A few nights ago, I decided to honour my place as a woman and my mother’s origins from the food capital of the Philippines (Pampanga) by cooking dinner. Specifically, I decided to cook a staple Philippine chicken dish called adobo. Yes, I said it. I volunteered to cook something different from scrambled eggs and toast. I’ve attempted this dish several times before (it’s my default exotic dish whenever I want to show off my culinary culturedness) so it wasn’t a new feat for me. This time, however, it turned out better than normal. Delicious, in fact! Just the right balance of salt and sweet, with caramelized onions and garlic. I marinated, I boiled, I pre-fried and sautéed. I consulted mama’s recipe over and over again to make certain I did everything right. And it turned out excellent! Yummy! Sumptuous!
Mama, you would have been so proud of me (bar the fact that I burnt the coffee, AGAIN!)!
But, besides the delight of cooking something and having it taste the way it’s supposed to, something more serendipitous added to my joy that night. I was so overcome with glee when I found out that the kitchen utensils we’ve been using are perfectly matched to our pots and pans! Please see the picture below for a clearer idea of what I mean. The hole in the giant spoon! It fits just there, on the handle of that pot! There’s a whole set of them – utensils, pots and matching holes and notches. How great is that? So great! So great, in fact, that I might just be inspired to cook again.
*gasp*
