Remember that molave tree on a neighbor’s lot in Cebu that passed away of unknown but natural causes? After 9 months of drying, some cutting to size, and hand-sanding, here it is as this year’s Christmas present from the Marketman household to those of friends and family… Every year we try and get people we know something they might like or be able to use, while some years we go for charitable donations on friends’ behalf instead, but every Christmas, we inevitably have a list of say 2-3 dozen folks who get a similar, yet individual present. It might be a food item we made, or a special one we sourced from a favored purveyor, or in this case, a molave board that is literally one of a kind. A few months ago I spied similar boards at bazaars and snazzy gifts fairs for PHP1,800 to PHP2,500 and smiled when I thought of the mother load of drying molave hard wood we had in Cebu…
So we had a few dozen pieces cut to size and hired someone for a month to sand them to a fine finish. Brush them with food grade mineral oil and there you have it. A unique, natural, ethical use of a hardwood tree that had decided or was forced to keel over for some reason or another. We really love the boards, though we notice that some of the thinner cuts can and do warp a bit (say 1 out of 10 or so) so we need to make them at least an inch thick from now on. I can them in use as rustic trays, to serve bread or cheese or charcuterie on, or even a cool dessert or two. We have lots of wood left from that tree purchase, so when we get around to it, we will be selling some of these boards in our Zubuchon restaurants, for less than the exorbitant prices I spied a few months ago. And with each board sold, we promise to plant several hardwood trees on the buyers behalf. :)
14 Responses
Beautiful! Unique indeed!
Nothing goes to waste! And I like your idea of planting a tree for every board sold! Bless you!
They came out great, MM! Is there a special way of drying the wood? We have a huge oak tree in the backyard that is nearing its end — been wondering what to do with the wood.
mr marketman, maybe you can offer to sell some of the boards online, saves us the expense of traveling all the way to cebu.
ricky, perhaps, we just have to make more and let them sit a while to ensure they don’t warp too much if at all… they could easily be shipped by LBC or other courier…
Beautiful!!!
They’re beautiful! Hope to score one when you offer them for sale. By the way, where can I purchase food grade mineral oil? I have a slice of molave that I use as a cheeseboard and have been using Ilog Maria beeswax on it. I have to keep re-applying though. I want to give mineral oil a shot. Thanks.
That was answer to your poll. Will surely be on the lookout for that in your Zubuchon restaurant MM:)
When will it be available in Zubuchon? :)
I will wait with bated breath for them to be available at the Zubuchon outlets.
For now, I drool and imagine the different permutations of pica-pica I would love to serve on these beautiful boards. Heck, it’ll make Swiss cheese and Spam look snazzy! Harhar…
Like Bebett, I’m interested in the drying process too. We have three large oak trees in our front yard and one of them needs to be cut in a year or so. It’ll be nice to be able to salvage the material for something as lovely as your boards.
how to purchase/order this Sir MM? :)
Annie, we don’t have them for sale yet, but eventually we will have them on offer in Zubuchon restaurant branches.
Looking forward to find these in Zubuchon or PigaFetta soon! In time for Christmas! Been looking for cheese boards in Cebu without the exorbitant price.