By When I was younger, I was always being forced to eat paksiw na bangus but ended up vomiting afterwards to the point of getting sick that my mom just gave up. Whenever someone in the house eats chicharon and has vinegar as dipping sauce, the scent alone just makes me gag. It triggers my migraine and it feels like I’m hyperventilating . Some says it psychological but I don’t know how a vinegar can possibly mess up someone else’s mind causing madness and anxiety. And as far as I can remember, vinegar and I have no history. Haha. My mom told me I’m cursed with being picky and is missing a lot of delicious dishes such as Escabetche, Paksiw na Lechon, and even adobo because of it. I didn’t mind. Everytime she have to cook anything with vinegar like their favorite Ginataang Isda or Paksiw na Pata, she have to make sure I was out of the house or just locked inside my room. I wonder how happy she was when I got married and finally moved out.
My husband loves vinegar, he can drink straight from the bottle. I wouldn’t talk to him until the smell of vinegar in his mouth is gone. The only time he could have vinegar for condiments was when we eat out in restaurants but he have to put the vinegar far from where I can smell it. But because I have a severe case of heightened sense of smell, which doubles up when I’m ovulating, he would just sprinkle a little to his food and would ask the waiter to have the vinegar back. Annoyed he once asked, “Aswang ka ba?” Duh babe, garlic un ayaw ng aswang!”
I don’t know why I am afflicted with utter disgust with vinegar and anything that contains it; pickles, atsara, mayo, ketchup, mustard. Irrational as it sound, it was only few years back that I was able to contemplate on starting to embrace it as part of my kitchen essentials. I started eating adobo, Paksiw na lechon, gatang isda, but up until now, I still say no to Paksiw na isda or Pinangat or anything that has raw white vinegar on it. For condiments, it’s already allowed but it should be Red Cane Vinegar from DelMonte. This isn’t a paid advertisement, mind you. But I highly recommend this for people like me who are not a solid fan of white vinegar. This is sweet and mild for my nose and stomach. It is the same vinegar I use on most of my recipes just like this Ginataang Isda.
GINATAANG ISDA RECIPE
My mom usually use Tanigue or Yellow Fin for ginataang Isda. She’s sashal that way. 😂 Sometimes when dad’s brother from Wawa Batangas visits us with Sinaing na Tulingan, it always ends up with gata the next day or two. On this recipe, I have Yellow Fin I got from the Rolling Store that was located inside the village next to ours. Bacoor’s LGU so far is doing a great job in keeping things in order at this trying times. This rolling store has kept everyone from going outside the village specially now, as of April 9, we already have 4 positive cases in our barangay alone.
Scary times! Crazy times!
Happy Cooking Malditas!
Today is Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday. It commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. On this day, Christians remember the Last Supper. During the meal Jesus took bread and wine and shared them with his disciples. Christians continue to share bread and wine as part of their worship in church. (http://projectbritain.com/easter/maundythursday.htm)
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