MEDIUM RARE
When I told Cook I was giving her ₱64 for marketing, the look she gave me was one of horror mixed with terror. She was speechless. To add to her dismay, I told her that one peso less would qualify her as poor.
The 64-peso meal is a challenge. Can a person, as one government agency notes, live on ₱64 for three meals in one day?
This is what Cook wrote on a piece of paper, to show me how far ₱64 can go: okra, ₱10; rice, one-fourth kilo, ₱15; cooking oil, P5; tuyo (dried fish), ₱20; egg, ₱10. Total, ₱60. Challenge accepted!
An alternate list would contain rice, ₱15; three pieces of the cheapest fish, tamban, ₱25; camote tops, ₱10; tomatoes, ₱5; onion, ₱5; salt, ₱5, half a kilo. Total, ₱65. For variety, try sardines with misua noodles, ₱35; garlic, ₱5; onion, ₱5; cooking oil, ₱3, in an ice candy wrapper; rice, ₱22.50. Total, ₱70.50.
A cheaper list would include ₱22.50 for rice, half a kilo; egg, ₱10; tuyo (dried fish), ₱10; and instant noodle soup, ₱15. Total, ₱57.50. What, no veggies?
Also missing from these lists, fruits, my favorite source of nutrition and enjoyment (partly because they do look so pretty, so glowing). As far as I’m concerned, fruits may not always be affordable – they’re imported, or they’re not in season – but you can afford them, in your mind – when you’re not a heavy rice eater, or you’re not a meat eater. For me, the best part of nutrition is enjoying and liking what you see even before you eat it.
When Dr. Atty. Tony Pastor, a young nonagenarian, was invited to lunch in Tagaytay recently, he found himself feasting on imported sea bass, “so fresh, so good I ate everything, including the eyes!”
Not everyone gets a chance to eat expensive, exotic food, but there are simple rules about eating that make sense. For example, push your chair away from the table when you feel 80 percent full – not 90, not 100! Don’t eat a big heavy meal just before bedtime. A sugar rush at bedtime is bad not only for kiddies but more so for oldies. Grandma Small Feet’s rule was: Never drink cold water with or after a hot meal.