When it comes to learning about baking and anything else to do with food, I will swim the seven seas to partake of the opportunity. Last week, my Lola Els called me from out of the blue. She is (strictly speaking) not really related to me, but because she hails from the same province as my mother and is quite old already (84 years), I call her lola. Lola Els is a master baker, one of those from the old school who uses tried and tested recipes that are a century old. Even at her advanced age, she is still a consultant and baking teacher for bakers of Red Ribbon, Goldilocks, and other smaller bakeshops like Petit Fours. Her own house is a testament to her supreme love for baking, evidenced by the mountains of baking pans and equipment that are practically seeping out of their storage areas in her house. She even has pans that they don't make anymore like shaped llanera pans used in making leche flan and the 10-cup capacity Bundt pan. I told her that if she ever decides to hold a garage sale, I'd save her the trouble and buy all the stuff she has. When I ...

There is a food report on Asian eating habits floating around right now. It was conducted by Ogilvy and Mather, (O&M) a marketing and communications firm. Misleadingly titled, "Eating Disorders," findings of the report include: Filipinos eat more often than other Asians, and are also more frequently consuming fried and fattening food, while throwing caution to the winds with regards to future health consequences. Another topic cited was the confusion among Filipinos about certain health terms such as "fortified," or "nutritious." Other findings: · 56% of Asians believe their diet to be less healthy than it was five years ago · 42% of consumers see foreign food as a bad influence on their own culture · 55% believe that there are too many conflicting rules on what they should and shouldn't eat. O&M planners and researchers covered 21 cities in 14 countries to prepare the report: they visited families and shopped with housewives, in their search to know more about Asian attitudes and eating habits. I understand that the final report is meant to provide perspective for developing strategic tools to market food product brands in Asia. There is a statement that I take straight from the report which excellently sums up the eating attitude ...

It was one of those gems of a place that I found by a stroke of serendipity. Located in a side street perpendicular to Tomas Morato Avenue, I only happened to pass by it because I was trying to avoid the congestion. Situated beside a car repair shop, I was attracted to the yellow neon sign that read Food Lab, with the name "Katre" on top of it. To any passionate foodie, the phrase "food lab," is enough to conjure delicious fantasies of a chef in some kitchen designing luscious dishes. As my car passed by, I quickly craned my neck and saw that the Food Lab was indeed a restaurant. I learned that Food Lab is owned by Chef Roxs Cailao of Café Chanterelle fame. He is no longer associated with the restaurant, having broken away to start his own place, although he still serves as a consultant. And he calls his new baby a food lab because he wanted to be able to have free reign to explore and experiment. However, the real name of the restaurant is Katre, after his 18-year old daughter. This unique eating place is very small – roughly the size of a cozy living room. ...

"Look how beautifully the food is arranged on the plate. You can just tell how many pairs of hands have been all over it." --Julia Child My big problem with beautifully plated food is that first, it's usually so beautiful that I feel guilty cutting into it; secondly, the portions are usually so small; and lastly, these dishes often look better than they taste. It's similar to those big, pink birthday cakes loaded with sugar flowers that I had when I was a kid – yeah, the ones that looked like a dream but tasted like sawdust. When I went to culinary school, I realized exactly what kind of work went into producing those plated creations: hands - lots and lots of hands. After my classmates and I had toiled in the kitchen for the day, we were required to plate our dishes for the final presentation to our chef-instructor. I was always lousy at it, and I was insanely jealous of some of my friends who would make these edible towering creations. (This was back in 1999, and the plating trend then was height). Since I wasn't the only one who sucked at plating, our chef-instructor once gave us all a crash course ...

I had heard several good things about Wasabi, the restaurant that occupies the space where RJ Bistro used to be a few years ago: that it is a Japanese fusion place where the food attains new heights of creativity; that eating there is not just a meal but an experience in itself. I usually visit a new place as soon as I'm aware of it, but I had heard about the exorbitant prices, which stopped me from even venturing inside the place. This was compounded by the fact that a friend of mine once told me that he had the best meal of his life in Wasabi, but that it came with a hefty P4,000 price tag. Uh, no thanks. So you can imagine how I jumped at the invitation my good friend, P, extended to me: cocktails and dinner with the principal owners of Wasabi as well as some of the stockholders. As soon as I drove up, a valet efficiently took care of my car for me. I stepped up to the bronze door entrance, which automatically slid open. I was immediately enveloped in the warm, yellow light that bathed the ambience of the restaurant. I took note of ...

Imagine this: a thick, juicy slab of well-marbled steak seared to perfection, served with a generous serving of seasoned au jus sauce. Or if you're more of a dessert person, then visualize a portion of silky-smooth crème brulee, quivering with the weight of its luxurious lightness. Now imagine eating some of that steak. Feeling its juices gush onto your tongue, you find yourself delighting in the varied textures of the steak as you chew and the surprise taste of the marbled fat. Suddenly, your heart begins to beat just a little bit faster, just a little bit louder. Now take a spoonful of that crème brulee. Feel it course languorously down your throat, leaving a silky trail. It coats your mouth with its ethereal mixture of sugar and cream. You begin to feel like you've been drugged since you can swear that your muscles have relaxed and all you can think of is repeating this gastronomic experience. Okay, now wake up. Of course that was a highly romanticized view of the eating experience. You may even think that people who view eating as some sort of erotic experience must be sick in the head. I mean after all, food is really just meant ...

I've received lots of email from you great people out there who ask or tell me one of the following things: 1. That I'm so lucky to eat for a living 2. Are all my meals free? It's my principle to always answer email, so some of you reading this may already know what I'm about to tell everyone else. Consider this a "behind-the-scenes" look at the life of a Food Editor. Yes, I do love what I do. I think it's rare for a person to be paid to do something he/she loves, and not see it as a job. I'm also fortunate that I get to lock in my passion for food with my job; it's a dream, I tell you. Add to that the fact that I work with some of the brightest, most talented, and nicest people in this industry. No, not all my meals are free; I generally prefer to pay my way, unless I'm out on a date with my husband. (Heh heh). Seriously though, only a small number of my meals are "on the house," so to speak, which suits me just fine. I take great pride in telling the truth to GetAsia readers about whether or not ...

At its most basic, bread is a simple mixture made from yeast, flour, water, and perhaps some salt. Most breads that make use of a leavener include yeast breads, batter breads, and quick breads. The difference here lies in whether the dough is kneaded to activate gluten formation, stirred vigorously, or derives its rising power from either baking powder and/or baking soda. Unleavened breads like naan and chapati are therefore, quite flat. Baking methods for bread include steaming, frying, and plain popping it into the oven. The Philippines' well loved pan de sal, of which no breakfast is complete, literally means salt of life. It gets its characteristic taste from being baked off in a pugon or stone oven. Baking bread is satisfying and fulfilling, and not at all difficult. But what you need plenty of is time, and that is a luxury most busy metro folk don't have. Thankfully, there are plenty of bakeries in the city that are more than happy and willing to provide Manilans' various bread needs and wants. The best breads can be found in the village bakeries. These places are often low-key and inconspicuous, but of course they're incredibly famous with everyone who lives within their vicinity. ...