Foot and Fire

AS SEVENTH POST FOR THE #foodflixflex which my friends and I will be doing this September to celebrate food and cinema, I present you my Duck in Rose Petal Sauce (turned out to be more like Duck with Macadamia Sauce) which is inspired by Laura Esquivel's magical realism novel and the 1992 movie version of it which was very faithful to the book both entitled, Like water for chocolate. I always have a slip of the tongue when saying the title. I say, Like hot water for chocolate. Maybe because this book is about deep longing, true love, hindered desires. So I imagine that Tita melts like chocolate because Pedro is the hot water.     On the March entry, Tita received a bouquet of roses from Pedro to congratulate her on her first year as ranch cook. The roses which were pink became red when Tita clasped it and her blood mixed in the petals. A chemical reaction began without her knowing. Tita felt she has to do something special abou...

Spiced Duck steamed in Puerh Tea by Gerlie Whole duck, halved Salt & Chinese five spice Puerh tea, steeped in water to unfold leaves Ginger Spring onions Star anise Orange/lemon/lime zest Cracked peppercorns Soy sauce Sesame oil Rice wine/white wine Canola oil DAY 1: Wash and pat dry two halved duck. In a bowl, mix salt, chinese five spice and puerh tea leaves. Reserve tea water for next day. Rub duck with mixture and wrap in plastic and put in the fridge overnight. DAY 2: Next day, remove duck and discard the sediments. Pat the duck dry. In a bowl, mix minced spices in the ingredients from ginger up to rice wine. Pour over and coat the duck well.  Place water in the steamer. Add the reserved puerh water. Line steamer with banana leaves. Arrange duck and cover with banana leaves before putting the lid.  Steam for 1 hour or until meat is tender. Remove duck and let cool. 

When Rizal was exiled in Dapitan, he was with his three nephews whom he taught acdemically and whom he was able to observe as to their inclination. I was reading at present the Looking Back 5 of Ambeth Ocampo and was so fun read on the thoughts of Rizal regarding education. I mentioned that because in this compilation, there is an article where one nephew asked for books and one asked for bolos which Rizal understood that one can be a doctor and the other can be a farmer. Aside from that, I can't help but get amused that Mr. Ocampo does not know what color do the palay get when theyre ripe for the harvest. He thought it is still green. And for the benefit of those urban babies, theyre turning golden yellow. Somewhat still having both thoughts fresh in my mind, I enjoyed how my nephew played with the ducks and ducklings today : he chased them like cats and played with them like they're dogs. In fact, he wanted to bring one duckling home inorder to play with it. Learning in f...