Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Yuletide Holidays in New York


By Chef Ed Dychauco, RN

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

THE very first time I was away for Christmas was way back in ’87. No. Make that the 2nd time. I was in another country the first time but it was where Christmas is not celebrated. So, it didn’t matter I guess.

Spending my very first Christmas in New York City was both awesome and terrible.

It was actually an ambivalent feeling of love and hate, feeling of excitement and loneliness, feeling of ecstasy yet there is that emptiness inside of me.

Yes. That was how I felt the first time I had my Christmas in the United States!

Back when I was a kid, I would be dreaming of a “white” Christmas! Touching and feeling the snowflakes, enjoying the extreme cold of the weather wearing thick jackets with those scarves, head gears and all! Because I can only dream of them then. But the time came finally for me to experience all of it. And what a truly unforgettable feeling it was for me!

It was in the month of September when I left for the Big Apple for a nursing job. The wind was chilly, yet very soothing. A light jacket is what was needed to keep me warm since it was just the Fall (Autumn) season. The view was splendid and spectacular, the changing of the colors of the leaves, from green to yellow, to pink, to brown. It was just amazing to see all of these and finally, experiencing it. In fact, I still got the leaf I kept as a souvenir in one of my countless photo albums somewhere.

Then came Winter season. I thought snow would fall as winter starts. But then I was disappointed because the snow did not appear till almost the last week of December. It wasn’t really what I expected because it didn’t even cover the grounds. A few more days and then it started snowing in the middle of the night.

I was euphoric and thrilled! With my new found friends, we went outside and started taking pictures! There were no Facebook then to upload to show to friends, unlike now. It was indeed my first snow fall! Just like kids, we started making snow balls and started hitting each other like crazy. It was so much fun.

I thought I would be better off working on Christmas day since I can then visit my friends and bring with me my home-baked goodies. But I was wrong. I couldn’t get a cab. So I spent the next 24 hours in my room, listening to Christmas Carols and feeling sorry for myself. It was terrible. Being away from home, and friends.

What made it more bitter was that Christmas carols were played all day and all night on the 25th of December, that reminded me so much of home. All alone in my room for the whole day. How bad can it get? All I can do was just watch TV (thank goodness I have one in my room) and feel the coldness (literally) and feeling empty, away from my family. I would be a hypocrite if I don’t say I cried and cried till I just went to sleep that day.

The following day was better because I get to go back to work. Surrounded with co-workers and new found friends, we talked about our Christmas experiences and of course, we did brought some food with us. So we had a little party in our nursing quarters after all. And this reminded me of my best head nurse of all time, the funny, beautiful and gorgeous Ms. Lynda Hunter.

Since most of us (Filipino nurses) stayed at the “nurses residence,” which is actually on a 12th floor of a huge building within the hospital’s (Bronx
Municipal Hospital Center) premises, we also celebrated our little Christmas party with much food, dance and laughter which temporarily eased out our homesickness. We had our exchange gifts and of course, we had tremendous fun shopping for our presents.

I cannot remember how many times it snowed during that winter. But I do remember every time a huge snow fall comes, we would take on our heavy coats and jackets and get out of our rooms so we can spend it outside!

A few blocks from where we stayed, there was a house that is transformed into a Christmas wonderland, heavily decorated with Christmas decors like moving life-sized Santa Claus, snow man and many more converting it into a “huge” Gingerbread-like house, complete with blinking lights that amazes everyone who pass by. Of course, the place would look a lot better at night with all the lights on!

What is New York City if one doesn’t get to go to 5th Avenue or 34th Street? Or downtown New York in general? Well-known department stores like Macy’s, Sac’s Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale and several others try to outdo each other with their glamorous, magnificent and fantastic window displays. So many things are on sale and we just have to control ourselves or else we will end up working all day and night just to pay off our debts.

After my initial visit to Rockefeller Center, it was just the place to go anytime of the year. They change their decorations and “scenery” of the area depending on the season. On Christmas, it’ll be filled with lighted trumpeting angels and poinsettias. The ground is turned into an icy skating ring. What about the tallest Christmas tree? Whew! That was awesome! And since St. Patrick Cathedral is just a block away, I would attend the mass if there’s one. If not, it would be a visit and saying a prayer or two for me, my family and friends.

Radio City Music Hall is also within the vicinity and that is the time of year when they get to show exciting performances. However, sad to say, I haven’t been to any one of them. Poor me! Maybe next time.

I had the chance to visit my “2nd” family in Rockland, about an hour drive North of the Bronx during my days off. There I have spent some fond memories with the Hildalgo Family: Nelson (a child psychiatrist), Garcenia and their lovely kids.

