Maria Regina Tolentino Newport - Coconut Kitchen : Appetizers and Main Dishes

c oconut Kitchen

Appetizers and Main Dishes

c oconut Kitchen

Appetizers and Main Dishes

Ma. Regina Tolentino Newport

Coconut Kitchen

Appetizers and Main Dishes

Copyright to this digital edition 2017 by M. Regina Tolentino Newport and Anvil Publishing, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written approval from the copyright owners.

Published and exclusively distributed by

Anvil Publishing, Inc.

7th Floor Quad Alpha Centrum

125 Pioneer Street, Mandaluyong City

1550 Philippines

Phones: 477-4752, 477-4755 to 57

Fax: 747-1622

E-mail:

sales@anvilpublishing.com

Website: www.anvilpublishing.com

ISBN 9789712734359 (e-book)

Photography by Paulo Antonio Valenzuela

Food styling by Tina Concepcion Diaz

Book design by Paulo Antonio Valenzuela (cover)

Ysa Garcia and Marielle Tayona (interior)

E-book formatting by Arvyn Cerzo

Version 1.0.0

Table of Contents

i ntroduction

W elcome to the wonderful world of coconuts! This book is dedicated to you, the home cook, and I hope that the information and recipes it contains will add a little magic to your life, your health and the long hours you spend in the kitchen.

Growing up in the Philippines, I took coconuts and cooking for granted. The humble coconut was always present in my mothers kitchen, and learning to cook was a natural part of childhood. It was only much later in life that I came to appreciate the amazing qualities of the coconut and the real joy of cooking for family and friends.

This book represents an almost 15-year journey of discovery for me and the fulfillment of many dreams. When I took early retirement from the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, way back in 2003, I thought of setting up an import/export business focused on Philippine products. However, life is always full of surprises and fate had something else in mind for me.

On one of my trips to Manila, my dear friend, Rose, treated me to a cooking demo given by a popular local chef. This was something new for me, but my first thought was, I dont think I need a cooking class. After all, I came from a family where almost all the women were excellent cooks. Growing up, I used to do the food marketing and help my mom in the kitchen; I also learned how to dispatch and pluck a chicken. As an adult, I had cooked for my own children for many years. But Rose prevailed upon me and I went with her to the cooking demo. Im glad I did because it turned out to be a totally unexpected and life-changing experience.

As I watched the cooking demo, the room packed with paying guests, I marveled at how the chef breezed through cooking five dishes. That was when I had my epiphany. I wanted to jump out of my seat and shout, I can do that! Within a month I was attending an orientation class for a 15-month Cordon Bleu program at a culinary academy in Florida.

And the rest is history. I had found my true calling in the culinary world at the tender age of 55!

I had a culinary baptism of fire shortly after graduating from the Cordon Bleu program. On a dare, my dear friend Sammy arranged for me to stage my own cooking demo in the state-of-the-art demo kitchen at the Culinary Center for Arts in Manila. I was on tenterhooks for the whole demo but I pulled it offwith a lot of support from family and friends. Back in Washington, D.C., my focus turned to food events, classes, workshops, cookbooks, and related research. I even attempted to set up my own catering and cooking demo business as I tried to find a niche in the rapidly evolving food world.

I became a member of the Culinary Historians of Washington, DC (CHoWDC), because I shared their objective of studying the history of cuisines and culinary customs from all parts of the world. In early 2011, I founded its sister organization in Manila, the Culinary Historians of the Philippines (CHOP). This is an informal nonprofit organization devoted to studying, preserving and promoting my countrys culinary history and heritage, and doing advocacy work. Its membership has grown rapidly since then, and the CHOP Board now boasts a tireless team of passionate champions of our cause.

CHOP kept me happy and busy and opened many doors in Manilabut, most importantly, helped me to meet and gain many new friends in the exciting food world of Manila. However, I was still looking for a focus for my culinary pursuitssomething that would connect the many strands that had so attracted me to this fascinating milieu. That connection came out of the blue, once gain in Manila. As they say, it is more fun in the Philippines!

In 2012, I was browsing through cookbooks at the National Book Store in Metro Manila. I chanced upon a misplaced copy of a book by Dr. Conrado S. Dayrit called The Truth about Coconut Oil: The Drugstore in a Bottle , published by Anvil Publishing, Inc. That sub-title caught my eye. I read the first chapter there and then, and bought the book. Oh, boy, what a revelation it was about the coconut and its seemingly endless magic and health benefits. What impressed me most was that every claim made by Dr. Dayrit was backed by science and years of laboratory tests and research.

It made me realize that I had been cooking with coconut products for years without thinking about their inherent health benefits. After undertaking further research, I decided that I wanted to focus my culinary pursuits on coconuts. And what better way to do that than write a cookbook that would, hopefully, introduce the home cook to the wonders of the coconut, not only in the kitchen but in the home as a whole.

I undertook an informal (and totally unscientific!) survey last year among family and friends to find out if they shared my knowledge of, and belief in, the health benefits that were now widely reported for virgin coconut oil (VCO). A vast majority of them used coconut milk in their cooking; over half who cooked used VCO, and many more used it on their hair and skin; nearly all believed in the health benefits of coconuts. These informal results and my own research of the relevant literature made me confident that the tide had turned for my humble coconut. It was now a rock star!

There is a separate section in this book on the many health benefits of coconuts under the heading All About Coconuts. I hope you will read it and, like me, be dazzled by their many qualitiesand begin to share my passion for all things coconut. In my experience, almost any dish which contains some element of the coconut will have that subtle but unmistakable flavor which can enhance, transform, and take it to another taste level. Coconuts can work magic in the kitchen.

I use VCO for most of my cooking and for my hair and skin with visible effects. I find that taking one or two tablespoons of VCO a day helps to increase my energy and boost my immunity to common colds and infections. For me, Dr. Dayrit has truly delivered big time on his promise of a drugstore in a bottle.

I didnt know it at the time, but picking up Dr. Dayrits book proved to be fortuitous because it brought on a series of happy events, connections, and friendships that would eventually lead to where I am nowpublishing my own cookbook and fulfilling a dream that seemed impossible. Once again, welcome to the world of coconuts. I hope my book will find a home in your kitchen and that the humble coconut will find a home in your heart. Now go and cook!

About This Cookbook

I wrote this cookbook for you, the home cook. Whether you feel passionate
about food and cooking like I do, or just fell into the role of cook in your home by default, I dedicate this cookbook to you.