Agatha Christie on the Table

Can you believe that? We had a bit of her type of mystery during the last of a series of six Mediterranean Get-away Dining Club events at the Mil Novecientos Tapas Bar and Bistro on Remedios Circle, where "the Ambassador" greeted and talked food with the guests as the ghost of his irate "Majordomo" haunted him.

It was perhaps because this was the last of the series that Fly Ace Corporation and the restaurant’s kitchen staff prepared a selection of Mediterrenean-inspired dishes using fresh ingredients, Federici Italian Pasta, Pietro Coricelli Olive Oil, Doña Elena capers, anchovies and sardines. The resulting fare produced the best combination of flavors and textures. We had Spanish tapas (including Hispanized sisig), a Greek Salad, Italian Pasta, a unique Green Paella and the very interesting Boracella. Our seatmate was a bit uncertain about the Boracella, a rabbit stew, but seeing how, across her, another guest was savoring it so much, she did dig into it and gave it a good mark. Rabbit meat is more tender and, done caldereta style as it was that evening, it was delicious. We will be happy to share the recipe with interested readers.

ShopWise in the Filinvest Mall has packaged the multi-colored capsicums (P112.60) so attractively. They are contained in clear plastic and come in sets of four, each a different color. They are pretty enough to give away as presents. Look into their supply of hydroponic-raised vegetables–giant, vibrantly red salad tomatoes at P85 a kilo, Australian broccoli at P178. Also in the section is a row of potted herbs–each tagged at P74.50. Get a collection and raise them in your place (you won’t need a big space) so you can have fresh herbs all the time. They have sorrel, tarragon, marjoram, dill and sage. Maybe later they can also offer basil and oregano; how about that, Daniel?

If you exit Shopwise through its second level, you’ll find a new stall right across and this is one of the more enticing outlets of bakery products. It is called Kitchen ala Ching, which has gone a step beyond the now very popular rhum cake. They have introduced Cakes with Liqueur like Lemon-Vodka bundt (very good), Espresso Kahlua Loaf and Chocolate Brandy. Truly innovative!

The day that we dropped in at the Mall, they were having a pitifully small Food and Trade Fair. We had the initial impression this was celebrating the "Maskarra" festival of Bacolod (Negros), but we hardly found items from that region. There was the Cebu stall with the usual dangit. We got the dried babad (tiny inch-long fish) at P50 a pack. It also carried the batilis, fermented oysters at P40 a bottle. Moving on we found Pangalatok’s Pangasinan delicacies which has an outlet in Cainta. They have longaniza and bagoong. Ilongo’s Best, with a store in Quezon City, displayed their best, indeed–sardines, dilis and other snack items. Their products are also sold at Rustan’s in Cubao. St. Anthony bangus, tinapa and daing, all marinated, from JML Abesamis Enterprises, can also be bought from its outlet in BF Parañaque. Price starts from P100. Their bigger bangus are for export but can also be availed of by local consumers.

Chicken, specially the ones weighing about 1.5 kilos, are again disappearing from the market, aside from the price shooting up once again to P72 a kilo from the record-breaking low of P57 sometime ago. Luckily, SM Supercenter (Hypermart) on Sucat still has them, so we immediately put a few into our basket. At SM Megamall in Ortigas, we found really fresh and "good-looking" cabbage, plus Baguio beans that are still green, no dots, no browning skin.

To add to our previous marinade report, here is a tip we got from the Executive Chef of the new City Garden Suites on A. Mabini in Malate. We just had one of the most savory grilled steaks with complementing sauce. This was made from red wine, olive oil and red ginger (luyang dilao). Try that one and give your favorite beef dish a different taste. Or you might want to have more of the hotel’s weekly barbecue offerings.

Eat well and healthy.

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Lydia D. Castillo’s e-mail address: [email protected]