For the main course of this dinner, after the pica-pica’s and shrimp remoulade, there were two kinds of fowl. First, a roast duck with damson plum jam and port glaze and sauce… duck is a favorite of Mrs. MM and this was a rich and tasty version, though the skin is less than crisp due to the frequent basting while cooking…
Worried that the kids among the guest list would eschew the more strongly flavored duck, I also prepared a roasted chicken, this one basted with an experimental soy sauce and kalamansi jelly mixture. We put this in a turbo broiler and frankly, the heat was just too hot so I burned the skin a bit, but if I were to do this again, I would baste the chicken only in the last 20 minutes of cooking. The flavor was good, and the combination of kalamansi and soy sauce classic, but the outcome was a bit unique as the kalamansi jelly doesn’t possess the sharpness of freshly squeezed kalamansi.
The concept of a basting liquid is taking on new experimental pairings in our home, what with all the jams and jellies we have been making and a lot of roasting going on. In the end, you just have to watch the sugar content of your basting liquid as sugar does have a tendency to burn up…
Finally, with the fowl, we served a saffron risotto made with pancetta bits and onions. Again, the richness of plum jam on the duck, the kalamansi on the chicken and the yellow orange tinge of the saffron continued the jeweled tones of the meal from start to finish… Wine and dessert up next…
44 Responses
Roasted duck is also my favorite, it sure must have been great with the saffron risotto. I realized its almost dinner time, Im hungry and wonder where can I get some good roasted duck for dinner.hayayay!
Is it just me or your really taking your photography up a notch.
Good day! :)
MM, where is a good place to buy duck in Manila?
hahaha! Look at the survey results! Don’t the wives wish…*sigh*
You can get frozen long island Pekin Ducks at Cash & Carry and at S&R. corrine, I think the survey results are skewed by the fact that 60% of readers reside abroad… I didn’t expect those results, actually! :)
I wonder if you did your duck in a turbo broiler? Never had duck at home…but I just love its crisp skin. Sigh….it’s like having an in-house chef! I can’t wait what you served for dessert..
I agree with you, corrine—sigh* the entire meal and set up was very romantic….how I wish my hubby would see this! hehehe
Love ducks too. and by the way, I’m the one who cooks most of the time at home; and that is after a full day’s work! and I’m the husband.
YOU GO ROB!!! Good for you! Actually, I find more and more men are taking to the kitchen, and why shouldn’t they, after all, 90% or more of the world’s finest chefs today are men, aren’t they? elaine, no, I did my duck in an oven, I have the recipe in the archives as Duck Xangsane, after a rough typhoon last year that cut our electricity for 4 days and I had to cook a duck in the freezer…
MM, to tell the truth i cannot, in conscience, fawn and fuss over your dinner choices – and was in fact going to sleep thinking about your dinner fare when this headache started creeping up. And decided to write you lest this headahce evolve into a cluster headache…but how do you tell someone of his awful choices without hurting the poor guy…after all, it was his wife’s birthday for heaven’s sake.
My thoughts :
1. There is basic and there is advanced culinary arts. You first master one then go to the other. Ironically you have run the gauntlet in one sprint such that…well, never mind – i want to be kind.
2. In culinary arts, they do not teach you how to cook. NO. You are taught how to treat the ingredients. What cooking style goes well with what meat, or fish, etc. Cooking is simply part of this process. Only competent chefs can get away from the norm. And they are not always successful. Unless by some stroke of luck or the diligence of cooking the same thing a thousand times does their eureka moment come. But you first need to know the basics. That is the alpha and the omega. Only then can you transcend.
3. You need to get inside a chef’s mind. You dont need his recipe – you will just make yourself ( and him ) look foolish. You need to understand his philosophy. Why he cooks this way. Only then can you do justice to his dishes.
4. Once you’ve mastered the basics – which you have clearly not – then you can start pairing tastes and textures. Salt, sweet, sour vs. smooth, gritty, rubbery – and so on and so forth
5. Character comes out in a dish. You can tell when someone is headed for Michelin. Regardless of experience. It all boils down to having mastered the basics first and foremost.
6. I would rather not comment on your dishes lest some loyal fan starts growling up in arms. But in fairness, you seem to be getting somewhere. Where exactly ? I dunno. But with your culinary experience and love for things gourmet, I would suggest you take, at the very least, a short course on culinary arts.
