Making sardines extra special

The Mega Creations Premium Sardines in Natural Oil and  Spanish Style.

By Jaimes R. C. Sumbilon

When it comes to sardines, the first thing comes to mind is an affordable and easily-consumed dish usually prepared during breakfast.

We usually cook sardines either sauteed with onions and garlic with its own sauce or just heated straight from the can. But for those in hurry, it can be consumed from the can.
That may soon change, however, with the newly-introduced styles of cooking to make the sardines more extraordinary.
This is the goal of Mega Creations Sardines, which recently launched its newest product, the Mega Creations Premium Sardines. The featured sardines has two new variants — the Mega Creations Premium Sardines in Natural Oil, and its spicier counterpart, the Mega Creations Premium Sardines  Spanish Style.
Valerie Tan, brand manager for Mega Creations Premium Sardines, shared that mouthwatering meals can easily be prepared using common household ingredients in as quick as 20 minutes.
"Food enthusiasts can now enjoy richer flavors with a gourmet twist, and use these simple ingredients to crate delightful meals they can share with loved ones," enthused Tan.

She also assured the public about the quality and freshness of their canned products. "Mega Creations Premium Sardines offers unparalleled freshness and flavor that Filipinos will rave about. Our products go through a stringent process from catching to canning, ensuring that all the natural goodness of the sea are locked in each can," disclosed Tan.

Valerie Tan, brand manager for Mega Creations Premium Sardines

Chef Greg Villalon

To give an idea on how to make sardines extra special, a cooking demo was held with the help of noted chef Greg Villalon. The chef validated the richness in flavor and versatility of sardines on the three homemade dishes he prepared using simple ingredients that we can usually find in our kitchen.
"Fresh ingredients and a bit of love is the secret to every successful dish. With Mega Creations Premium Sardines, it has become so easy to whip up delectable dishes that will make ordinary meals extra special and surprise your friends and loved ones," expressed Chef Villalon.
Here are some of Chef Villalon's recipes he shared during the cooking demo:

Asian-style sardine sub sandwich
Ingredients:
2 cans      Mega Creations Premium Sardines
1/2 cup    Hoisin sauce
4 slices     Cucumber
2 pcs.       Mini baguette
1 cup        Shimeki mushrooms
3 tbsp.      Apple cider vinegar            
3 tbsp.      Mayyonnaise
               Salt and pepper
 

Asian-style sardine sub sandwich

Procedure:
1. Mix the sardines and hoisin sauce, season to taste and reserve.
2. For the sesame mayo, mix the mayonnaise and sesame seeds and chill.
3. Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the mushrooms, season to taste then deglaze with cider vinegar, let it simmer until almost dry, then reserve and chill.
4. Assemble the sandwich by first cutting the bread in half. Spread the sesame mayo on one half of the bread, then place a generous amount of the sardine spread. Top it with mushrooms and cucumber slices.
5. Serve the sandwich with a side salad and potato chips.

Chef Villalon during the cooking demo

Cilantro and sardines pesto pasta
Ingredients:
2 cans    Mega Creations Premium Sardines
2 cups    Spinach leaves
2 cups    Red bell pepper
1/2 cup   Raisins
1 cup       White onion (minced)
2 tbsp.     Cinnamon powder
2 tbsp.    Cumin powder
1 tbsp.    Turmeric powder
6 tbsp.    Tomato paste
1/2 cup    Olive oil
              Salt and white pepper
For sweet potato mash:
1 kilo    Orange sweet potato (peeled and cubed)
2 cups    Milk
6 tbsp.    Butter (softened)
            Salt and white pepper
For cheese crust:
1 cup      Cheddar cheese (grated)
1 cup      Japanese bread crumbs
          Butter

Cilantro and Sardines Pesto Pasta

 Procedure:
1. Peel, chop and boil sweet potatoes until soft enough for a knife to go through it. Drain off the sweet potatoes before mashing with a folk.
2. Place mashed sweet potatoes in a pan, then incorporate milk and softened butter until desired consistency is achieved.
3. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan then add onions, peppers, spinach and raisins. Briefly sauté, then add all the spices and leave in the pan until fragrant.
4. Add the potato paste and stir well. Next, add the sardines and mash thoroughly until a spreadable texture is achieved.
5. Assemble the dish in a casserole. The ingredients will be layered similar to a lasagna dish, with the first layer made of sweet puree, and then topped with the spinach mixture. Repeat the process until you fill the casserole.
6. Sprinkle the cheese crust on top then add slices of butter to cover the whole dish.
7. Bake in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 30 to 45 minutes or until the crust has browned. Serve and enjoy!

