The Unexpected Fusions in Food.

So before I begin I'd like to give a disclaimer that I am NOT completely aware of all of these things. I will only share according to how far my knowledge goes :)

I'd like to share this passion of mine which is cooking and it was not until in class(yes thanks Ms. Dianne for making me realize it) until I said to myself yes we do play a lot with opposite things in the kitchen now that we have the technology and more people are playful and creative with their food. At this point other countries may be putting together two different kinds of food in one plate that seemingly don't work well together but if you eat it in a particular order or if you are instructed to eat in some way, you'll actually be surprised that not only do they taste good together they even look better than those typical dishes that we normally eat. But I have simple examples to share with you in this broad aspect of mixing food of opposite structure.

Oil and Egg mixtures or Oil and Vinegar/Acids - Emulsions.

We all know that oil and water don't mix well but obviously in this mixture there is no water but the other liquids and ingredients here still don't mix well with oil and require a particular way of mixing it otherwise it will break and will leave an oily mess in your mixing bowl. Same goes with vinaigrettes which most of the time doesn't mix so well. But both flavors from the oil and the vinegars used come out well and give you this sour and deep kind of flavor that both elements bring when they are mixed. 

Hot and Cold

Somehow there are ideas that have been hanging in my fingers and I can't seem to pull a good one but this one, Deep Fried Ice Cream. So the irony  of both opposites is really quite interesting although I have yet to try this one. I really think anything crispy with your dessert works extremely well which is also my other topic in a little later. So this mix of hot fried breading and really cold ice cream certainly is a hit and recently just trended as you can see its everywhere and everyone's trying to make it. Another would be souffle and ice cream in one plate. Both complete opposites but make a great dessert!

Soft and Creamy with Crunchy

Both opposites in desserts work so well. Apparently to avoid creating boring and monotonous desserts we make such combinations. I'm not a pastry chef or a baker but as an avid fan of desserts, I think this is really a perfect way of presenting desserts. I always liked crispy, breaded, something with lumpia wrapping or tuiles added to anything sweet and cold or even hot desserts. Take for example this sorbet with this tuile or panna cotta with tuile, both really simple but when made differently is really impressive and exciting when presented to you how much when your eating it already!

East and West

This has got to be the best example of opposites. Eastern cuisine fused with Western cuisines. Fusion cuisine has been out there for a long time already and it is widely used to improve a lot of cooking techniques and is a good way to impress both locals and foreigners in integrating these styles. Take for example this picture that we have right here. It's what we call a tapa which by definition in western culture is small servings of food which is famous in Spain or Portugal then infusing it with eastern influence say the use of the fish or the mussels or ingredients like spices that originally came from Asia or are widely used in Asia. This is how it works and its challenging and for food to take you in both places at one time is one of the best experiences you can have by having it in one plate wherever you may be eating it. 

Relating this to the story and the structure in regards to sets of opposites I think they both come close into telling two stories at the same time. Food and literature, in my opinion, can be interpreted or send a message in many different ways or depending on how the author or cook meant it to be.

“How Good People Turn Evil” – Corruption in the Philippines - Reaction

"The most dangerous decision is that first one – when you move from being perfectly clean and idealistic … to being tempted … to wanting it… and then accepting it. Don’t do it. Once you do, it’s a slippery slope."

Maria Ressa

This is the statement that just hit me and got stuck to my head and three things rushed through my head while I was reading this article.

Well first of all she is absolutely right, corruption is an endemic and doing everything she said is easier blogged/said than done. Only a few people will choose to  draw that line and 99% of that will eventually cross it. Only few will stand with their principles and actually say "I will work for it no matter how hard it is and how long it takes to get what I want". Young adults like me that enter the work force or even school with that kind of mentality or being idealistic but as soon as we are tempted and opportunity presents itself to us we forget that line that we draw and get confused with how evil we really are.

The three things that came to mind was one, school. This is where it all begins. This is where we choose to either nurture ourselves from being evil or remain idealistic. It starts with a little cheating with homework, then in exams then in thesis so on and so forth. Looking back I have to say I am guilty and my reputation is tainted by this making me far away from the line that I've made in the past. It is because we all thought it was easy and we stay consistent but then we find out there are ways to get passed things or get better but undeserved results we forget what's good and what's wrong with our actions.

