The shocking finding of some recently publicized American medical experiments on dieting concludes: “To lose weight, you have to either eat less, exercise a lot more, or do a little of both…†Duhh. I think taping one’s mouth shut and handcuffing yourself to a perpetually moving (no brownouts) treadmill for a few weeks is the only guaranteed weight loss system. Then again there is leaving you in the middle of the Sahara dessert with just water and a rudimentary map to the next oasis. Or hanging you upside down from a massive Mango tree so you get a headache from the blood rushing to your head and you would have difficulty swallowing any large amounts of food and liquid. Maybe sticking me in a room with the Shittybank executive responsible for credit cards for 10 days straight would also allow me to lose weight, albeit through giving him/her a continuous earful about the ills of their ilk… So, essentially, eat less and eat better. Get off my rear end writing posts and pace incessantly as I formulate my next complaint letter or read the daily newspaper. Which by the way, if you have the Philippine Daily Inquirer today, January 30, 2007, please read the two-page paid letter of Kit Tatad in the main section. I don’t know him from Adam, but he wrote a political message that I really enjoyed reading…
So what does the first paragraph have to do with the photo of pork barbecue, talong (eggplant) salad and brown rice above? I found this really cool plate which 
was part of the stuff I got from my mom/dad. It is a 1950’s or so pressed green glass with partitions to the plate. I am not sure if it was meant to be eaten off or served from, but it reminded me oddly of those canteen trays that had partitions or plastic plates at cafeterias where your saucy viands (ulam) would drooble over into your section with one or two cups of rice. As the years wore on, the depth of the partitions seemed to get shallower and less and less food would fit. I was supposed to have a healthy piece of chicken for dinner the other night but it didn’t defrost in time, so I had two wicked sticks of pork barbecue instead (The Kid’s ulam). And ½ cup of brown rice and ½ cup of eggplant salad. It looked great, tasted terrific but I wanted a second serving of everything… so much for eating less. I resisted the urge however and just ate what was in the photos here. Now if only I could get this down to one stick of barbecue… for dessert, I now sometimes have just ½ mango instead of a whole… I still get the taste but eat only half the calories. (Note: the link to the article above came from a reader, Phil, thanks!)
11 Responses
Your plating presentation is loud enough to call for appetite. The plate in and of itself is beautiful. I have not seen a dinner glass plate with partition in my life although it has been around awhile. The eggplant salad looks very inviting along with the barbecue. Yes, even for dessert they come with individual portion serving – cakes cut in small size like petits fours with frosting or ganache in them and get filled up with water afterwards!
Nice plate! :) My grandmother gave all of us her old stuff for Christmas and we all loved what we got…
Everything in moderation, and quality versus quantity, is the way to go…and for me the only thing that will work because I will never give up carbs or chocolate…
Diet is synonymous to discipline, and unfortunately I don’t know the meaning of discipline, hehehe.
Nice plate, MM.
Diet is simply DIE with a T :)
Ironically, a vast majority of those who diet are either diagnosed with a certain sickness and check out early (they either go up there or down below; Shittybank people definitely have a one way ticket down) while those who scratch the word diet out of their vocabulary still get diagnosed with a related ailment but miraculously live longer than their counterparts. Oh and before I forget, they check out all smiles :)
Shucks, I forgot to add. The statement above is a personal observation and has no medical claims to back it up. I admit that I might be wrong somewhere but I’m sure that there ARE certain cases which defy explaination :)
Your lunch fits in perfectly with my diabetic diet. It looks really good!
When my mom started dieting, she would insist that we all use partitioned plates and eat the same food on her list. Outcome, we all have different eating times or in my case, most of the time I eat out.
A strict, healthy diet of course contributes to good physical well-being but I couldn’t deprive myself. Moderation, active lifestyle(I don’t go the gym) are my keys.I used to weigh 120 lbs, for 3 years now I enjoy my weight range of 98-100 lbs. I tried South Beach Diet which worked but IMO, not a good choice for a long time diet plan.
Love the pork bbq! I can almost taste it. I believe the plate is called ‘Depression’ glass. It was called that because it was made during the depression in the 1930s. It was produced as an inferior version of ‘Carnival’ glass =)
I second joey…I will never give up carbs and chocolate but I’m very careful about eating in moderation =)
Ellen, yes, it could very well have been made during the depression, though I think that is a bit early for this piece…and hence would have been called Depression Glass. However, the pressed refers to the manner in which the plate is made, literally the molten sand/silica/whatever is pressed into that shape…and oftentimes, you see seams, etc… Gosh, such chocoholics for readers! Wait till you see what I have lined up for the run-up to Valentine’s!!! :)
I recently enjoyed a 7 course vegetarian dinner. By the 4th course, we were all feeling full, even though the portions were quite small. I think the complex flavors, and the good company helped satiate us, not to mention the short-lived euphoria of eating healthy. But add my vote to never giving up chocolates. Life’s too short to give up such pleasures.
Interesting Filipino food review !
We don’t have Filipino restaurants in KL believe it or not !
( even tho we have many filipina ladies here, and then the Bands )so I should visit yr xciting site more often. TQ