Day 142! Philippines - Sea Bass Kinilaw (Ceviche) - Up Next, Poland

The credit for tonight's Filipino Kinilaw (pronounced ki-ni-la-o) goes entirely to my friend Sylvie, who I met through this blog and who so generously gave me this amazing recipe. Except for substituting sea bass for mackerel (because it wasn't available), and not peeling the tomatoes and peppers, because I was lazy, I followed the recipe exactly as written. Words cannot describe how divine this dish is. Perhaps one of the coolest things about writing this blog, is that wonderful people I've never met agree to help me along the way. Sylvie and her husband who are French, are expats who lived in the Philippines for 6 years, followed by 2 years in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Currently, they live in Latvia, where they are raising 2 young children. In my wildest dreams, Sylvie and I will get to meet some day and share a lovely meal. Until then, technology makes our awesome cross-continent friendship possible.

Located in South East Asia, the Philippines lie in the Western Pacific Ocean. The country is an Archipelago of 7,107 islands with 3 distinct geographic divisions. To the country's north across the Luzon Straight is Taiwan. To the west across the South China Sea is Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the island country of Borneo, and the the south, the Celebes Sea separates it from Indonesia. Because the country has a tropical climate and is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is prone to earth quakes and typhoons. Concurrently, the climate  provides the Philippines with one of the richest biodiversity resources in the world.

An ethnically diverse country, Filipino cuisne is a mixture of Malay, Chinese and Spanish traditions. As I mentioned, the country has three distinct regions whose cuisine varies quite a bit. The following information comes courtesy of Sylvie in it's entirety - She did all the work on this one, and I can't thank her enough.

1) LUZON:
Manilla: Being at the center of the country, Manilas cosmopolitan atmosphere is reflected in the flavors of its food (gambas, roast suckling pig, "lechon" or paella)
Central Luzon: Dishes from its vast plains, swamp plains and rivers (caldereta, relleno and adobo)
Northern Luzon:  Arid lands and mountains/Ifugao rice terraces, hence basic but nourishing cuisine (baradibud, a fresh vegetable stew in sweet potato broth, or pinakbet, a vegetable stew with crisp pork belly.
Southern Luzon: Fertile are thanks to the taal volcano, Batangas region is know for its beef industry. Its economy depends to a great extent on the coconut tree. Kesong Puti, a popular white cheese made from carabao's milk (water buffalo), far cousin from mozzarella, is produced there.
Palawan region: Characteristic is the use of green mango, adding sour taste to otherwise generally sweet cuisine.
Bicol region: Characteristic is the use of the sili, or hot chili pepper (eg. Bicol Express, named after the train from Manila)
2) VISAYAS:
Central Visayas: Great variety of seafood, often prepared marinated in vinegar, broiled or boiled. Chinese influence is strong in Cebu, but also Spanish, especially in desserts.
Western Visayas: Cane plantations built fortunes, so sweets are an important part of their cuisine. Marinated raw fish and seafood is much flavored,
3) MINDANAO: (The only Muslim part of the country, the rest being Catholic)
Davao: Specialty is broiled tuna jaws. This region produces most exotic fruits, including the special Durian.
Zamboanga: Very strong Spanish influence (callos, tripes), is also famous for its crabs.

Sea Bass Kinilaw (Ceviche) - Recipe from Sylvie

2 1/4 lbs. (1 kg) Taguigue (Spanish Mackerel) - I used Sea Bass
1 pound (600g) calamansi (small green round lemons) - I used limes
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 onions, finely minced
4 fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced or grated
3 bell peppers (red or yellow), peeled , seeded and cut into strips
1/3 cup (100 ml.), coconut milk, preferably fresh, but unsweetened canned will do
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Cut the fish into small cubes, marinate in calamansi/lime juice for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, add all the remaining ingredients.
Chill before serving. Serves 4, usually as a starter.
No wine will match due to acidity, but a cold beer is perfect

Final Assessment: One of our all time favorite meals so far. The combination of lime, ginger, onions and all the accompanying peppers is sweet, sour and crunchy, while the mild fish "cooked" in the lime juice is tender and succulent.  Luckily, we have leftovers which will be tomorrow's lunch!

(C) 2010-2011, What's Cooking in Your World?/ Sarah Commerford/All Rights Reserved 

Bourbon for Father's Day

I'm just back from Bourbon Street, and I have bourbon on my mind. Of course, in New Orleans I drank Sazeracs, and the flavor of the city is really herbsaint as far as I'm concerned. But I'm thinking about bourbon and the young people I met in Louisville last Spring who told me that bourbon was what their granddaddies drank. It took them a while to come around to it, but they have now embraced it as their own.


Even though my father doesn't drink it, bourbon just seems like the quintessential spirit for dad. In my visit to bourbon country, I learned the distilleries were all pretty much family ventures, though now mostly owned by conglomerates. Even if you don't drink bourbon, a visit to this beautiful part of the country outside Louisville is a treat. I was a guest at the Maker's Mark distillery in Loretto which feels more like a national park than anything else. Historic wooden buildings with touches of their trademark red are set against a lush green backdrop. The tour of the distillery is very worthwhile. It's so old fashioned and small scale you might be surprised, I loved seeing the buckets of yeast and beautiful copper distillation pots.



Maker's Mark is made from corn, barley and local wheat. It is smooth and has featured prominently in my recipe development efforts. It has a sweetness and rich caramel and toffee notes with a hint of citrus. If you like Marker's Mark, try 46, which is also made from Maker's Mark, but is aged with more specially charred oak staves, it's a bit higher proof but still mellow and has more spice and vanilla to it.


There are lots of ways to enjoy bourbon, but if you are drinking it straight, by all means, check out the gorgeous American whisky glassware from Villeroy & Boch. The feel of these heavy glasses in your hands and the way the aroma builds and wafts up to my nose convinced me, these glasses are a must for bourbon purists. Villeroy & Boch make a whole line of whisky glasses for a range of whiskies and cocktails so you can get just the right glass to go with your drink. My thanks to Villeroy & Boch for sending me some samples to try out.


My favorite bartender in Louisville, Joy Perrine wrote the definitive book on bourbon cocktails, The Kentucky Bourbon Cocktail Book. Her recipes are layered and balanced and introduced me to so many new ways to enjoy bourbon. She combines it with everything from amaretto to vermouth. The section on creating bourbon infusions explaining how to use herbs, spices and fruits to flavor bourbon is particularly intriguing.