Garce (for short) is the elder sister of a student of mine before. And unknowingly, her parents were my parent’s friends too. And I only got to know it after I told my mom about them.

The drive to their place is spectacular specially if it is covered with snow because I get to see well-decorated houses covered with snow, the trees, the shrubs, the roads…it was just picture perfect! And listening to Christmas music makes it more exciting.

Lately I have been seeing a lot of pictures of friends in Facebook with snow-covered sceneries and that terribly brought back a lot of memories. Again, it is an ambivalent feeling of wanting to be there yet wanting to spend the yuletide season with my family here. I always tell myself, there’s always a next year. And so, I’ll just patiently wait and hope that soon, I would once again spend a cold, chilly, icy winter in New York.

A very merry and exciting Christmas to all! (Website: www.potsnpans1976.weebly.com; email: potsnpans1976@yahoo.com)

Published in the Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro newspaper on December 22, 2010.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Dychauco: Nostalgic Christmas!





By Chef Ed Dychauco, RN

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

I GOT the chance to get around the city and I should say, Christmas is really around the corner. How time flies!

The major malls and hotels, houses and business establishments here have decorated and has been transformed into a holiday wonderland. Large and tall artificial Christmas trees decked with huge & colorful plastic decorations and flickering lights, giant lanterns that glows, artificial snowflakes in various colors, shapes and sizes, Santa Claus, fat or thin. Name it, interesting and multi-colored decorations, from reds to greens to blues to pink to almost all shades imaginable!

Back then it was just a few basic colors, red, yellow, green and a few others. Christmas trees were Pine trees or Norfolk Pines. And it brings out that woodsy scent from within. Decorative balls were made of breakable and delicate materials, lights were just plain and simple that changes every so often. And underneath the tree was the Nativity scene made of hard cardboards and a few "real" but meaningful gifts, wrapped with festive wrappers and bright, vibrant colored ribbons that weren't opened until the Christmas Eve. Hand-made parols adorn our bare windows but gives life at night when the bulbs are turned on.

And Christmas doesn't start till the 16th of the month when early dawn mass begins. Waking up to the church bells ringing and changing to our best clothes even if we are still half-awake! And during those early morning masses, it was always a treat to all of us since we would get the chance to have an early breakfast of suman, puto, bibingka, suman-latik, cassava cake, torta, cheesy enzaymada and other native produce, gobbled up with a cup of warm thick chocolate drink despite waking up so early and sometimes, dozing off during the Holy Mass.

The early dawn was chilly. We have to wear something warm and thatÆs when our thick jackets are finally taken out from the ôcabanö. The church was a walking distance from our house, so we normally hike and spend time enjoying the sights along the way. Simple yet very meaningful yuletide decorations adorn the houses and some shops that elicit the ooohs and ahhhs in the kid in us.

We get to listen to old, reliable but wonderful Christmas carols by well-known artist like Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Ray Conniff and his Singers, Benji to name a few over the "phonographs" until it was time to let go and change them to cassette tapes and eventually to CD's. Some old Tagalog and Visayan recordings of Susan Fuentes, Pilita Corrales, Mabuhay Singers and a few others would add nostalgia, especially when listened and enjoyed at night sitting and just watching the flickering lights of the Christmas tree and have the benefit of the cold breeze.

Christmas carolers were far much better and real, in the sense of the word. They would come and sing, dressed up to the nines! Aside from the "donations", we would invite them for some light snacks. Unlike today, especially the kids, they don't even know the lyrics of the songs they're singing! Want an example? "And never let you sing, and never let you sing, and never, never let you sing (to the tune of àand heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and heaven and nature sing!)." Do I hear a chuckle?

Christmas Parties were shared with families and a few closed friends. Good foods that includes lechon (if we're lucky), roasted chicken, ham, humba or adobo, macaroni salad, spaghetti and several desserts like decadent and rich chocolate cake, soft and airy brazo de mercedez, sinful sans rival, delicious ube roll, fruit salad and many others. There would be group singing of Christmas songs, minus the videoke machine of course, for the entire family. And finally, opening of gifts, which marks the highlight, of which we truly treasure and look forward to, because we tend to receive the best gifts during this season from our family, godparents and friends.

Christmas was meant to be a time for love, for sharing, for caring. This is the time when we get to enjoy the togetherness of our family. To thank God, for His blessings, and to live for others.

Hoping I would be the first to greet everyone a very Merry Christmas and a joyful and prosperous New Year to all! God Bless Us All!