I apologize. Its just that I cannot stand to see someone taking pride in something that lacks depth, character, watever – then have an army of loyalists back you up with their ooohhhhsss, aaahhhhhs. My two cents
Looks good and fantastic way to entertain at the comfort of your comfort. No wasted time looking for parking spot! Way to go. Happy Birthday Mrs. MM and many more birthdays to come.
Aridelros, you are entitled to your opinion, but frankly, your comments are getting tedious, are often pointless, and seem headed nowhere. I never aspired to be a chef, rather a good home cook. The dinner tasted good by our standards and we enjoyed it immensely. Just because I didn’t take any formal classes but write about my food at home shouldn’t bother you in the least, and if it does you are most welcome to leave this site permanently, it’s that simple. You have tried that before after several comments which seemed inappropriate and more a result of an evening drunken craze by your own admission and later bizarre angst over someone sharing proprietary recipes to the viewership at large. You have written me privately to apologize for your sometimes bizarre comments, begging forgiveness and asking to be allowed to make comments again. Despite your leaving, you have come back again and again, apparently obsessed with leaving your mark on the posts despite 90% of them a poorly veiled attempt boast about your own supposed extensive knowledge about food. Why not simply start your own blog? Or better yet, why hasn’t your knowledge turned into a successful food business, despite several attempts, according to you. Why use other blogs to speak out, taking swipes at Connie and myself… But I don’t care what your motivations are. So please, do yourself and Marketmanila readers (who in record numbers have expressed increasing irritation at the content of your comments) a favor and spend your surfing time elsewhere. I have done a simple search of all your hundreds of comments (300+)on this blog so far and have deleted them permanently. Future ones will receive the same treatment. As another reader mentioned here before, you are no longer welcome at this dinner table.
Go for it Mr.MM…yeah he should find himself his own blog and stop giving unsolicited comments…besides we are here to enjoy the simple things in life and not aspire to be a perfect person that does not exist.
By the way i know this is not related but i have tried your food for the gods recipe and we liked it…its the season of dates and i just tried using your recipe… Thanks and keep posting…
Bravo Marketman. Well said.
Honestly, I would’ve let this one go, as I can see above that MM could pretty much beat the crap out of someone tactfully :), but the thing that irritates me most is that the bloke has the nerve to think that his opinions in this blog are far more superior than others who utter expletives. In planet Earth, aridelros, when people appreciate things, they express it. You could go on and on about your own transcendental view of things (whatever that means), but leave others who appreciate this blog more than you do in peace. Who knows, if you start your own food blog, you might get your own score of fans someday, so don’t be too jealous.
Great dinner MM! Good chaps take their ladies out to dinner, the great ones cook for them! Happy birthday Mrs. MM!
Ay! I was enjoying the meal up to this point, but now it’s been somewhat spoiled, soured for me. And I’m not even sure what aridelros is trying to say as he’s sounding a bit pedantic. If I wanted a precise way to cook a dish, I’d read a cookbook. If I want to have fun, then I read this blog. It’s as simple as that. I may not want to try out all of MM’s meals (I don’t eat meat!), but I try to take what joy I can from him and the other readers. aridelros, I hope you find peace.
see the irony? aridelros tries to speak but can’t because of IP problem, while MM is advocating for free access to information/recipe. Tsk, tsk. I go for open source!!!
To aridelros: Do you have friends? Did you have a traumatic childhood? Are you getting a hard-on playing culinary god? Intellectual property? You call the crap you type intellectual? Why not make your own blog, comment on your own post and react on your own comments.
aridelros, what intellectual property are you talking about? You are a legend (only) in your own mind, I am sorry to say.
i cannot help but post a comment here because lately, everytime i read a comment by aridelros, i am somewhat baffled as to the way he presents himself. he comes across or wants to present himself as very knowledgeable in the food industry but one time, i left a comment about S & R, my wanting them to sell a decent line of ‘real cheese’ instead of the standard local ‘pasteurized processed cheesefood’.
in that same topic, aridelros inquired about what i meant with ‘real cheese’. MM on the other hand knew very well what i was talking about, MM understood my thought and was able to present it correctly and to use the term he nailed it.
now, where does this lead to? i remember that amongst us 3, MM and i were on the agreement about the difference of cheese. you, aridelros, on the other hand who was proclaiming about being informed and knowledgeable on food, and in fact that you are educated in some related-food technology, appeared to me as the one lacking in proper information. what with your supposed knowledge on food topics.