Second would be work. I've had my fair share of an internship and actual work experience in a hotel. As a cook we too have lines to draw as too how far we go with the food that is abundantly available around us. Obviously hands off to food that is meant to be served to guests but before all that happened we were so "nah I wont do anything wrong..I'll be my best in the kitchen, wont do anything stupid" but of course to some that wears off. We get pissed at the chef or you could be really hungry. It starts with a siding(maybe a piece), then you become a bit more sneaky like 3 to 4 pieces then you grab something else and next thing you know your cooking something else for yourself. Like what Maria said. it crosses all professions. It applies to everyone that is actually influenced to get something beyond what they deserve.

Lastly, being a future entrepreneur. You can look at it at many angles, accounting, the business itself, or your product/service to your customer. There are so many forms of evil that can be crossed here. To a point you become greedy, you take or make bribes its a machine where you take everything even if it hurts other people. 

It can be politics, media, or in the medical field where corruption can occur and we can all choose to let that tipping point go loose and just continue with your deeds or hold it back and for the rest of your life keep making that decision and maintain that kind of reputation.

Relating it to our topic on the use of force, I still think this applies to this issue. After exposing the truth, go ahead and apprehend those who are guilty, hopefully it wont cause anyone to kill themselves. It helps though that when truth is exposed and it shows too when it started that people will realize how hard it is to turn back and that they will be caught eventually and will be penalized accordingly. I don't mean to bring him up but God Bless his soul, Ange Reyes, when it was his time to face judgement it was not long until he would be proven guilty. But he does an escape route which was killing himself regretting the choice to condone evil and consider it right as it supports his and his families lifestyle. True enough he is a good person who just turned evil because he chose not to say "NO".

I heard it once as a quote, "No is such a short word but so hard to actually say to others".

Sabi ng lolo ng lolo ko..Traditions, Cultures and Respect to One's History

At this point I'm starting to think that Western/European Colonialism has its pros and cons. I'd like to thank the Spaniards for bringing out the writers in the Filipino society. Because of them we probably wouldn't have these kinds of strong and poetic literature. Same goes to Europe or America causing most Africans to stand up and also defend themselves or create awareness through writing. But this really isn't what we're here to talk about.


Igbo culture or Ibo(which is funny because the main character was named Obi definitely not because he was lazy to think of a protagonist name) is a ethnic tribe that resides southeast of Africa and like most Philippine cities, it went through the hardships of colonialism and was forced to swallow change in areas of religion, culture and tradition as a whole. We can see that the theme of Achebe's story is tradition and what it is about is how at that time it was more about modernizing the environment and the culture but these Westerners tend to eradicate tradition and their deity practices altogether which isn't how it should be. In relation our country went through the same  phase. A long phase at that. It began with the Spaniards, then came the Americans and the Japanese up until we couldn't create our sense of identity any longer. We we're completely westernized and lost track of history since we were busy fighting for our freedom for years. Being an archipelago it was hard to maintain traditions and keep what our ancestors were trying to preserve. Like the Igbo tribe we used to worship anitos and diwatas and other life form that was more tangible to humans. We formed barangays and our own form of "politics" along with this is our music, traditions and everything that comprises our culture. It was our own, parts of it were barbaric but nonetheless we did it out of our own capacity. But then these conquistadors came in introduced a new religion, did their act and finally took hold of everything that was ours despite our resistance as a country. Everything had to be modern and we had to be more educated to create classes among our society and this pretty much was like the big fence around the school of Mr. Obi. We were taught to laugh about our foolish history and somehow completely forget about it and move on to a more sophisticated culture that we had. 


Sadly it took time to write them down in our history books and only a part of it can be shared to the newer generations. We are lucky to have resisted them up until we gained our independence and others chose to preserve their cultural backgrounds and traditions so that their grandsons would have a story to tell. Our situation is very similar to the Igbos as I've said earlier. In this story he mentions the existence of a village, their old practices, the elder, their beliefs and their capabilities as a tribe. They were under monitor this "white Supervisor" and modernization seemed to be the trend because it was so ethnic all over Africa. Things were going backward and the country was "unprogressive" as many were uneducated. They were maintaining old religions, like their personal gods which countries would usually have as well. And what I see is not their resistance to modernization they do welcome it, it's just that they wish that their old ways didn't have to be removed or be forgotten for that matter. It was a simple request and because he had to meddle with it(not to mention that these are his people) his personal endeavors were affected. They wanted to keep tradition and they didn't want that being just part of the past but rather something they would keep for the younger generations. But like ours they(Europeans) wanted to improve the living conditions of society, have an improved educational system, incorporate modern practices and create a new age for Africans. Inevitably, this will not be allowed. People will retaliate or resist that to keep what is rightfully their own.


