Riquisimo!

When I was studying as a young girl in an exclusive school run by Catholic nuns, we would always go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes Church every February 11, the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes. The whole batch numbering to around three-hundred students, in our white blouse and navy blue skirt, would march along the sidewalk and cross the street in two straight lines with perfect arm-length distance from each other. Looking back, I think we resemble Madeline’s class as they are being led by Sr. Clavel in the streets of Paris.

Since then, I never got the chance to go back to Lourdes Church. I just know that every year, my mom never fails to hear mass at Lourdes during its feast day and eat at Cora’s Eatery near the church with her eating club. Cora’s Eatery, named after the owner whom everyone calls Ima, holds open house every February 11th and anybody may partake in her own feast. Talk about fiesta-Filipino.

Last week, I promised my mom I’ll go with her as she fulfills her devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes. With a nasty hang-over from the previous night’s drinking, I managed to get up before seven in the morning, on a Saturday, the eleventh. I was feeling nauseous the entire time at the Church and prayed really hard that I won’t throw-up. After the mass, it was time to go to Cora’s and meet Ima for the first time.

To show that I and my sister are not particularly strangers to her, we told her that her granddaughter, Pat, is actually the best friend of a cousin and that we went to the same school (go figure). With this piece of information, she never stopped talking like the doting grandmother she really is and I felt very much at ease eating or should I say gobbling down the feast that she prepared.

The food was superb. It took all of my hang-over away. Everything was fantastic from the sotanghon guisado to the nata de coco. Her chicken teriyaki was not that sweet and it had a lot of leeks. She used big slices of tripes for her callos and its richness was just right. The vinegar she used with the fried lumpiang ubod was indeed sour unlike most white vinegar I know. Her grilled tilapia was individually wrapped in banana leaves which made me think just how long it took them to do that. Finally, I must have eaten on that day the best maja blanca there is. I’m not particularly fond of lutong-bahay but Ima’s cooking gave me a new kind of hang-over.





More than the food, the real treat was Ima herself. She was very accommodating and sincerely kind. Her generosity and warmth can be felt in every bite of her sumptuous creation and she’ll do anything to make her guests feel comfortable, whether she knows you or not. After meeting her I and my sister missed our own grandma, Mama, whom we rarely see nowadays and who must have given all her grandchildren and great grandchildren their first bath and first solid food.

My mom said that Ima’s handa has always been a part of the feast of Lourdes. People from everywhere make it a point to visit her after hearing mass and enjoy whatever it is she prepared. I wonder why…