HELLO dear foodies, hope you're ready for the salad of your Noche Buena. We will continue our christmas flowers italy buffet as planned and again hope you pick up some tips, which you could use.
Today, we do the salads. Salads have evolved into so many different types and variations.
Plan your Sinulog week ahead and find out what's in store for Sinulog 2012.
You have the greens only, the fruit only, the macaroni only, the boiled potatoes and root veggies only, the shepherd's lunch type, the side dishes - meaning a bit of green with mild dressings, such as coleslaw and waldorfs; and oh so many kinds. Another time we will do these salads and variants.
We suggest we concentrate on the side dishes salads. These are the salads to accompany entrees and not as hearty and heavy as the shepherds type or the macaroni type, which both have meats and maybe fruits in the salads. The side dishes type consists of greens such as romaine, lettuce, cabbage, cubes maybe slivers of apple, or melon or papaya in the mix and then dressed with vinegar and oil. Since Noche Buena is so heavy may we suggest a light salad?
A slaw consists of finely shredded cabbage, both violet and green, and mixed with whatever you want to mix with it. You may try shredded or grated carrots. And like we frequently remind you, whatever you feel like adding. So for a slaw you will need:
1. 1 half kilo of green cabbage very carefully washed and thinly sliced;
2. 1/4 kilo of violet cabbage also very carefully washed and sliced;
3. 3 apples cored and sliced thinly, keeping on the skin so that the red will appear;
4. A small tin of crushed or tidbits pineapple, well drained. (Save the liquid);
5. Whatever else you like, cubed zucchini or fine slices of melon, papaya maybe (be sure to choose the half ripe, called manibalang in Tagalog) or even singkamas; and
6. Extra fruits to decorate the sides of your serving dish.
When all has been sliced, put them all in a large bowl. Do not, repeat, do not, mix them yet.
Separate the veggies in sections until you are ready to serve. Cover with a clear wrap and refrigerate.
Just be sure the slices and grates are uniformly done. For number 5, julienned strips are better. If you grate those, too much liquid is extracted.
We cannot emphasize too much on the need for super cleanliness. Remember, these are to be served Raw, and you certainly don’t want all to get sick. Do not use the chopping board, which you use for fish and meats. Use a clean plate to slice and put the veggies directly into the storing bowl.
The dressing again is your choice. You may use a mayonnaise based dressing or oil based making your own dressing. (Making your own? Ask for the recipe. This column will gladly supply the recipe and its variations). If you use a commercial mayo based dressing, you will need:
1. 1 1/2 cup of good mayo. Don’t use the mayo which is a sandwich spread or flavored because you want to put in your own flavoring;
2. 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. (The market is teeming with lemons);
3. Juice of the pineapple, which you drained.
At this point, your own taste buds will prevail. You may include a bit of honey, if you feel like honey. But is you don’t like manamis-namis, you may opt for maanghang-anghang. Use ground, freshly ground white or black pepper. Taste as you go, when you are happy, call someone to taste test with you. Thin the mayo with some of the liquid of the pineapple if you like a sweetish dressing. If you like a peppery dressing put in a bit of tabasco or chili powder. If you like sour, use lemon juice. If you like all, mix and blend until you are happy. Finally, be warned not to mix the dressing with the salad until you are ready to serve. Mixing the dressing too early will cause the green to become soggy and lose its crunchiness. Put your dressing in a bowl and cover it also with a clear wrap. Refrigerate this with the salad greens.
Mix them when you are ready to serve and only then. Use your prettiest bowl or platter and line the sides with apple slices and pineapple tidbits. Encircle the platter or bowl alternate with these fruits and you will have a lovely looking salad.
Made too much dressing? You may use the same dressing with macaroni or potato salad. Not to worry, the dressing tastes good on any salad.
FOOD TRIVIA I
Did you know saffron originally came from the east? It is now grown commercially in many parts of the world and is the most expensive spice in the world since 70,000 flowers have to be picked to make 1 kilo of saffron. In the Philippines, we are lucky to have a substitute, called kasubha, and this approximates the color and taste of saffron. Kasubha can be bought in the market very easily. More on saffron next issue.
FOOD TRIVIA II
In certain parts of Italy, eel (igat in the Philippines) is the dish served on christmas flowers italy blogs Eve. It is first skinned, and sliced for frying, and included in the lard for frying is a lot of ginger and garlic. The dish is served with orange or lemon slices without the ginger and garlic. In the Philippines and here in particular in Benguet, it is cooked adobo style. So if you want to go off the beaten path why not try eel and make the men happy. Eel is supposed to be invigorating. BON APPETIT!
Published in the Sun.Star Baguio newspaper on November 30, 2011.
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