The Perfect Cheesecake

After several inquiries from my loyal readers (that basically means, you, Ana) , I decided it was high time to get back into the swing of things.

No, my prolonged absence does not mean I haven't been eating. It just means I haven't had much of a chance to blog about it, that's all.

Getting to with the matter at hand - Cheesecake has always been a preoccupation of mine. Much in the same way Iced Tea is. There a hundred ways of making cheesecake, probably ninety of them bad. The sins in cheesecake making include using the so-called "no-bake" shortcuts to topping cheesecakes with blueberries or whatnot to mask its true flavor.

Possibly the best cheesecake I ever had in this country was several years ago, when a friend of ours made us one from scratch which we ate fresh from the oven. It had no gelatin whatsoever and had creaminess and that luxurious sour-but-rich "cream-cheesiness" fairly bursting out of every bite. I've been looking for something to equal that experience ever since, with (very) mixed results.

Fast forward to today. The never-ending search continues. It was for that reason (plus the fact that Cupcakes by Sonja at Serendra was jam-packed) that we decided to try out its next-door neighbor, Miss Desserts. Like many of the establishments in Serendra, it was relatively small by mall standards with seating for perhaps a dozen people inside. Prominently taped to their glass exterior wall was Gene Gonzalez' article featuring his great cheesecake showdown, wherein Miss Desserts' offering earned itself top marks.

Oho! Sige nga! The proof of the pudding is in the eating; and that goes double for cheesecakes.

We ordered a personal-sized New York Style cheesecake (I agree with Gene Gonzalez 100% on his stand that this is the gold-standard for cheesecakes. Everything else is just fluff) and, almost as an afterthought, a personal-sized Sugar-Free Banana Cream Pie as well.

Right of the bat, I will admit it - the cheesecake was dense, it was creamy and the crust was as good as it gets. Despite its small dimensions, it is supremely satisfying (although a slightly bigger helping wouldn't have hurt at all). It had that creamy, luxurious taste and feel that I was looking for and I would have liked to imagine how it would have tasted having come straight from the oven. Easily one of the best I've ever tried.

If I had to nitpick, and I guess I have to, I would say that I would have traded a bit of sweetness for more of that "cream-cheesiness" I was talking about. It would have been perfect in my book just a bit more of that tangy-sourness. Still, I was nitpicking and I have to admit, it beats most other cheesecakes hands down.

Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want to hear about the Sugar-Free Banana Cream Pie? Darn. I was going to make that my little secret. One word I could use to describe it is FRESH. The cream was fresh, the crust was fresh, the bananas tasted like they sliced it just as I entered the store. Unlike other sugar free desserts, you didn't get the idea that they were trying to overcompensate by using a lot of Splenda or what-have-you. What you got was a nice, fresh pie with a rich flavor unburdened by the cloying sweetness that we often get these days.

We gave these two desserts an enthusiastic thumbs up! Although we're not often in the neighborhood, I'm certain it won't be long before we come back to try out more of Miss Dessert's other sweet offerings!

Middle East in Makati

In the course of trying to stay away from carbs, I've found that Persian (or, to be more accurate, Middle-Eastern) seems to fit the bill, thank you very much.

While there's always the ubiqitous Cafe Med, which seems slightly more Grecian in bias than most, there are a couple of one-off restaurants (and oh, how I love those) in the Makati area that I'd like share with you.

The first is Hossein's. Definitely not cheap, this place on Makati Ave. seems like its been there forever. Run by its proprietor, Mr. Hossein (surprise surprise), it's quite a cut above your run-of-the-mill shawarma joint.

Our order would always be the same whenever we went there - Vegetable Curry (yes, they do some Indian dishes on the side), Leaf steak (the beef is cut into a "V" and spreads out like a leaf), basmati rice (this was back in the good ole carb days) and of course, my favorite, Misa, which is a mixture of grilled eggplant, garlic and saffron mashed together and eaten as a dip with flat bread. Do not miss out on the Misa. It's not particulary strong-flavored but it has a nice warm, rich garlicky-saffron flavor that doesn't try to overpower your taste buds like some dishes from that region. We usually end the meal with a tiny slice of Baklava, thin sheets of phyllo pastry covering sweets with almonds or pistachios.

Mister Hossein likes to take the time to show his non-Persian customers his old trick on how to eat the roasted tomato that comes with the meats. You skin the tomato, dice it into little bits, then sprinkle it liberally with salt and pepper. If you ordered some yoghurt dip he'd dab some into there as well, not bad. Yes, you read correctly, they charge for sauce (look under Tatziki, as they don't have it for free like other restos).

One thing you could say for the place was the quality. You could be sure that the veggies were fresh and the cuts of meat were succulent. But you literally pay the price...

