My other great love

I love food. It doesn’t take much to please me when it comes to eating. But what I can really eat for days without complaining is pasta. I can actually live with Mario Batali. I’m a great pasta fan. And when I say pasta fan, I mean all types of pasta.

Whenever my mom can’t think of anything new to feed her hungry kids with, she’ll whip up anything that is in her cupboard and make pasta out of it. We’ve tried corned beef, meatloaf and tuna with pasta. My mom is also famous for her baked macaroni. It has been imitated endlessly by relatives but I have to say nothing beats the original. She’s amazed at how I haven’t lost interest in her baked mac when it has been a family staple for as long as I can remember.

My mom also used to prepare different kinds of sauces with a wide variety of toppings such as ground beef, bacon bits, ham, mushroom, garlic and cheese. Her guests can choose which pasta sauce they like, tomato or cream. This also shows how my mom makes great fettuccine alfredo and spaghetti carbonara.

I had my first taste of pesto when the first Piadina opened at Glorietta food choices. I think I was around 17. I remember going there every week to consume as much pesto and sausage piadina as I can that I became personally acquainted with the Italian owner. I even introduced my cousins to him and told him that I particularly recommended they try the pesto. Since then he would always give me extra spoonful of pesto.

When my mom has more time, she also makes lasagna. But then my baby sister would always compare it with Old Swiss Inn’s lasagna, and would even tell our mom to try making her lasagna as good as Old Swiss Inn’s. My sister can be quite a connoisseur because she thinks eating Jollibee spaghetti can qualify her for Fear Factor and at her age (9 years old), she will choose spinach caneloni with ricotta cheese over other more common dishes. Our current favorite is mom’s puttanesca. As much as possible, she makes sure it’s complete with black and green olives, capers and anchovies. Perfect.

I also love my sister’s angel hair with olive oil and Hungarian sausage..with a lot of garlic. Puschta sausage also makes good substitute when you want your pasta a bit spicy. She also makes spaghetti with aligue but of course on a limited serving and thanks to her we now enjoy Bravo's instant pasta sauce which comes in variety..highly-recommended.

I am such a huge fan of pasta that I can finish the pasta platter at Angelino’s or one whole order of pasta from Italiannis or Napoli’s all by myself. These restaurants’ servings are meant for sharing. My family and friends are really amazed at how big my appetite is for pasta. I think this explains why I am not very satisfied with Cibo or any other pasta restaurant with small serving. Right now I am still craving for Pazzo’s spaghetti saganaki even if I just had it last Saturday.

This Saturday, I will be at Sonya’s Garden for my cousin’s engagement party. Sonya’s pasta sauces, sundried tomatoes and mango cream with chicken, are to die for. Can’t wait…