OFW Journals (OFW Stories on the News) and Some OFW Employment, Career & Business Tips

Filipino Dishes Served in Iraq
by Celeste Lucero

18 July 2007, Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq.

Not everything in Iraq is as bad as it seems. I know the news would tell otherwise, but from my personal experience, besides fear and threat, there are also positive things to look forward to in this place. It may sound absurd, but some times are worthy of remembering, as well as some memories are for treasuring.

These past few days, it had just been quite, which afforded us to sit back and relax a little bit. I drift off to sleep listening to Edie Brickell’s “Good times, bad times”.

We were able to do things that reminded me of home, sort of brought nostalgic moments. I won’t deny the fact that I really do miss the Philippines. Incidentally, in some gastronomic way; I was able to bring a piece of our country in this war-torn city.

I never thought that I’d be sipping hot soup of Bulalo, not in Baghdad anyway. But, yes, I had, and I even cooked it myself.

Two days ago, we went to this local market they call Mujama and surprisingly I found this meat shop that sells cow legs. It was definitely a welcomed surprise. I bought two pata, for; hold your breath, US$14.

When we got back to the villa, I scoured the kitchen for ingredients needed to make the Bulalo. God has been so good to me for the nth time. I was able to find potatoes, crushed ginger (which they call “singivil” or something), onion, and ground pepper. I almost exclaimed in ecstasy.

There are only two Filipinos now here in this company (kuya and I), and the scent of the cooking Bulalo was enough to make our mouth water. We were just breathless in anticipation of lunch.

As expected lunch was a blast. We were sipping the soup like there’s no tomorrow. The steamed rice complemented the hotness of the Bulalo. Of course, our tongue was on fire because of the heat, but we did not mind. In the end we thought we’re going to suffer from stroke or high blood pressure because of the amount of bone marrows we sucked from the huge bones. Then, we decided to let the thought go with a brief afternoon siesta.

Yesterday, for whatever reason, our [Iraqi] office manager asked me to cook a Filipino dish for dinner. At 5 pm, we marched on to the freezer, the warehouse, and the kitchen looking for anything that might inspire me to come up with a decision as to what to cook. The things that I’ve collected put a smile on my face, and gave my stomach a little nudge; all because I was about to make Beef Kaldereta.

Since the kitchen is kind of small, I had to endure an elbow to elbow war with the resident cook. It didn’t last long though since he had to prepare a grill outside; he was making Chicken Kebob for dinner. The grueling saga of making Kaldereta ended at 6:30 pm –about which time that probably everyone’s stomach juices are lining up for a picket.

Dinner was served at seven. I was not feeling anxious at all, if they would like my cooking or not. As long as Kuya and I are satisfied with the Kaldereta, then that’s all that mattered.

When dinner was over, so does the Kaldereta, they seem to have liked it and they were all praise for a sumptuous dinner. I just had to give them my warmest “thank you”.

I guess it won’t be the last of my Filipino-style cooking.