As an alternative, try Ziggurat, just a stone's throw away from Hossein's. If Hossein's was based squarely in the Middle East, you could say Ziggurat's claim to fame would be that its menu extends much further south than the usual North African cuisine associated with most Mediterranean or Middle Eastern restaurants.

The place is much smaller than Hossein's, with most of the ground floor seating devoted to carpets and divans for you to sit on instead of chairs. Prices were more reasonable than that of Hosseins and we took advantage of that to sample a wider array of food. We had some honeyed lamb in couscous, easily the most pricey item we ordered. Not bad, but I still say I can make better couscous than any resto I've tried thus far.

We also had some kebabs, beef and duck (this was new). Both were quite tasty, the duck was especially succulent. We even tried some African banana soup. I can't rightly recall where exactly from Africa it came from but it had a sweet-salty flavor and is well worth trying.

If you're a true food fanatic, I suggest you try both these places out, as neither one will disappoint.

Directions-

Hossein's--it is on your right just before Jupiter if you're coming from the Makati-Mandaluyong bridge.

Ziggurat is on Tigris corner Euphrates street, just of P. Burgos heading towards Kalayaan.

Update!

Work has kept me from updating this blog but I would like to discuss a couple of places that has struck our fancy.

The first is an Italian Resto called Galileo Enoteca, and unlike most of its ilk, it is located not in trendy Makati or Ortigas center but in Calbayog street, Mandaluyong (it's behind the unfinished Star Mall annex).

Galileo follows the current trend of combining a restaurant with a european deli. The twist here is that the deeper you go into the place, the more you feel like you're in someone's wine cellar, cool and cozy. The merchandise adorns the shelf and keeps you company while you go through the relatively short menu.

They have a special here. For 500 bucks you can have an appetizer plate, a dish of pasta, a glass of wine and coffee. Now this is the real thing. No token appetizers here. This is a major part of your meal. 3 kinds of cheese and 3 kinds of cold cuts, all ranging from mild to quite piquant. The pasta looks underwhelming but the penne gorgonzola we had was anything but that. Satisfying without overwhelming you, and the pasta was quite al dente. Can't really say anything about the wine since the missus and I don't really drink. We wrapped up the meal with a cup of strong Italian coffee.
500 bucks might be considered a lot to pay for cold cuts and pasta, but coming from a guy who eats big lunches, I would actually consider this good value for money as I had to struggle to finish my food. We need more places like this. I for one am getting bored with the cookie-cutter restos we see in most malls. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

To get there, take Shaw Boulevard, and coming from Cherry Foodarama, take a right on Samat St. just before EDSA and take a left at the first intersection. When you see all the cars, you're there. Make reservations, especially for dinner or at least try to be there early. Seats go fast. Buon Appetito =)

Going Back to Iced Tea

OK, Iced Tea, part deux.

My wife, Jen, knows how much I love iced tea. She even bought me a book about it. (Yes, someone out there is crazy enough to write a book just about iced tea!).

Fred Thompson's book Iced Tea is a nice little compilation of ideas and anecdotes about iced tea and contains 50 recipes for all sorts of iced tea ranging from the simple sun tea to variations on the alcoholic variants such Long Island iced tea (which, by the way, contains NO tea at all!).

Thompson gives us six rules for making good icea tea:

1. Start with enough tea bags. Thompson claims using manufacturer's instuctions leads to wimpy iced tea!

2. To strengthen your tea, add more teabags. DON'T just steep your teabags for a longer period of time as this just brings out the bitter flavor of the tannins in the tea.

3. Don't skimp on the sugar. While Thompson scoffs at de-emphasizing sweetness, he DOES say good things about my favorite sweetener, Splenda.

4. Let your tea cool before refrigerating it. Putting hot tea in your fridge will make it cloudy.

5. Keep your iced tea fresh. 'Nuff said.

6. Never use anything but freshly squeezed lemon juice.


Here is the recipe for a basic variant of iced tea that was said to have originated in the American South:

Southern-Style Iced Tea

6 regular-sized tea bags
1/8th teaspoon baking soda
2 cups boiling water
6 cups cold water
Sugar or other sweeteners to taste

1. Place the teabags and the baking soda (it softens the tannins and helps remove any bitterness) into a container and pour the boiling water onto them. Cover and let steep for 15 minutes.

2. Remove the teabags (but don't squeeze them as this will release the bitter tannins we've been talking about).

3. Pour the mixture into a pitcher and combine with the cold water and sweeten (If you want to add lemons or whatever, this would be the time to put it in).

4. Let cool, chill, then serve over ice!

If you're interested in other recipes, let me know.

Serendipity in Times of Traffic

For past the few years, my wife and I have eschewed going to big-name or trendy places on Valentine's day and have instead chosen to eat at small, out-of-the-way places where the traffic isnt bad and there's usually no need for reservations. Most of the time we have no idea where we're going; it's as if the car was on autopilot and we just arrive after taking the path of least resistance to the seemingly unavoidable traffic snarls that spawn anywhere near a restaurant on Valentine's day.

