Foot and Fire

On the 3rd week of our National Heroes' Day Cookfest, I chose Tinuom. I would like to believe that our revolutionary heroes who were on the go had tinuom because of the abundance of bananas in our country as well as other edible plants with large leaves like the gabi. Tinuom is from the word tuom. It means a viand is cooked wrapped in leaves like banana leaves. One can tuom chicken, mushrooms, fish and other seafoods. There are two festivals in Panay that celebrate this way of cooking, in Cabatuan, Iloilo and in Madalag, Aklan. My father would tuom a whole milkfish cutting it into a butterfly and stuffing it with tomatoes and onions and closing it and then wrapping it with banana leaves many times. He would then  grill it via the oven toaster. The outcome would be an aromatic milkfish cooked in its own plus the spices' juice. Another time when I couldn't forget tinuom was when my housemate who was in her first trimester was having cravings, and...

Milkfish, cleaned and sliced Water Tomatoes Onion Jackfruit, unripe and sliced Chiles Salt and pepper Camote tops Boil water, add tomatoes and onions. Bring to boil and add the jackfruit and cook till tender. Add fish and chile and bring to boil again. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add camote tops and cover. Remove from fire. Use tamarind, batuan, lemon or kamias to add sourness to the soup.