Lipa, jewel of a city / Wagyu steaks on stone

Although I had attended the launch of Visitacion “Chit” R. de la Torre’s latest coffee table book, titled Lipa, A Jewel of a City, the thick volume  lay for a long time on my coffee table at home, waiting to be read and savored. The long holiday finally gave me the opportunity to go on a delightful journey to understanding and appreciating the history, culture, and people of Lipa, through Chit’s 38th title.  

Aside from perspicacity and obstinate industry, Chit’s special skill is as a researcher, giving readers detailed accounts of events and people in the city. This book is testimony to her having become a better reporter, and storyteller yet. It took her two years to produce it, with the help of the Lipa City Culture and Arts Foundation whose staff arranged interviews, drove Chit to every nook and corner, and dug out pictures from private libraries and dusty wooden chests. Thus, the book is about history, monasteries and convents, people, business, landmarks, hospitals and schools, resorts, restaurants and native delicacies — everything one wants to know about a city.

Lipa was an obscure municipality in Batangas, which by the 1800s became the richest in the country with its export of coffee beans to some of the world’s capitals. Its cool climate, lush flora and fauna, fertile lands, good peace and order condition, very old cathedrals, its population characterized by charm and bravura, and its highly revered church prelates, among them Bishop Alfredo Obviar who, writes Chit, is on the path toward beatification and eventual sainthood, make Lipa a truly “jewel of a city.” As Chit puts it, “There is no city quite like Lipa.”

Lipa for a long while drew thousands of devotees and tourists — special commercial flights were arranged to enable the faithful and plain curious from many parts of the country to step in what they considered holy ground — Lipa’s Carmel Church. This is the site of the apparitions of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace to a then novice, Teresita Castillo, or Sister Teresing, now 81, and still alive to bear witness to her receiving messages as Fatima did in Portugal. In the same site were the inexplicable showers of rose petals.

The opulence of elite families led to the sending of progenies to Europe to study, with some of them joining the propaganda movement. Well publicized were the extravagant fiestas whose highlight was the rigodon de honor featuring the town’s lovely lasses and matrons caught by cameras wearing fabulous and expensive ternos. The fiestas today are still joyous events. Among the wealthy and famous of beauteous Lipenas are Justa Tantoco, Fe Dolor Serrano, Criselda Lontoc (a Ms. Philippines, and today a highly-regarded fashion designer), Evie Luz Costa, Assemblywoman Soledad L. Dolor, the late Lily de las Alas Padilla, Maria Kalaw Katigbak (who became Ms. Philippines during the 1931 Manila Carnival, and later, a senator), Gliceria Tantoco, Noemi Lirag Saludo, and the Katigbak women, including Imelda Katigbak Dayrit, Margarita and Didi, the sisters Guia Recto-Santos and Marilyn Recio-Ramos. Younger beauties include Congresswoman Lani Mercado Revilla; actress Vilma Santos is now one of Lipa’s famous women, having married Sen. Ralph Recto and becoming elected Lipa City mayor.

Of the “local boys who made good” are Education Secretary Brother Armin Altamirano Luistro, FSC, National Artist for Literature Bienvenido L. Lumbera, National Artist for the Arts Arturo R. Luz, newspaper publisher Amado “Jake” Macasaet, Ambassador Alberto L. Katigbak, the late Agriculture Secretary Arturo “Bong” Tanco, Mayor Carlos Solis, Gaudencio Cardinal Santos, and of course, Danny Dolor, a noted art collector who proposed that Chit write the book on Lipa.

There is a chapter on “effective” local governance, led by Mayor Oscar L. Gozos, a former congressman, and Vice Mayor Lydio A. Lopez. In their hands are placed the well-being of a population of 270,000 which balloons to 500,000 during the day because of out-of-town workers coming to the city. Lipa, spread out in a land area of 20,940 hectares, has 72 barangays, 12 of which make up the city proper or poblacion, and another 12, described as urban, with one barangay within a military reserve area known as Fernando Air Base.

Brother Armin typifies the Batangueno who is proud of his roots and heritage. His message to the Filipino youth is, for them to “develop a sense of pride for their family, for their city and for their country because these three give us our identity, our roots, and values.”           

It’s a book worth adding to your collection of Filipiniana. Copies may be ordered from the Tower Book House (Tels. 8156925 and 8154938 and by emailing [email protected].

* * *

Wagyu may sound strange or new to some people, but it’s the increasingly popular beef that is served at the House of Wagyu Stone Grill in Greenhills, The Podium, and Eastwood Mall.

Wagyu meat, directly imported from Australia, originated from Japan-bred wagyu cattle. Wagyu beef has been acclaimed worldwide for its “marbling” characteristics and natural flavor, delicate texture and tenderness, and juiciness. Herd isolation and distinctive feeding techniques, with the cows raised without hormones or chemicals, ensure distinctive marbling which is considered the essence of great beef. Wagyu beef is sometimes referred to as “white steak” with its very high rate of marbling, but with lower saturated fat, which gives it its unmatched taste and remarkable tenderness.

Only wagyu beef is served in the Wagyu Stone Grill Houses. And there’s something remarkable about the way the beef slabs chosen by diners from glass enclosed chillers at the entrance of the three restaurants are cooked. They are served in volcanic slabs of stones imported from Mt. Vesuvius. The stones are heated at 300 to 400 degrees for four hours before they are carted to diners’ tables. The steaks are placed on top of the stone grills, and diners decide if they want them rare, medium rare, or well done. Natural juices ooze from the meat, diners do not have to pour gravy on them. This is stylish eating. Stone-grilled right at one’s table.

Diners have a host of wagyu steaks to choose from. T-bone, at 700 gms; Porterhouse, 750 gms, ranchers’ cut, 700 gms. All-time favorites are Grade 6 New York strip, Grade 6 Rib Eye, Grade 6 Tenderloin; Grade 8 Top Sirloin, Grade 8 New York Strip, Grade 8 Rib Eye, Grade 8 Tenderloin, and Grade 8 Tenderloin with Foie Gras. For the most discriminating wagyu eaters, the ultimate treats are Wagyu Grade 10 & 12; Premium New York Strip, Premium Rib Eye, and Ultra Premium Tenderloin.

Wagyu Stone Grill diners may opt for combinations, like 180 gms New York Strip with a choice of fish and chips or king prawns or pan-seared scallop, or Pasta Alfredo or Pasta Pomodoro. Eastwood’s well-trained, friendly head waiter, Gerald Cruz said, sea foods are also served at this restaurant, but no chicken or pork, please.

For openers, there’s a slew of appetizers and salad greens,  and to end an out-of-this-word meal, one can choose panacotta, vanilla ice cream with homemade cheesecake, and flourless pear a la mode.

* * *

My e-mail: dominimt20002yahoo.com