Last year we wound up at Cookbook Kitchen, a small little place tucked away in an equally small Mandaluyong side-street, right beside our son's pre-school. While the place deserves an entry, we will leave this for some other time. Someone remind me to get around to it. =)

This year we decided to try out Barcino's Gourmet, a small Spanish deli-restaurant on Julia Vargas avenue in Pasig (it's in the commercial complex right beside Ortigas Home Depot). It had two things going for it. The location's never crowded and it's near the office! We were supposed to try it out last week but got sidetracked into trying Le Boeuf, a sea food / steak restaurant in the same complex.

Barcino Gourment is on the second floor of the complex. When one enters, one is given the impression that he's stepped into a store's warehouse (albeit a nice store warehouse with airconditioning) where the owner has put up a few tables to cater to those customers who decided to eat in instead of taking their purchases home.The use of old wood and furniture gives the place a sort of old-world charm.

You immediately notice the large bank of shelving for the dry goods, mostly Spanish delicacies, the type you see at Terry Selection (I got the impression it was cheaper than Terry's, though). There is a huge storage section for wines, a small bank of refrigerators for drinks and cheese, and then, almost as an afterthought, you notice a nice homey table for maybe 8 pax and two small tables for two tucked away by the side.

In a word, homey. Homey but in a store.

Go figure.

We started off with some sliced Spanish sausages and some mild cheese. I think we disappointed the proprietor when we told him we didn't drink, and I don't mean in a financial sense, either. A friend of mine who visited relatives in Spain told me they drink more wine than water during a mealtimes over there.

The appetizers were served with some very nice warm bread. We were hungry and if we were wine drinkers I'm sure the night would have been complete with just the appetizers. Oh, by the way, this stuff wasn't even on the menu. You just go to the fridge, take it out and ask them to serve it to you. It's that informal.

The menu itself is a very short affair, perhaps no more than half a dozen dishes. We ordered the Fabada, Pes de San Pedro (St. Peter's fish) and the Cocindo de Madrileno.

The Fabada was just wonderful. Soupier than what is served in say, Dulcinea yet flavorful and full of meaty goodness. The fish was quite tasty. It had roast garlic cloves so it was off to a good start. Our only complaint about the fish was that it was strangely cold by the time it got to us.

The Cocido turned out to be a stew of vegetables, garbanzos, chicken, pork, sausage and beef. I've tried dishes like this before and it certainly held its own against the competition. My only comment is I wish it came with more sauce and vegetables (did I actually say vegetables??).

Bottom line is I like this place. It had a nice, friendly staff, an informal atmosphere, and it didn't even have a Valentine's menu. If I wanted to eat what everybody else was eating I could have gone to a cafeteria, right?

The price was right, too. We ordered maybe half the menu and even stuff not on it and our bill was less than P1,000 for the two of us. Hooray for serendipity! By the way, they were promoting some of their wines - buy-one-take-one. Their cheapest promo was for 190 for two bottles of a spanish red.

Dessert, you say? Well, the nice biscuits they gave us at Barcino Gourment were all well and good but we'd already decided to go downstairs and have the really excellent Halo-halo at Razon's of Guagua. Razon's has single-handedly re-affirmed my enthusiasm for our national dessert, to the great detriment of my diet.

The latter's version of Halo-halo sounds downright spartan compared to what most of us are used to. The first-timer to Razon's may well caught wondering -

"Is this it? Where's all the stuff inside??"

Instead of the colorful kaong, beans and whatnot topped by what is usually ube ice-cream, what you get is a faily monochromatic blend of sun-dried bananas, macapuno and very finely shaved ice (Ice Monster comes to mind). This is topped with unsweetened milk and some really creamy leche flan. What you get is a smooth, creamy blend. Not too sweet but very flavorful and you don't miss any of that other stuff anyway. I think the ice played a major role here, allowing for a smooth, flowing mixture instead of what often becomes a mish-mash when the ice gets lumpy.

Highly recommended. We haven't tried the other viands there like the sisig, hopefully this will merit another entry. P.S. go for the extra leche flan.

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering what we thought of Le Beouf, let me begin by recalling the fact that when the late, great food writer Ms. Doreen Fernandez didn't like a restaurant, she would simply refrain from writing about it. That's why I call her a food writer and not a food critic.

In the interest of the dining public, however, I will give these comments - The rib-eye steak was P180 bucks but you could hardly taste a thing. The best thing you could say about it was that at least it wasnt tough. The "Caesar" salad tasted suspiciously like thousand-island dressing with roast garlic bits. The sisig was ok though and my wife liked her tapa. Decent ambiance. Nothing to see here folks, move along now.