BIG MAMA's PLACE

After several weeks of a roller coaster ride, I finally made my Saturday alive again. So I decided to visit Big Mama’s Place. Owned by the family of Bede Ongtengsiem. Bede is a good friend of mine.

The place is fabulous. It has a positive ambiance. Its interior is very neat and very stylish. People will have a feeling of being at your home when you are inside the Big Mama’s. I met Beau, Bede’s brother. Like Bede, Beau is also nice and cool person. They were both very accommodating when I was there. I also met Tita Bonnie, the mother of Bede and Beau. I was really mesmerized by the warm welcome they showed me. They prepared for me one of the best sellers in their resto, the Peppered Chicken with Tomato Rice, Thai Bagoong Rice and Orange Tuna Pasta plus Dimsum. I can say without exaggeration that the dishes were all fantastic and superb. I wanted to ask for more and eat more.

MENU

Orange Tuna Pasta

Thai Bagoong Rice

Peppered Chicken with Tomato Fried Rice

Perfect Homemade Dimsum

Interior of the resto designed by Bede's sister

Kitchen Confidential

Tita Bonnie shared with me her cooking styles. She doesn’t want to bake food because she hates exact measurement of ingredients. She prefers the “tanchahan” way of cooking. She makes sure that the ingredients they use in cooking are all fresh and are in good quality. She also allowed me to take a closer look at their kitchen where the food are prepared and cooked. It is very neat and clean. The utensils are all placed accordingly. The staff are all well groomed.

She also told me that their menu continuously evolves as she makes ways to find and experiment different recipes. She doesn’t want their food to be commercialized. She wants to make other people happy and satisfied especially the families who dine with them by serving them real tasty and quality food at its best.

We both believe in home-style cooking where everything goes around. We both love to experiment on different dishes. We never follow the recipes of others. We want to make our own. And we both believe cooking is not just cooking to let others eat and taste your food. We both believe that cooking is a special way of showing others that you care for them and love them. Cooking is not just an art for us. It is a passion.

With the BIG MAMA Bonnie and son Bede Ongtengsiem

Afterwards, I can’t help but express my gratitude to them (Bede, Beau and Tita Bonnie). I thank them from the bottom of my heart for having me taste their one-of-a-kind food. Sincerely, I was really glad and my stomach was really full that time. I am very happy for my friend, Bede for having this kind of business. I can see that it is doing very well. It was indeed a satisfing lunch and a learning experience as well. It wasn’t my usual lunch. It was extra ordinary. I wish to have my own restaurant. I know I can fulfill that dream one day.

Bede, Thanks for inspiring me to wear my big smile again. And for always telling me that life is beautiful and full of possibilities amidst pain and sufferings. ☺

My TAKE HOME!

BIG MAMA's PLACE
Along N. Paterno St. San Juan, Metro Manila
Opens Tuesday to Sunday –11am to 9pm

Rosalie de Guzman

Strawberry Sans Rival

Since it’s my sister’s birthday today, I decided to post my recipe for Strawberry Sans rival as my gift to her. Actually not everyone knows that strawberry is my favorite fruit! I only eat most of this fruit during Christmas. Surprisingly last summer I went to La Trinidad, Benguet and brought home lots of strawberries. When I came home, I gathered all the ingredients for my new concoction. The challenge on my part then was to come up with something that will not use oven. So what I am going to share here now is more like of a refrigerator cake but very sans rival when it comes to taste and surprisingly the result is very good. So fold your sleeves and wear your apron because we’re going to do a lot of whisking here.

Please prepare:
All purpose cream, Jelly powder, butter, vanilla syrup, egg yolk, sugar, cashew nuts, pistachio nuts, graham cracker and strawberries.

Get a huge bowl and mix cream, vanilla syrup, egg yolk, and diluted jelly all together. Melt the butter and add it also to the mixture. Prepare a rectangular ceramic then arrange graham crackers. Fold the mixture per layer then add some sliced strawberries, minced cashew nuts and pistachios per layer. Not too much because on the last layer that will be the right time for you to place generous amount of strawberries, pistachios and cashew nuts. Place it in your freezer if you want it frozen or in your fridge when you want it normal. Then it's ready!

My passion for Chowking!

After being in the advertising industry for eight years, it is only now that I feel incredibly felicitous with one particular brand I am handling–– Chowking. I’ve been handling the brand for three and half years now and today it makes me look back to how my advertising career started.

When I had my first interview in J.Walter Thompson, they asked me what my dream account is. I gladly told them that Jollibee is my dream account. I also told them that I always wanted to do something that has to do with food that's young and fun. At that time, I saw that in Jollibee.

I graduated college and landed in different multinational agencies. I had numerous interviews and they always asked me “what is your dream account?” My answer didn’t change through the years. But after shuffling from one ad agency to another, I never had the chance to work on Jollibee. In 2005, I had Chowking instead.