btw, here is the link to that topic wherein contrary to what you present yourself as a knowledgeable person in food topics, amongst us 3, you, aridelros where found wanting!
so there. and this i have to say, if at that point, it was MM who was informed, MM never presented himself as all-knowing and he is always generous and gracious in sharing his ideas and knowledge about food.
too bad your comments were already deleted, but you can still read and see what transpired between us 3 through my comments and replies from MM addressed to you.
https://www.marketmanila.com/archives/s-r-at-the-fort-re-opens-tomorrow
most of us here are just folks with genuine interest in food, nothing extraordinary about our talents and skills but we do know how to appreciate a well-thought out recipe and menu and we do know how to show manners! even if i come across as silly in my sometimes silly questions because i am not that well-informed, at least most of us regular readers do know how to conduct ourselves properly.
i agree in MM’s decision to permanently delete you comments as they are already irritating.
I am sorry MM that you had to experience such comments .Please do not allow it to dampen your wife’s birthday party memory. No need for us to discuss it further, its obvious what I (and your other readers) think this person can do with his/her two cents..
“if you have nothing good to say about a person, just shut upâ€. Turo ni nanay yan and that’s been my guiding principle every time i open my mouth or write something.
sure there are circumstances wherein the honest opinion, however impartial and unprejudiced, is even requisite when discussing a person, event, service, etc. well, i think market manila is hardly the place for such a (seemingly inebriated) ventilation.
that ‘attack’ was really uncalled for, especially posing as constructive but teeming with unecessary sarcasm. there are several outlets for such repressed emotions out there: internet forums, AA meetings, or better yet, grab your usual softporn tabloid ‘tonite’ edition and head for the toilet…
and if ever a negative reaction is elicited by any of mm’s post, the inconsequential ‘eeeeww’ or the petty ‘yikes’ would be apropos really. and we encounter these a lot here, and we all laugh about it but really the sentiment is all in good fun and never in bad taste.
so here is my OOHHH and AAHHH moment for MM.
MM never presented himself as a chef. If you(aridelros) bothered to check MM’s about page, MM clearly stated that and I quoted here “…I enjoy cooking and entertaining at home but I have no formal training at all-my knife skills are mediocre but I do make my mayonnaise from scratch. Food is simply a personal passion….”
MM does not claim to know everything. MM frequently asks about things so that others can share what they know. MM even cooks things unknown to him.
MM makes mistakes when cooking and informs us so that we, who may want to attempt a dish, can at least have an idea on what to prevent when we do try it. At his own expense too!
I myself have learned a lot. Aboout food I may never get to eat in my lifetime….places I may never be able to reach.
All because MM cared enough to share his experiences with us.
This may be a sort of therapy for him and I know for some of the readers too.
This site is also a part of HOME for those residing abroad.
we are all here to help each other.
Just because you(aridelros) chose to read MM’s blog does not mean you(aridelros) can say what you want.
You(aridelros) may want to appear wise but you have shown yourself as the fool.
From Now On, YOU(aridelros) will be considered as the RUDE GUEST that will NEVER get invited to dinner again.
whew! sorry about that long comment of mine.
he got me all huffy that I forgot to greet Mrs. MM.
A very, very Happy Birthday Mrs. MM!
hey aridelros, your jealousy is so transparent. MM, I’ve been a lurker for quite a long time and I must admit I do enjoy reading your posts. Hope you don’t let this creep spoil your wife’s birthday.
Friends, let’s understand where Aridelros is coming from. I can understand if he experiences anxiety/depression/panic attacks because of his negativity and delusions about being a food authority. Get help, aridelros (is that even a word) you need it.
well i know where he is coming from, it’s called johnny red label. snicker snicker….
The duck and chicken looks so succulent, did you marinate them before cooking?
Duck is also my favourite and I enjoy experimenting with the basting sauce as well. Not having kalamansi jelly, would orange marmalade be alright to use in lieu of the former?
Personally I seem to prefer the older post of the duck recipe that you wrote “Pato at Kamote” – the pairing of duck and sweet potatoes is such an original and great idea that I can’t wait to try it this weekend.
How very very rude. You were also very rude to Connie in her blog. You’re really mean Aridelros. Taking something special from MM on a very special occassion that he was just sharing with us. i’m glad MM decided to delete your comments permanently.
