A taste of home...namit...lasa

It was Victor who told me in our chat earlier today that our an anthology of works of the diaspora Filipinos has just recently came out of Anvil's publishing house, and that among the works included was from our friend Cynthia. It is not anymore a surprise to me to hear that our friend's work is included in this latest offering from Anvil, particularly with such a title for an anthology. Having been out of the Philippines myself for several years now, my mouth cannot but help but water at the memory of a well seasoned sigang (our way of saying sinigang in Legaspi City)with the fresh sourness from the tamarind fruit, or the hotness of the Bicol express, and yes the delicate balance between the creaminess of the natok from a matured coconut milk and that signature consistency of a well-cooked leaves of the gabi plant (natong). When memory tags so deep in my heart, then a quick dash to the nearby Asian store aptly named Asian spices, would at least assuage the longing of one's palate and heart for the familiar taste of home. Still there is nothing that can replace the real experience of preparing the leaves of gabi al dente (oh it even reminds me now of May Trining again) when for just 25 cents she would choose from among her hundreds of thousands of gabi plants those which were best for the purpose of gulay na natong or in the case of sinuwan, those young leaves still "sleeping" as what I used to call them because they were still rolled but not quite nor open but not quite. May Trining would tell me that the best time to collect the leaves was either after a downpour because the rain washes away everything on top of the leaves or at least if it doesn't rain, then early morning when the dew are just starting to condense. Well Victor asked me why I am not anymore contributing to his Kadunong. I would like to but I still lack the discipline of our friend Cynthia to the craft.