As you might have gathered by now, I am going through my own gestation period. When my child is born, I
will be reborn as a father. Full disclosure: I smiled just now as I finished the previous sentence. I am excited about
being a parent. Of course, I am also anxious, wondering if I will be a good provider, protector and role model for my
kid.
I myself had a great childhood. I was born in the Philippines and I grew up right in the middle of the
megalopolis of Metro Manila. All the food-related memories of my youth are rushing back quite easily now. Our
neighbor’s house/shack, was also a turo-turo store (“turo-turo” means “point-point”). During the day, the people next
door would flip open and prop up a panel on their street-facing wall. They would then put stools outside the opening
where passers-by would sit and point-point at dishes they could snack on for five or ten centavos - dishes like lumpia
(pork or shrimp filled fried egg rolls the size of a petite corona cigar), lugao (rice porridge slightly flavored with ginger,
garlic and chicken) and rice with tocino (sweet, salty and peppery pork belly). It w ould be a de facto hang out for locals,
where gossip was shared and hunger pangs were satiated. Everything was delicious, made from scratch (it was
necessarily farm-to-table) and fresh (since refrigeration was not abundant).
turo-turo store
lumpia
73
THE CONE - ISSUE #8 - WINTER 2016