by PAM
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| 'Hacienda style' arroz caldo at Arroz Ecija |
Sunday is the day of putting faith front and center. Sunday is the day when we spend at least an hour in the Church to partake of the Word for the sustenance of our souls. And after that soulful celebration of the Word of God, it's time to nurture the body with healthy and delicious food.
This Sunday, I 'feasted' with a bowl of traditional Filipino comfort food: the arroz caldo. This has many versions. What I had was that warm soupy rice porridge cooked in rich chicken broth with onion and powdered black pepper. The rich porridge was topped with pulled lean chicken meat, halved egg, chopped fresh spring onion, and crunchy browned garlic. A halved calamansi was provided on the side to render citrus flavor to the mix, which heightens the already mouth-watering combination of flavors and aroma.
Each spoonful of Arroz Ecija's version of the arroz caldo tasted not only of that familiar Filipino mindfulness of carefully measured flavors with nutrition, and the intentional joy of eating, but also of nostalgia. As a child, the arroz caldo was my Lola and Mama's warm embrace and love, expressed in delicious food, whenever we were sick. We were spoon-fed with that rich rice porridge, cooked with thinly sliced ginger
and ground black pepper, and the very tender chicken meat, freshly pulled from the bone - absolutely delicious! It was their 'magic potion' of getting well and feeling loved. Ah, love... we had so much of that as children. And that shaped us into what we are today, and we are grateful.
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| A mix of goodness, crunch and freshness |
The 'feast' this Sunday did not end with that tasteful lunch but continued on with another nutritious bowl of goodness but this time a homey concoction of mine: green-and-lean and many more in between. It is my salad bowl for dinner. It has lots of greens, fresh fruits, nuts and slices of smoked ham, tied together by a drizzle of my own version of the Thousand Island dressing. It was delicious: salty and sweet, lots of crunch, colorful and flavorful, interesting and refreshing.
Ah, to be a foodie... on a Sunday - what a joy!
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Image credit: All the photos in this post belongs to me. I took them all.
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