Lasang Pinoy 7: Gising na! ALMUSAL!

I am absolutely thrilled to be hosting this month's Lasang Pinoy. Lasang Pinoy is a Filipino food blogging event that was created so Filipinos (and those that are fond of our charming selves) around the world could have a venue to share and explore Filipino food. The brilliant idea was actually conceived when I just started blogging and I have been a fan ever since. So hosting this food blogging event is very special for me...and being asked has left me blushing with delight!

Now, here's a little secret. I have always known what my theme would be, just in case, on the off, off chance, that one of my wonderful fellow Filipino food bloggers would ask me to host. So it's been simmering in my head like that little idea that you have to keep to yourself until it is perfectly ripe and ready to be unleashed onto the world. Ok, maybe "unleashed onto the world" is a bit dramatic for something as wonderfully cozy as my most favorite meal of the day...and in case you haven't guessed from the title of my blog...it's breakfast.

Almusal means breakfast and it's an essential part of every Filipino's day. At least before life sneakily speeded up its pace to "breakneck" and McDonald's had a drive-thru. It's the fuel we need to start a day of hard work...whether it be tilling the fields or trudging through the corporate jungle. Almusal is usually a hearty affair, complete with rice and meat (or fish)...sometimes even more than one kind! Now, with everyone and his brother busy with a million and one things, a traditional almusal is sometimes left by the wayside, traded in for a quick coffee and a random something bought from your friendly coffee conglomerate on the way to work.

This month, I'd like to honor this very important part of our day, and our lives, that can give us the super powers we need to take on days fraught with tasks and errands and the 101 things we all do. So, gising na! (That means, "Wake up!") Slow things down one morning and enjoy the special almusal that I know you deserve.

Some guidelines:
- This is open to all Filipinos out there, with a blog or without, and to everyone else who has experienced breakfast with Filipinos, or just likes having Filipino breakfasts, or has always wanted to try a Filipino breakfast food.
- You can write about your favorite Filipino breakfast food (and that means bevarages as well...barako to tsokolate!) or a regular breakfast that you have somehow filipinized, or anything you associate with Filipino breakfasts. What revs your engine in the morning Pinoys? We wanna know!
- You can email your entries to: eighty_breakfasts@yahoo.com. Please indicate your name, blog name, URL, location, and blog post permalink. If you don't have a blog just email your entry to me and I will post it here.
- Send in all your entries on or before February 28.

There you have it! Gising na at mag-almusal na tayo! :) (That's, "Wake up and let's have breakfast!")

*** Thanks to Iska and Mike for the great LP7 banner!

*** a personal note
Big moment for 80 Breakfasts: First time to host something...anything!

Lasang Pinoy 6: Chicharon

First, let me say I am late for this month's Lasang Pinoy. Sorry guys!

Second, this post is extremely high in fat.

Ok, now on with the show. This month's theme, care of Ting-aling of World Class Cuiscene is "Let's wash it down with booze!!". It's all about pulutan, which is our local slang for "food you take with booze". Actually, the word pulot means to pick up, so pulutan would, I guess, translate to finger food. But it's really much more than that. And it's so much more than that complimentary bowl of stale nuts they give you at the bar. It encompases a wondrous food group that people gather around and enjoy when sharing a few (or more!) glasses of whatever poison they prefer.

Now, there are tons of different pulutan here. Each province, each city, each barkada (that's gang or posse or simply "group of friends" if you're down with the linggo) has its own favorites. This is mine. Chicharon. Pork crackling or pork rind in most other places, but chicharon to my dear cholesterol-loving heart. Pure, unadulterated, fatty perfection. What you see pictured above is the only way I'll eat it...with the fat still on. Don't give me chicharon that's just skin. That's like eating air! I need the fat baby! And my favorite pieces look just like that...the little crackling barely even being able to curl for the amount of fat its got.

Yup, that's fat you see there. Not slyly hidden fat that lurks in burgers and pizzas. This is the actual thing. Fat and nothing else. Fat with no additives if you will. Ok, maybe some salt (woohee!). Chicharon is like the bad boy you hid from your mother. No good but so good. Just the smell of chicharon makes my knees weak. When I take the first bite I lose my train of thought. It's that bad. I mean good. I have eaten a good share of chicharon in my lifetime and it still happens: First bite, brain goes bzzzt. My favorite store (which sells only this) makes them fresh so you can feel the warmth through the sack. The anticipation is sometimes too much that I drive home with the sack pressed against my nose. Yes, an unholy addiction. Did you ever wonder why my name on this blog is ChichaJo? Well, now you know.

As pulutan it's perfect. These babies will line your insides and the booze will behave nice and easy. Then again, with this plus booze your insides may not be too happy. But hey, it's Lasang Pinoy! Live a little! :)

Note: To those who are wondering how this post and my last post can exist in the same blog...it's all about pleasure and compensation :)