@ aridelros :
Bakit hind kayo magsama ni Mylai Dimaculangan, and put up your own foodblog? I’m pretty sure you’ll ove each other, pareho kayong “intellectual?????”
Simple lang kami dito sa Marketmanila, sometimes other people may not be able to relate sa mga experiences ni MM (esp the out of the country escapades) but we love reading his posts because we learn from him and he was kind enough to share his experiences, not to make yabang about it.
Now, since you seem to know more about food and culinary kachubahan.. bakit hindi mo pagkakitaan yan, bai, magkakapera ka pa, HUWAG KA NA LANG MANG BADTRIP NG IBANG TAO, pwede? SCRUM!
sowee, MM. can’t help it
Aridelros, were you WUI (writing under the influence) again? I had wondered what you’d done to get you back in MM’s good graces initially and MM’s reply just answered that for me. MM, am glad you finally put your foot down! Such pointless hurtful comments don’t belong in this blog. Bring your horrid table manners elsewhere, Aridelros!
btw, aridelros, saang culinary book mo kinopya yang mga kaek-ekan mo?
MM–Are Muscovy ducks prevalent in PI? I actually prefer this variety because their meat is lean unlike the Peking variety, but gamier. I suppose one can raise Muscovy ducks in PI if not readily available in grocery stores.
hi marketman,
just wanted to know where were you able to buy pancetta. Thanks.
Hi MM!
By the way Aridelros, I am one of MM’s loyalists who enjoys what he writes and what other people write to him about. Write your own blog and let us comment on it or NOT. You are probably afraid no one will.
Hi Ai, they sell pancetta at Terry’s Delicatessen on Pason Tamo, Santis Delicatessen, several branches across the city and Galileo Enoteca in Mandaluyong and Makati. brownedgnat, I am not sure if they have muscovy ducks here, but I suspect not or rarely… and yes, the Pekin is less gamey…
good riddance aridelros, noon pa talaga ako naiinis sa iyo i remember e-mailing MM about your comments na nakakairita.
Happy Birthday Mrs.MM. You sure were pampered with love and affection!!!Thank you MArketman for sharing your joy and letting us peek into your loving home. The colour scheme is fabulous….the whole atmosphere radiates love and warmth.
Aridelros, I wish you find joy and love in life. Appreciate the little joys, the glorious produce in the markets, the beauty of roses massed together…the flavour of food…joy in sharing a beautiful meal with family and friends… Life is too short to get bogged down in systems and procedures and how things “ought” to be done. Free your spirit and fill your soul with joy and love.
i read aridelros’ comment several times pero i cannot make head nor tail of it. final response ko – huh? ganon din sya in Connie’s forum. sa ‘kin lang, mamatay ka sa inggit. MM – buti naman you deleted all his posts na. waste of space lang. been here so many times but this is my first post ever, and all because of the wannabe.
keep it up, and i hope you and your family enjoyed the missus’ special day.
are aridelros and malu fernandez related? just google “malu fernandez” and see.
lee, hahaha. I have intentionally been steering clear of that hot potato of an issue as I believe totally ignoring it is better than fanning the flames of notoriety… but I understand some of the heat generated so far.
thanks for the tip lee! she’s a feisty b%#@tch isn’t she? i have forwarded some incriminating MF links to everyone i know, regardless of how hilariously blown out of proportion she thinks the whole thing is. she really shouldn’t be allowed to get away with being so callous and tactless in a daily broadsheet.
Umm… please pardon my ignorance, but speaking of Pekin and Muscovy duck, what’s the difference between the local brown-feathered ducks and the white-feathered ones usually raised in the provinces? Is pato and itik one and the same? I’m also curious if the dressed ducks sold at Arranque market are… well… “acceptable”.
Absent kasi ako nung diniscuss ang ducks sa “culinary arts”, hehe. Thanks for any info that anyone out there can provide.
Keep up your COOLinary “school”, MM! Let’s not fuss about a single dropout; we are legions still enrolled.
Great,it’s 4:41 am, my stomach is churning and the first thing I stumble into is the wonderfully beautifully roasted duck with the luscious brown skin that I imagine melting in my mouth. I almost melted. I hate you MM. waaaahhhhh! So as I’m wiping the drool off from my mouth, I’m writing this entry and preparing myself for a freshly microwaved bowl of oatmaeal.