Biggest Burritos, Ever.

The biggest burrito, EVER!

Imitating my three year old son Ponso’s sentence structure of adding ‘ever’ to impress the immensity of whatever he is describing, the entry of RISTRAS in the mex/tex-mex/cal-mex/cal-tex/petron/shell genre changed the Philippine restaurant landscape scene, EVER!

The BURRITO…the burrito is so freaking wasak BIG it can feed five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred people. No shit! It is so big and tightly packed with everything that is required to meet the requirement of becoming a burrito. One is given the privilege to choose beef or chicken (beef is the bestseller, survey says) to jump into the Mexican lumpia. But make no mistake about it esse, it might look like a Filipino fresh lumpia but it is not lumpia. It is a jumbo burrito! Dips for the giant burrito include jalapeno (green and very űber hot), salsa, and garlic sauce. I close my eyes as I bite the burrito savoring the exploding mix of tastes. It was very, well, Mexican for my lack of gourmand terms to describe the food.

I got excited seeing rows of foreign looking beer in RISTRAS’ Frigidaire, as we call it in the Philippines, or refrigerator, or chiller but freaked out when told its 200-450 pesos a pop depending on the bottle size. Anak ng pu talaga! Nahilo ako talaga sa kaartehan ng presyo ng beer. Magiging ginto ba ihi ko at maisasanla pag iyon ang ininom ko? I know that San Miguel Beer is the best beer in the world. My grandfather said so, my father said so and it is my filial duty as a dutiful Asian son to believe and respect their decision with reverence (as I happily sour grape thinking what is in store inside those dark lager bottles).

I like RISTRAS.

RISTRAS

J. Abad Santos cor. Lopez Jaena Sts.

San Juan City

longganisa

Longganisa, or native or local or pork sausage, whatever, is a fascinating food as it transforms its looks, composition, and taste depending on its point of origin in the Philippines. Nueva Ecija's Cabanatuan Longganisa, Quezon's Longganisa Lucban, Vigan Longganisa, Tuguegarao Longganisa, and the Longganisa list just goes on and on.

Its a miss and hit trick in finding the best longganisa for each one. We have our taste preferences and it takes a lot of patience, trial and error, and lots of trust built and trust reneged (for sellers claiming to have the best longganisa).

I am for the garlicky longganisa with ground pork stuffed with lots of garlic and maybe, other mysterious ingredients health buffs are known to barf about. I like the Nueva Ecija Cabanatuan longganisa with its tighter than a nun's ass garlic packed sausage.

Longganisa with garlic rice and sunny side up eggs, with vinegar dip and the not so healthy orange juice mixed from a sachet powder, makes a good breakfast morning.

chicken

chicken is an attempt to tell stories about food, cooking, eating, drinking. Or show pictures of food, cooking, eating, drinking. Whatever is available. Its an attempt, anyway. No one can do anything about it. Its my shit. So be it.