Moroccan Sardine and Sweet Potato Casserole

Puttanesca sardines style

Villalon will bring these and his other delightful sardine dishes to every home through Everyday Creations, a new cooking show that teaches foodies how to serve worthy meals in minutes. Viewers can now learn how to make pesto pasta, fresh spring rolls, Greek pizzas, and other yummy dishes made from your ordinary sardines. The show also will also provide the audience more unique and easy-to-make recipes.
In partnership with the Mega Creations Sardines, catch Everyday Creations, which will premiere tomorrow, April 5, at 6:30 p.m. on The Lifestyle Network. You may also visit the My Everyday Creations page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MyEverydayCreations. -- Jaimes R. C. Sumbilon

The author with Chef Rosebud Benitez and Chef Villalon

Home of finest gifts and décors

By Jaimes R. C. Sumbilon

With just a few days left before Christmas, everybody seems ready to celebrate this much-awaited celebration of the year. Christmas indeed is the perfect time for bonding with the family, as well as for reunions with long-lost relatives or friends, or just a simple gathering with officemates.
Since this is the time to be jolly, Filipinos celebrate Christmas like no other. They celebrate a Christmas full of meaning and color — replete with singing, dancing, eating, games and parties all night long. No other festivity can beat the Filipino spirit in terms of fun and joy than this holiday tradition.
Christmas is also the “season of giving and sharing,” as we exchange presents with our respective monito or monita, receive gifts from our ninong (godfather) and ninang (godmother), or share these with friends and loved ones.
Gift-giving or gift-sharing is the extension of our expression and kindness. We give or offer valuable presents on holidays, especially Christmas, and also on important occasions such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, or sometimes, even in asking favor or forgiveness.
When it comes to choosing the right gifts, Filipinos are meticulous. We make sure that the gifts we give will make others happy and delighted. Sometimes, we are not concerned about the price and quantity of our gifts, but we focus more on quality to make sure the one who will receive these presents would feel extra special.
Included in Filipinos’ Christmas list is a home makeover. As the Christmas draws near, we put a lot of decorations and other home furniture that make our home look new, lively and presentable to our visitors.
This is why a lot of stores or kiosks open during this season to help us decide what decorations can add spice to our homes. Among these is Shelter, which recently unveiled its vintage-themed Christmas collection at its Makati outlet.

Since it opened last year, Shelter has claimed to become among Manila’s premiere sources of the latest elegant and distinctive furniture, décors, accessories, home ware, books and giveaways that are produced locally and around the world.
Shelter, which was first seen in 2011 in San Juan, is a partnership between United States-based furniture retailers Joey Luna and Lee Imperial (owners of the well-known Furniture Direct store in Las Vegas, Nevada, where most of Shelter’s products come from), local businessman-restaurateur Yong Nieva and interior designers Ivy and Cynthia Almario. Furniture Direct is said to be the largest online retailer of middle to high-end furniture in Western US.
“This year, we are celebrating the elegance of Christmas in the ’50s with unique furniture and furnishings that you won’t find anywhere else in the Philippines. These are perfect for those who want something different and classy in their homes to enhance the usual Christmas decorations that they put up,” enthused Luna, who attended the University of Southern California and has been a US resident for more than 20 years now.
Among the items included in Shelter’s Christmas collection are the ’50s-inspired TV sets showing different Christmas villages, miniature snowmen and cars, Christmas trees, miniature Santa Clauses, singing stuffed toys, candies and other holiday ornaments.
Besides Christmas-themed furniture and decorations, Shelter also offers a wide array of unique holiday gifts such as jewelry boxes, figurines, vases, paintings, coffee table books, trinkets and accessories, among others.

Shelter owners Joey Luna and Lee Imperial

“Clearly, there is a demand for these kinds of furniture in the Philippines. My partner, Lee, and I take time to carefully select which items from the United States would work in the Philippines, taking into consideration various factors such as culture, design trends, even the climate in this country,” Luna said. “We also allow our customers to customize the items they want. Some of them have very specific requirements in terms of material and we do our best to meet these. They can even look for items they want from abroad and we can source it and deliver it to them here.”
Imperial, a violinist and a Hollywood producer of the feature film Frozen Assets, cited the Philippines as a sophisticated market.
“Filipinos are adventurous. In color, in style, they’re so much more artsy. Oftentimes in the States, people don’t know how to put together color, so they usually buy beige. Beige is such a popular color that one of our showrooms is just filled with beige furniture,” he said.
Luna and Imperial, along with their local business partners, travel between the US and the Philippines to provide up-to-date, hand-picked home ware and furniture brands from the US, Canada and Italy that, according to them, are “at the best and lowest possible price for the Asian market.”
Looking for gifts for the health-conscious? A selection of soaps and personal care products such as All Over Wash, Dragon Ice Balm, Dry Down Powder, Hair Gel and Post Shaving Cooling Gel are perfect for them.
Stylish incense candles are good for intimate or romantic dinners and can be used as air-fresheners for a sweet smelling ambiance. Shelter banners its varieties of candles, which include Elysian Garden, Pink Citron, Suede Blanc, Eden and Pear, Goji and Frenc Cade Lavender. Light up these candles with Shelter’s amusing matches such as Coral Embossed, Dragonfly Periwinkle, Fleurdel is Black, Greek Key Black, King of Spade and Lattice Silver on Green.

