Boodle-style eating refers to a military setting of tables with banana leaves piled high (hopefully) with food that everyone attacks and eats with their bare hands, often without even sitting! The occasion for our own version in the garden terrace? Four birthdays in April for staff that we decided to celebrate in a relatively impromptu dinner tonight. Banana leaves from our own trees on another part of the property. Bursts of color from bougainvillea flowers in the yard. We added red stools for comfort, and of course the crew rented a mobile karaoke machine for entertainment!
Early this morning I hit the Carbon market, seafood section, and picked up some fresh fish alumahan/anduhaw and some talakitok as well.
Fresh medium-sized squid were stuffed with some onions and tomatoes…
…white shrimp skewered and slathered with satay sauce and chili flakes…
…and instead of pork barbecue which is a little more fussy, we marinated pork chops and skewered those as well…
…and did Bacolod inasal style chicken drumsticks.
Everything was grilled on hot coals by several of the cooks from the commissary.
We cut a banana trunk in half and the skewed meats and seafood were stuck into the trunk. We hadn’t paid much attention to the direction of the food on the skewer, so it was a bit of a mess, but this was a casual dinner after all.
We added steamed rice to the table, added bam-i noodles that were steaming hot, bowls of sawsawan or sauces, and adobong sitaw and kangkong as well. As soon as the food was on the table, the crew did literally ATTACK the food and we had a wonderful dinner!
The food definitely tastes better when you eat it with your hands. And there’s minimal clean up without plates or utensils… you just roll up all the leaves and dump that. Totally biodegradable to boot.
It always amazes me how well you can eat with just a little bit of thought and planning. This dinner probably COST less than PHP5,000 and at least 30 people were able to eat, with leftovers. That means it cost just PHP160 each, and we ATE a LOT of food!
28 Responses
What a spread!!! looks good and delish! :)
Are you hiring any new “crew” members?
You are the COOLEST BOSS EVER! Bless your kind heart always. Kagutom :)
I miss this kind of gatherings, simple, spur of the moment, good food, good company, loads of fun. MM you make even the lowly banana leaf look elegant :-) Love the red chairs and flowers. Awesome spread. Kamayan na! :-)
woohoo! love the flowers! and look at the sprigs of chili straight from the bush, read for the sawsawan!
This will be perfect on a beach setting. Really like the use of the banana trunks.
Amazing!!! kinamot!!
Only you can make a boodle fight look so civilised :-)
The good Lord bless you, MM, for your kindness and generosity. Abundant graces always!
Wow, MM! This is fiesta. Really glad to know that you treat your employees well.
love your ideas, MM!
Hello.. This is amazing.. food looks so delicious! We also did this in our company programs but the banana tree trunk for “tusuk-tusok” is so innovative. Well done. =)
I just watched this https://youtu.be/rntqk8KdVr4 on youtube!
I once saw a show whereby a leaf lined lazy-susan did the trick for a sit-down dinner. The leaves were snazzier than banana leaves but it was generally a seafood spread with numerous dips.
Looks good and am sure delicious.
Yesterday, my family and I finally got to dine at Zubuchon on mango avenue. Loved the food and the kamias and duhat shakes were great with the lechon and everything else. We brought home a pack of silvanas as well. Got some bottles of jam and Osang’s broad to take home to Manila! you have such well trained staff, that can give any Manila resto a run for their money!
Was missing your blog for a few days :(..glad your back,Thanks ..now my days are normal :)
Glad you’re back, MM… Really glad..
Yehey, back online again. Was kinda getting worried baka “revenge of the fish pan awardees ” is happening. Hopefully nothing too serious on the techy side. :)
I know I am not the only one getting a marketmanila.com withdrawal.
Thought even my email was unwelcome but saw there was a host/server (undeliverable) problem. Off topic , here was my message ( still undeliverable as of this AM):
“After your posts on danggit , this article reminds me of what the Cebuanos do with the fish innards. Come to think of it, we ( Pinoys) have actually been making the sauce recipe and variations of it . See end of the article. And it gives the sauce more glamour being used by a New York restaurant.
I also lament the fact that like you said, our patis makers have not taken the industry to better levels losing to Thailand and Vietnam for good grade patis!!!:
https://www.theramblingepicure.com/sauce-for-thought-fish-flavored-funk-for-your-sauces-from-the-sunny-parts-of-the-world/
Your site must be cooling off some. Have not been able to access it for days.”
So glad you’re back. I sort of panicked when I could not access your site. God bless you, MM and to your family and crew.
I wanna be like Marketman.
Now this is a feast! It reminds me of my childhood summer spent in the province when the family would indulge in this very Filipino dining practice. Your version is more “chic” though but it also doesn’t compromise the experience. Really nice post ;)
MM, could you possibly share your recipe for Bacolod style chicken please?? :) Is the yellow paste I see achuete? Thank you!
Beautiful set up. The food looks tempting.
Lambchop, I have a chicken inasal recipe here. It is one of the most popular recipes ever published on this blog, with well over 100,000 page views so far… And several comments from readers that it worked well for them… Enjoy!
I super love seafood and veggies but never in a boodle setting yet. Hmm.. mukhang mas masarap at magana kumain ng ganyan! :))
hi i would just like to ask if you are renting the tables and chairs? Because im interested in renting it. Thanks
judy, no we don’t rent any furniture…