MEDIUM RARE

For the first time in his 10-year-old life, Miguelito (not his real name, but close enough) tagged along to the “palengke” (public market) with his mother.

After the first few steps, looking very worried and puzzled at the same time, he asked, “Are you poor today, Mama?”

Mama, looking very much concerned, answered, “Why do you say that?”

Miguelito replied, “Why are we shopping here? This place looks poor.” He was likely referring to the inadequate lighting, the uneven flooring, the absence of airconditioning, and the vendors not wearing a uniform and not speaking English. This market was certainly, definitely, absolutely nothing like a supermarket!

Trying to suppress a smile, his mother explained that they had come to this market because she needed to buy curtains for the house and khaki for his pants, and this was the only place where she could buy both curtains and khaki at one place.

A good thing the curtains and khaki were being sold in the dry goods section of the market! Truth be told, the wet market would have traumatized Miguelito: the sight of killer-type meat cleavers coming down on chunks of meat; chickens being beheaded; fish being gutted, ugh. . .

I remember the first time I went with my mother to the butcher’s shop in Chinatown, where I saw how meat was displayed hanging from a hook and how it would then be chopped, sliced, cubed, etc.  according to the customer’s instructions. It took many years before I cut meat out of my diet, which is to say, that experience at the butcher’s was not what kept me off red meat.

I must have been in my 40’s when I decided not to taste red meat again. By then, it had become something of an instinct not to eat anything bigger than myself, so I have since contented myself with chicken, seafood, vegetables, lots of fresh fruits.

It’s not hard to feed a meatless person, especially when it’s hot and the family is not bound by religious or dietary do’s and don’ts. For one thing, meat is more expensive than tuyo and sardines. Anything you cook with meat can be cooked with something else.

Next on the menu: Fruits only? ###