Sandy Daza
Remembering Gaita Forés and her culinary legacy
February 13, 2025 11:50 pm
Many decades ago, I was at a party hosted by my dear friends Tina and Boy Forés. It was all about food, fun, and laughter. Among the spread of dishes on the table was a simple tuna pasta with cream sauce. It caught my eye, and after taking a bite, I ignored all the other dishes. When I asked who had cooked it, I was surprised to learn it was a 10-year-old girl named Gaita. That was where I first met Margarita “Gaita” Forés.
Cut above the rest: My love affair with knives
January 09, 2025 2:22 pm
My eyes opened to the love of the kitchen when I was working as a waiter in our Philippine restaurant in Paris. I would be in the kitchen waiting for the dishes to be cooked and plated before bringing them out to the hungry diners. Eventually, I moved to the kitchen and helped the cooks there.
Manila's ‘batchoy king’
December 05, 2024 2:10 pm
It all started at the La Paz Market in Iloilo. There was a family selling meat at the market. At the end of the day, there were leftover parts of the beef. From those leftover beef parts came the birth of the most famous dish of Iloilo: batchoy.
Rice without the guilt
November 14, 2024 4:38 pm
Being in the food business has its perks and a few drawbacks. The biggest perk? I get to try all kinds of delicious food sent my way. The downside? I have to watch how much I eat—otherwise, it’s easy to end up on the road to obesity and health issues. Nobody wants that! So, I’m careful. I’ve been on a diet for as long as I can remember.
Inasal perfection, found here
November 08, 2024 12:37 am
In the early '80s, a stall with a blue-and-white chicken logo opened just across from Don Bosco in Makati. It was a barbecue chicken stall that originated in Bacolod. I’d never heard of, let alone tasted, this provincial specialty. All I saw was smoke and could smell the aroma of grilling meats. Naturally, I had to try it. It was love at first bite. I learned that this dish was called Bacolod chicken inasal. Marinated and broiled over charcoal, this dish, to me, could put the Philippines on the world culinary map.