March 29, 2024

From Trancoville where I grew up to Camp 7 where I now live, adobo has been a regular fare at the table – breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s the most popular dish out here and over the years, it has evolved as food for the gods and his underlings alike.
Each household has its own version bordering on tradition of pork or chicken adobo.
The Portuguese variant is known as carne de vinha d’alhos. I learned how to cook adobo in our Boy Scout days or observing people cooking it.
My favorite version is the one with Ilocos vinegar, which leaves a tangy taste and preserves the food till over a week. Add a little brown sugar and potatoes for more sweetness plus soy sauce, (sweet if you wish), crushed garlic, bay leaf, freshly cracked black peppercorns, and some eggs – quail or chicken.
Cook and serve over steamed or fried rice or palaman sa pandesal and heaven comes down to Earth.
With all the problems confronting this nation, comes now the bright boys from the Department of Trade and Industry who wants a group led by Via Mare’s Glenda Barretto to standardize the cooking techniques for popular Filipino dishes such as the adobo, sinigang, and lechon. The supposed goal was to preserve the country’s food cultural identity even if there are a thousand or more variations of the dish.
Does it mean if one does not follow or conform to the standard, he gets to spend the night in jail or pay a hefty fine? Diyos na maawain!
Baka naman pwede muna asikasuhin ‘yung vaccination drive or the health welfare of our people. Status quo on other nonsense.
In the first place, why would they even think of a standard to begin with? Maybe basics but there are millions of ways to cook in this adobo republic. Let not government mess with it. Sigh.