This is what Achebe mostly writes about. There are things we cant remove in our society especially those meant to be passed down from generation to generation. Things like our Lolo's Lolo has probably been passed to our dads and to us whether it may be religious practices or if you come from a certain province with specific traditions you just cant eliminate that because its what sets your identity as a person or as a tribe. Achebe was known to be the "the father of modern writing" and he believes in both keeping tradition and being updated. He promoted that through his writings and I quote from Wikipedia he says:In 1972, he said: "I never will take the stand that the Old must win or that the New must win. The point is that no single truth satisfied me—and this is well founded in the Ibo world view. No single man can be correct all the time, no single idea can be totally correct."


It may have been tough to try to blend in Christianity with their deities or modern society to tribal practices but we must always remember to respect what our ancestors have established in the past.

Topics that I'll most likely talk about

This is way way overdue but I'm doing it anyway as it was required and will be my sort of guidelines.

1. Food and the developments/new trends that come with it. I love to cook and eat and I go places to try different food. Local food describes the locals and tell history about a certain class of society of area. Like literature it has a story to tell. I'd like to try to relate food to famous literary work however it may apply.

2. Philippine society and its current problems. I rant a lot even in my previous blogs and a lot has to do with how our society does not push to improve its mindset and way of life. Sure we do have good points we are not completely useless but it's what pulls a country up or down. For sure literature deals a lot with society and its struggles on different timelines. These things to me are interesting and literature helps me understand that more.

That's pretty much it.

Is the use of force to society necessary or justifiable?

I'd like to begin by defining what force is. 
FORCE:a powerful effect or influence
Synonyms would be:
Coerce: to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means. 
Impel: urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate.


We live in a democratic country wherein the law is loosely implemented and the justice system is run by cavemen. At least in my point of view of our society (and I shall stick with society in general of the Philippines) is that it is stubborn and will manage to stay like that. Only few will choose to stand out and make a difference in their daily actions. And so this is why there is such a thing as a legal use of force. Since a large number of the society will choose not to bend or presumably defy such rules the use of force becomes a necessity. The existence of the police, traffic enforcers, judges and lawyers make sure that we are apprehended or given penalty for each crime or offense that we do and hopefully this becomes a lesson but unfortunately we live in a poverty stricken archipelago where survival is the only way you get through the day and when greed takes over we disregard rules. It doesn't matter if the survey says that crime rates went down or high we all know its everywhere from pick-pockets, akyat bahay, kidnapping etc. to corrupt officials stealing from projects or evading taxes any way you look at it, its stealing. Whether it may have to do with killing someone or having a traffic violation, everyone has done it and like BDO: we find ways to not get caught and even laugh about it not thinking of the consequences of our actions. 


But we see that there are contradicting issues here. I think the use of force is essential because it instills fear and discipline like in the time of Marcos. It was harsh and unreasonable but look at how the nation rose up as a whole.
Then at the same time, to force others is like provoking a child, the more you insist something they cannot accept or can somehow not be done because of certain needs they outsmart the law and go around it not to justify their deeds but they just think the lawmakers are being too uptight or they'll hopefully get away with it anyway since they can afford hiding themselves from being caught. It's a vicious cycle of people getting away with things, and the rest of the Filipino people are affected by every little crime committed. With this comes uncertainty and acceptance that our way of life may never improve because many people do no take responsibility of their actions and leave other people suffering. This is why I think the use of force IS necessary to our society. Force that is applied  in a way where it does not exceed our limits as humans such a taking someone else's life because of the committed crime. A catholic nation should know very well that we should not treat every case as if "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". Instead we judge them accordingly until they are corrected in solitary confinement. I'm not saying bring back dictatorship, I do not promote this kind of government and don't get me wrong I love the democracy that this country has but the measures that we take to uphold the law must be taken seriously and be taken to a higher level. We lack having this principle of standing to what is right and judging those who need to be judged. We are easily manipulated by bribes or threats that we allow the evils of society to continue their deeds. To me this is just half of the work that is needed to be done. The other half is the discipline that the Filipinos have to have in order to balance that immense force that is already being implemented loosely.


Filipinos have to change so many things about themselves and be more aware that there is still a law above them. 
So in summary, I believe that the society is in need of force. It is crucial in making people aware that our misbehavior is not negotiable in any way so we have the responsibility of not being ignorant of the law. It is necessary in a time where the definition of democracy is abused and that our every action is slowly leading towards anarchy.


So in the words of yoda - may the force be with you, always. :)