I am giving way to an article by Jay Gallera Malaga about The Ruins of the Don Mariano Lacson Mansion in Talisay City, Negros Occidental. Do read on and appreciate the magic of the past and the culinary prowess of the present generation.
Just by roaming around The Ruins in Talisay City, you would already feel a sense of history. And if you happen to exchange a phrase or two with the owners, read the information cards placed on the walls or grab a brochure, you would know the stories behind the construction and the people who lived in it before it was
burned.
And most likely you would appreciate the mansion even if it was already reduced to its skeletal frame, or maybe it is its present condition that adds to its character and beauty. That’s the charm of old structures; it invites you to engage in an experience just by being there, getting to know it better through the stories it continues to tell.
Much of the fame The Ruins is enjoying these days can be attributed to word-of-mouth; people come, experience, and then, tell other people about it. Yes, the mouth, such a powerful instrument, and it is perhaps in the same thought that the owners have decided to open a restaurant at the site. After all, the best way to a man’s heart, we say, is through his stomach.
And the mouth would definitely lead you there. So, in the process, guests can enjoy a sense of history and have their fill of butter cake or Brazo de Mercedes, too. How about some cheese to begin with (although Filipinos are not really fond of cheese)? Who knows if we try the Manchego from the La Mancha region of Spain, pair it with some crackers and guzzle them down with a glass of red wine or just beer, we would be quoting Don Quixote all the way to the main course.
Guests dining inside the Ruins.It’s interesting to note most specialty dishes, particularly comfort food, were inspired (if not created) or mastered by our mothers, and their mothers, and their mothers’ mothers. “Just like my mother would do it,” we usually say while appreciating a certain menu or, with a slight change of tone, commanding the chef to do so.
Too bad, Wikipedia doesn’t have anything about that certain woman named Mercedes whose arm had inspired that custard-filled meringue log cake recipe. For the rest, read on. As chef Michelle Lynn Lacson would want the food at The Ruins prepared fresh from her cozy kitchen in a corner at the mansion, and without the use of commercial broth cubes, they produce their own.
And that would be the same with the pasta and the bread, plus the herbs and spices later from her own garden. So, fresh food peppered with bits and pieces of some interesting history would absolutely make you say: Mamma mia! Consistent with our Spanish tradition and The Ruins’ Mediterranean menu, chef Michelle’s kitchen masterpiece happens to be Callos a la Madrid.
Originally part of the Asturian cuisine, Callos is a stew of ox tripe flavored with spicy chorizo de bilbao and traditionally served with olives. Another Asturian dish on the list is Fabada, a rich stew of dried large white beans which is a distant cousin of the French cassoulet.
Now, la cucina italiana (Italian cuisine or kitchen). Quite deviant from the “just like my mother would do it” tradition, Pasta alla Puttanesca is an Italian pasta dish known for its sauce which is not part of the traditional Italian cuisine and was said to be prepared “like a whore would do it.” Somehow, you knew already there was something saucy behind the name, no? Some say it got its name after local prostitutes in Naples, some would argue that it actually refers to the sauce’s hot, spicy flavor and pungent smell. Others believe that the dish was served cheap to lure potential clients into the brothels, while chef Jeff Smith of the Frugal Gourmet believes the name came from the fact that it was a quick, inexpensive treat that prostitutes could dish up between customers. Perhaps, your mother would prefer its lesser known name: Spaghetti alla Buona Donna or “Good Woman’s Spaghetti,” even then such name would still prompt naughty minds to come up with naughtier interpretations. Tsk. Tsk.
Chef Michelle Lynn is also proud of her Panna Cotta, which literally means “cooked cream” in Italian. It is a dessert made by simmering cream along with milk and sugar and then mixed with gelatin. It can be served with caramel or chocolate sauce, or wild berries and other fruits. In the bread department, there is Focaccia, a flat bread which derived its name from the Latin focus meaning “center” and also “fireplace” as Focaccia is usually baked in the hearth.
So, travel in another place and time by taking pleasure in your callos, your puttanesca or panna cotta at The Ruins, and have helpings after helpings of stories beyond chef Michelle’s kitchen right into anywhere in the Mediterranean. You can even revisit that place where that famous pasta got its name. Just don’t do anything there that your mothers would not be proud of.
Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson
The view at night.
