menudo mania*

menudo has always been a part of many a party in my childhood. whether it be a birthday, a holiday or a special request (mom, can we have menudo on sunday?) day. it was always on our table. and why not? it's a meat dish with potatoes, carrots and bits of pork liver, stewed on tomatoes. it can feed a lot of people, and is great even as a leftover.

my first attempt at cooking menudo was almost a disaster. since i have never cooked it in my entire life, i followed the recipe printed at the back of the tomato sauce can. being a good husband, hubby said it tasted good. he grimaced as he said this, obviously not tasting what he expected. that weekend, i asked my mom to cook for him.

on the way home, he said that he like my mom's menudo. that's it, i muttered to myself. that same night, i called my mom and asked for the recipe.  "but it's not my recipe. i got it from your aunt alice..." she replied.

at the next family gathering, i hounded aunt alice like a moth to a flame. "sige na, teach me how to make it. my husband loves it!" i begged her. she laughed as she explained her secret to making the best menudo i have ever tasted. turned out, it was no secret, just plain old patience. "just make sure you saute every ingredient very well," she advised.

saute onion, garlic, pork, pork liver, hotdogs, carrots and potatoes

following her advice, i tried cooking menudo for the hubby again. it almost tasted like the one my mom madem but not quite. then i remembered the secret ingredient. it was so unexpected that i didnt pay attention.

pour in 1/4 cup tomato sauce and 1 cup banana catsup. add water to desired sauce consistency. add bell peppers.simmer until cooked.

"add banana catsup," they said. the next time, i added this unlikely ingredient to the mixture and crossed my fingers. as the hubby spooned it over rice and took his first bite, he gave his approval. i did it! i had finally replicated my aunt's recipe. as i excitedly told her what happened, she quietly said, "ayan ha. may pamana na ko sa yo..." (there, you already inherited something from me...) then, it hit me. this is what i should do. ask each of my aunts if they can pass on at least one recipe to me, in case none of their daughters are interested in cooking. it would be a shame if their recipes, the food that we have eaten at every milestone, every event in our lives, would die with them. it would be a shame if the next generation will not taste this food.

what recipe did you "inherit" from your elders that you still make for your kids?

*i have always knows this dish as menudo, even before i was aware of ricky martin's former boy band. incidentally, that boy band had a song that went, "i'm going back to the philippines, where my love is waiting. i'm going back to the philippines, to see my love once again..."