filipino week

It seems these days we will be celebrating -at home, anyway- filipino week. It all started with a US - Philippines Expo to which Scott and I went at the Fairplex in Pomona. We were hoping to find stands that showed us more from the Philippines but we only saw local businesses showing their products.


It was disappointing to see the lack of abundance of filipino culture in these stands where basically there were vendors offering tv channels, handbags, beauty treatments and furniture. I refuse to believe the filipino culture is made of that only.
Also, we were hoping to find food stands because we know filipinos like to have good food at their table and were surprised to learn there were only three or four food stands at the Expo. As we approached them we were hoping for the best but ...I must say it, the caldereta and the sausage we tried were both cold, greasy and not as tasty as the food I've tried at our friends homes back in Clifton Park, NY.
So, in order to make up for the lack of enthusiasm in this Expo I decided I would prepare some filipino food myself.
And tonight we had the first batch. It is called "tocino".
Spite of the warm and humid weather outside I decided to give it a try today; after having a light lunch I cooked some brown rice and began preparing the "tocino" which literally means bacon but indeed is pork meat, cut in small pieces and sauteed in this sweet sauce that gives it a flavor that goes between thai bbq pork and chinese bbq pork. But it stays in the middle. With its own distinctive flavor.
Scott enjoyed it and I thought I wouldn't but indeed I was wrong. It was quite good, taking into account that I cooked using this mix I got from my friend Mia back in NY.
We ate it and later we went out with Borreguito (our dog) to have a long walk after the fulfilling dinner and it was a nice surprise to come back home, open the door to our house and discover that there was still, lingering in the air, the typical aroma to filipino food. It was a nice reminder of delicious past dinners.
Anyway, tomorrow it is siningang day. I'll tell you how it goes!
Salamat!