Website: www.potsnpans1976.weebly.com email: potsnpans1976@yahoo.com

Published in the Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro newspaper on December 08, 2010.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Food Trip ... Ciudad de Zamboanga











By Chef Ed Dychauco, RN

Friday, December 3, 2010

ANYONE who goes to Asia's Latin City, Zamboanga would not only enjoy the exotic place where century old acacia trees abound, the historical place, the beautiful and friendly people, the sceneries which includes the lush mountains and the sea and the barter trade, but the delicious, the scrumptious, the freshest catch from the sea's bounty.

The most popular of course is the "Curacha" (also known as spanner crab or red frog crab), a chavacano term for this sea crab species which is found in
Zamboanga. It is red in color and remains red even when cooked either by boiling or steaming. To maintain its exotic flavor, it should be cooked minimally.

However, I have tried the curacha prepared in two different ways. One, plainly steamed and the other cooked the "Alavar" way which I also find very interesting because of the sauce which is a bit on the sweet and spicy side. Guess that is why when I was told to "lick" it, I was quite hesitant but ended up doing it anyway and savoring the full flavor of the crab!

Other mouth-watering seafoods would include the large prawn, either steamed, baked or deep fried. They are all oh-so-good! There's also the smaller shrimps which when mixed with spices and deep fried made the whole thing crunchy without wasting any part of the shrimp!

Squid. Fried calamari, grilled, stuffed, sizzling, stir fried. Cooked in all methods, it still would come out good! No doubt about it.

Fish. Fresh, small, medium or large. Plainly fried, whole or fillet, with or without sauce (usually, escabeche or sweet and sour sauce), steamed, grilled, soup, dried. Name it. It's available almost everywhere!

Sea shells, clams, mussels, etc. seaweeds (lato, guso), jelly fish and many others. And of course, there is the all-time favorite chicken, deep fried, or bar-b-que.

I had a good dinner after my arrival in Zamboanga City at Alejandra's, courtesy of Mr. Marlon Alaba of Altus Communications. I ordered their special which was served in a native square plate with a variety of fried vegetables and seafoods: eggplant, calamares, shrimps, daing na bangus and a chunk of fresh green mangoes with a delicious blend of sweet and spicy bagoong. Their version of java rice topped with seafood was really good!

Quick breakfast was at their famous Jimmy Satti. A very unassuming place full of customers eating their share of satti. Satti, as what they call it is actually a reddish sweet and spicy "soup-like" dish with a chop up puso (hanging rice).

Usually, the people would order a piece of chicken to go with it. I was informed that they open from about 4 a.m. and closes at about 10 a.m. or 11 a.m.

Lunch time was sponsored by Mr. Henry Ang of Shoppers Plaza at Abalone
Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant. Together with Ms. Mac Dang, Marlon and a few others, we had a feast of fresh seafoods (what else?) of Steamed Curacha and Crabs, Sea cucumber stuffed with meat in its Chinese sauce, finger-licking good deep fried prawns, abalone, clear clam soup. And if this would make anybody feel better, we devoured everything!

Had dinner with another Henry. This time, it was Mr. Henry Luy of Zamboanga Carrageenan Manufacturing Corporation. And not only once, but twice!

We had a great dinner at Alavar, another very well-known sea food restaurant that serves Spanish-influenced dishes. The menu was in Spanish/Chavacano but with English translations. Again, it was seafoods! But this time, cooked and prepared the Alavar way. Baked clams with a sugary sweet topping that blends very well with its meat, large sautéed prawns, grilled malasugui fish to perfection, fresh fish kinilaw and curacha! Another feast fit for a senor!

We had another great dinner with Henry and his family, Jude Garcines and his girlfriend, Lara at the famous Hai San Seafood Market and Restaurant the night before I left for Cagayan de Oro. As promised, another truly unforgettable great Chinese sea food dinner! We had jelly fish for appetizer, refreshing seafood soup, mixed sea foods vegetables, sweet and sour fish, crispy tempura, sliced prawns in a sweet sauce and steamed lapu-lapu fish in black bean sauce. Another tummy-filled evening!

What is food without desserts? Of course, Zamboanga is proud of its very own
Myrna's Bake House. It has about four branches, if I am not mistaken. But the one I get to visit was the one in Pasonanca Road. A very cozy, yet friendly place for friends and family. I got the chance to meet the owner, Ms. Myrna Inocencio, and her unica hija, Ivy Simbajon and was treated to their famous and sinfully-rich cakes and pastries. I even got to bring home some goodies, courtesy of Ms. Myrna. Having a sweet tooth really helps.

So, the next time I get to go back to Zamboanga City, I would definitely visit these exciting and delicious places again and enjoy as much as I can! These are the places to be! (Website: www.potsnpans1976.weebly.com; email:
potsnpans1976@yahoo.com)

Published in the Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro newspaper on December 04, 2010.