Since the day I started handling Chowking, I've forgotten about Jollibee. I enjoy going to their test kitchen every time there’s a new product. It excites me to see the chef demonstrating how to cook the food while showing the ingredients he is using. It’s very admirable to see that Chowking is constantly innovating and improving their products for their consumers. In my heart I'm yearning for the chance to become an innovation chef. Since I’m in advertising and equipped with excellent culinary skills, I've always thought that these two important aspects would help me turn my dream into reality. As part of the agency that handles the brand, my delight about a certain product we are working on now is indescribable. It excites and surprises me because a lot of things will soon happen. I will gladly share to all of you once everything is already happening.

Niña Clemente

Niña Clemente is the last installment for the month of March '08. She was late that night and I almost lost my temper because of waiting so long. She arrived and I remained poised and pleasant. Well if you think the night was ruined, definitely not! No matter what incident might happen I will never let my customers experience a bad date. In the end, Niña and I, along with her boyfriend had a warm and entertaining conversation. The Italian set meal again won another couple's heart.

SPIFF

This is SPIFF, the magazine for the Call Center crowd. It's very informative because there are hi-tech stuff, kikay finds and food. I'm happy about this magazine because not everyone knows that a lot of my customers came from different call centers in the metro. And according to my site meter I also have a lot of visitors from call centers.

They gave me 5-page feature which showcases my six set meals. Cathy Tagle-Garcia wrote this interesting article about me. I provided her food photos from my library.

There's also the map of my location. Thanks to SPIFF team and of course to Cathy!

Glenn Dalisay

My best-selling Italian set meal was savored by Glen and his lovely wife on the third Sunday of March, 2008. It was his special surprise for his wife's birthday. In a nutshell, Glen is an IT professional and works in the Laguna area while her wife works in Makati. My first impression was that both of them seemed very shy. I was kinda wrong because despite their demure smiles, I was able to take their pictures. A successful dinner, indeed.

At the kitchen area of The Artist Chef. Before the couple left, another picture was taken beside the spices and my pictures. By the way I bought that silver magnetic container at IKEA, Sydney.

Lettuce-Grape-Calamari

The winning recipe during the YUMMY COOK-OFF last September 2007, and the appetizer to my AMERICAN set meal.

Lettuce-Grape-Calamari

You will need one pack mixed greens like lettuce, arugula, rocket and even raddichio. Seedless grapes, squid rings marinated with salt & pepper with kepap manis are also needed. Prepare mayonnaise then mix it with a little balsamic vinegar, milk, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper for the dressing then set aside. Prepare a huge salad bowl then arrange the mixed greens then top it with grapes then set aside. Heat med pan in high temperature with butter then saute the marinated squid for few minutes. When cooked, place it on top of your salad bowl and pour the right amount of dressing and serve.

Blue Mountains (AUS post 8)

This is the picturesque and very famous rock formation called "Three Sisters" in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Towering above the Jamison Valley, the three rocks that were formed are called Meehni (922m), Wimlah (918m) and Gunnedoo (906m). The sisters were formed by erosion and other natural activities of our environment. But not everyone knows that there is a very interesting story behind this nature's wonder. According to legend, ages ago there were three sisters who fell in love with three brothers from another tribe. But marriage was forbidden by tribal law that led to a tribal battle. During the battle the father of three sisters asked an elder man or a witch doctor to protect them by temporarily turning them into stones. The elder man was killed during the fighting and no one could turn back the three sisters into life. No one can remove the spell so up to now, the three sisters are stuck.

One of the few remaining authentic aborigines in Australia is sitting beside me in this picture. Some of them can be found in the Blue Mountains. It's funny that in this picture I am smiling but deep within me I am a bit scared because this man is whispering "Can I kiss you princess?". So I told my boyfriend to hurry up and click the camera. And by the way, we paid $2 Australian dollars just to have this picture. Though any amount would do. You will simply drop your coins in front of him. No coins dropped, no picture!

With my photographer and partner in life.

This is the trail going down to the viewing area. A good leg exercise!

This is a very interesting petite chapel in the park of the Blue Mountains.
I am a fan of small chapels.

Yehey! My favorite thing to do (and Aussies too) ... picnic!

With my cousin Gary, wife Yonni and Yonni's sister Dewi!

With us is John Lucas (an impersonator of the real one) and he's our tour guide inside Jenolan Caves. We went inside the most interesting cave in Jenolan which is the Lucas Cave, named after John Lucas. He was a local parliamentarian and was responsible for having the cave declared for protection. The Jenolan Caves is the home of precious limestones. But in Lucas Cave there's this Cathedral, the highest chamber of this tour, and also the highest chamber of all Jenolan caves, 54m high. It is used for weddings and for concerts for example by Dame Joan Sutherland or the Vienna Boys Choir. Now and then, there are concerts in the hall.

The mystery inside Lucas Cave in Jenolan