More fun for young bakers

Time was when children’s parties were simple – one gathered the kids, made them sit on small chairs around small tables, gave them blocks to make structures per their imagination, or allowed them to run around the garden, if the party was held outdoors.

From age five, most young girls are curious about what their mothers are doing in the  kitchen. They stand on stools to see what’s cooking.

To encourage this desire to cook, a company has come up with a gadget that can be the highlight of a children’s party – Pop and Cupcake Maker. It comes with a pair of cooking plates, one each for cake pops and cupcakes, a manual with recipes and video of the procedures.

This is the new “toy” for children when they gather for their play date, the new type of children’s social activity. They will have more fun actually baking. The Pop and Cupcake Maker is an easy gadget for the young bakers. There will be many thrills as young girls produce a unique cake that comes out in the shape of a lollipop in just five to eight minutes. This appliance can be ordered through [email protected]. It costs P2,250 with free shipping.

Turning to adult cooking, we attended the recent cooking demonstration at the Maya Culinary Center in Makati, tagged “Re-imaging Filipino Food.” This is part of the company’s program of bringing experts to impart their cooking techniques and recipes to home cooks.

Last week’s featured chef is Amy Besa, who we will now tag as the culinary crusader for Filipino cuisine. While US-based, Amy has pursued the preservation of authentic local dishes, searching for ingredients from various parts of the country.

For example, she rediscovered the multi-use of burnt coconut milk, which she uses now to cook her beef adobo. She said the Spaniards learned to use of vinegar in their food from us, although we have it from reliable sources that adobo originally came from Mexico.

We learned a few things from her demo, most of the steps done by her assistants with her doing the running commentary. Kulawo and kinagang were new to us.

We know of kulao made of pork face and ears with vinegar, garlic and a bit of brown sugar. Amy’s kulawong talong is grilled eggplants stuffed with garlic, ginger, shallots and chillies. A good starter.

Her beef adobo uses sherry or apple cider vinegar. Her technique is different – she browns her ribs first before adding all ingredients. An interesting element is chicken stock, which she uses to tenderize the beef. It gives extra flavor.

Kinagang is a tamales-like dish, with crab meat, shredded buko, shallots, lemon grass, scallions and red and green chillies with a small shrimp on top, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in medium flame.

She also demonstrated how to make vegetarian ukoy and pinipig cookies.

Amy has a few useful tips for home cooks – the use of coconut milk adds texture and flavor; organic means the farmers care for their produce; cut all ingredients in the same size and shape; conserve Filipino food by cooking (again) old recipes; use chicken stock to tenderize meat.

Cook Filipino!

E-mail me at [email protected].