My Mom's Kaldereta

  

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              My mom is a very busy bee person. Ever since she had us, she hadn’t stopped working. And my mom owed my Lola for raising us so well. And one thing my mom could not do is to cook. So my mom is trying to do is to cook. Since my mom is trying to show love to us, she is trying her best to cook same dishes my lola used to cook for us. My Lola is from Bicol, and Bicolano’s are known for making the best dishes. My Lola used to cook the best Kare-Kare, Kaldereta, Chicken Pandan, and so much more.

         Since my mom is starting to get older, she became more hands-on with us, and by cooking she is trying to show love. What’s so funny is that my mom is trying hard to get recipe from my Lola. This recipe is my Lola’s secret ingredients and procedures. But my mom is too slow to get what exactly the procedure and ingredients my Lola told her. So what my mom did is bought some cook book and find kaldereta recipe. The first time my mom actually cooked kaldereta it turned out okay. The second was more savory. It’s like two secret recipes from my Lola and from my mom, resulting in a fantastic dish.

         I believed every dish has its own secret. In my mom recipe, it’s the freshness and the tenderness of the beef. She used buy beef all the way from Australia. To tell you honestly I don’t see any differences between our beef here in Philippines from the beef from Australia. One thing my mom used to do is, she made her own tomato sauce. Usually now a day, people are fun of using the tomato sauce which are commercially available/ my used fresh coconut milk. Even now that there is a coconut powder in the market. My mom believed that all ingredients she must use are all fresh. Since beef is too hard to achieve the tenderness, so my mom will use an old traditional charcoal stove. She believed that it’s more accurate and will make the beef more tender and soft. And what I really understand about my mom is that, she used to put fork on the beef while boiling it. I don’t know how it affect the taste or how will the beef be more soft after putting the fork. This fork thing in our family has been passed in our other relative and even to myself.

          Since my mom is so busy, there are some occasion wherein she will be cooking the beef Kaldereta because she just want it to show love. Until now it’s magic or wonder for my mom, how she learn to cook. She will usually cook this beef Kaldereta during family birthdays and Christmas. My Tita and Tito used to tease my mom of her dish. There’s something in the Kaldereta that they can’t describe. My mom still doesn’t know how, but I think its in the ingredients and the procedures.

          In our family I’m the one who really loves cooking. When my mom first tried to cook this kaldereta, all I did was to watch her. I laughed at her all the time while she’s in the kitchen. My Lola had a very hard time teaching my mom how to cook. And it’s so nice to see them. Even if my Lola is 82 she is still remembers the entire recipe that the whole family is craving. And since then my mom use to got the step-by-step secret procedures and ingredients. And now she loves cooking for us. That really makes our heart big. were a big family, literary big family. And if you try to see us, no wonder me turn this big.

        Before it was my Lola who my relatives asked to cook. Now it’s my mom who they ask to cook for them. It really proves that in our family cooking really exist and flows in our blood. Now I’m missing my moms Kaldereta, since it’s been two months when I last eat Kaldereta. Maybe the secret ingredient that just now I realized is love and passion. Maybe when my mom is cooking she is in love so much. So much inspired to feed us with her best Kaldereta with love.