for its cuisine and its culture.

But one can never speak of this province without referring to an icon that is best known for her baked goods and has successfully conquered culinary specialties as well: Mrs. Milada Dealo-Valde, fondly called “Mommy” by all who know her — a warm lady with a generous spirit. It was a blessing how the Lord brought us together. The year was 1987 when I first came across this formidable lady from Quezon. She was one of the very first students in my cake-decorating class who humbled me with her desire to learn in spite of her fame and fortune — a distinction brought about by her very own company, the Dealo Koffee Klatch Bakeshop established by her father in 1958 in Lucban, Quezon. A front-runner in cake and biscuit production, their products such as apas, galletas and, most popular of all, broas, is locally and internationally distributed.

For more than five decades Mommy’s expertise has boosted the image of Quezon through making their products known, as well as making their food accessible and recognizable nationwide. She has an active role in the Quezon Tourism Council as well as the Quezon Baker’s Association. She has chronicled all that she’s learned and has produced a coffee-table book in less than three months entitled The Cuisine of Quezon: Finest Traditional Dishes of the Coconut Province, launched last Aug. 1 at SM Lucena, and again on Aug. 2 at The Marriott Hotel. The book served as  her legacy, as she generously shares the secrets of the making of pancit habhab, Lucban Hardinera, Lucban longganisa and, of course the world-famous broas — “apat na sikat,” as she calls them, as well as other classic favorites such as embotido, tamales and a myriad other dishes. The book is a guide to all who value simple home cooking and who would like to pursue a cooking style that employs a no-additive, back-to-basics approach that the younger generation has forgotten. The coffee-table book is filled with detailed photos and simple instructions as well as practical tips for making these delicious recipes in your own home. It is also ideal to give as a gift to those who already have everything.

Generosity can only be learned from those people that genuinely have a passion for their craft as well as the compassion to relate to the people around them. Skill and talent can only take you so far, but a real, lasting legacy is when the hearts and minds of the people that value you and the people that have worked with you remember you with loyalty and affection. After reading about how Mommy’s generosity reaches far beyond her kitchen, I understood how she is loved and appreciated by her family and friends.

I was so impressed by Mommy’s determination and foresight in providing this wonderful book for a new generation of culinary icons who would like to unlock the secrets of traditional cooking that I invited her to hold a class at my culinary school. She graciously accepted the invitation, so on Oct. 15, Tuesday, Mommy will be featuring an entire course of recipes such as lumpiang ubod for her vegetable/ appetizer dish, Lucban longganisa for her pork dish, beef with paklang for her beef dish, sinugnog na isda for seafood and pinagkat na kalabasa as a unique dessert. She also promised to teach her most coveted export product, broas, more famously known as ladyfingers. Needless to say, the class will be full of exciting tidbits and wonderful cooking advice from the culinary icon of Quezon, Milada Dealo-Valde.

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