Shelter's wide arrays of would-be gifts and decors

Even our pets, such as cats and dogs, can have the chance to receive gifts and get their very own (well, a parody of well-known brands) Chewy Vuitton or Pawda bag, which they can perfectly match with their Jimmy Chews or Manolo Barkniks. “Man’s best friends” can also have either a bottle of Grrona or Arfsolut Vodka while relaxing on their Furcedez Benz bed.
These and a lot more interesting stuff await anyone who would like to experience Shelter’s retail theater that “engages the senses and tickles the imagination.”
“At Shelter, our goal is to inspire and engage the senses. We aim to offer a wide range of quality home products and furniture customization that fit the customers’ particular tastes and lifestyle at different price points,” expressed Luna, owner of Joey Luna Fitness Studio in Los Angeles (1987) and Luna Home Collections (1997).

Shelter outlet in Bel-Air Village, Makati City

Visit the Shelter Showrooms at No. 3 General de Jesus, Little Baguio, San Juan, and at No. 148 Jupiter St., Bel-Air Village, Makati City. For more information and inquires about Shelter and its products, e-mail sheltermanila@gmail.com. --Jaimes R. C. Sumbilon

A story of love, treachery and redemption

Le Corsaire tells the love story of pirate Conrad and a slave Medora

By Jaimes R. C. Sumbilon

When a young pirate, named Conrad, along with his crewmates, wash ashore after a storm wrecks their
ship, he finds something more valuable than treasure — the beautiful Greek woman Medora. But the story doesn’t end there as more exciting adventures lie ahead.
This April, the Philippine Ballet Theatre (PBT), in cooperation with Petron Corp., for the very first time will stage the story of Conrad and Medora in one of the classical plays titled Le Corsaire in a full-length ballet.
Based on the poem “The Corsair” by Lord Byron, Le Corsiare, which literally means “The Pirate,” is said to be typically presented in three acts with a libretto first created by Jules-Henri V. de Saint-Georges and originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam. It was first presented by the Théâtre Impérial de l´Opéra in Paris, France on Jan. 23, 1856.
The story has a complicated plot in which the protagonist Conrad (character to be alternately played by Lemuel Capa and Nordic Caraig) is saved by young and attractive Medora (Veronica Ylagan and Regine Magbitang) and her companion Gulnare (Joanna Galeste and Lobreza Pimentel) after a sea tragedy that brings Conrad and crewmates on the Greek soil.
Their positions quickly change, however, as Conrad becomes the one who will save Medora after the Turk traders, in league with villainous slave dealer Lanquedem, capture her and the other girls to sell them as slaves.

Lemuel Capa and Veronica Ylagan

As the story unfolds, Conrad and his fellow pirates promise to rescue these poor ladies and they go all the way to a slave market in a busy Turkish Bazaar, where the rich, influential and powerful Sied Pasha is looking to purchase new, beautiful and young slave women.
When the payoff has started, just in time, Conrad and his comrades rescue the girls but, in the confusion that ensues, the pirates also take Lanquedem as captive and bring them to their hidden cave.
At the hideout, Conrad and Medora declare their love, while the former promises to release all the slave women, wherein Conrad’s pal Birbanto, along with his friends, protest, and a fight breaks out among the pirates. Conrad, however, keeps his word and frees the women.
This is the opportunity for which Lanquedem is waiting. He strikes a deal with Birbanto and his comrades in exchange for his freedom and the betrayal of their friend sets afoot.
Soon, Lanquedem, Birbanto and their cohorts kidnap Medora, Gulnare and other maidens while inducing sleep on everyone, including Conrad, using a certain potion.
When Conrad awakes, he feels resentful for being betrayed. So, he, together with his best buddy Ali, and the rest of his team vow to save Medora, Gulnare and the other women once again.
To cut the story short, Conrad, Ali and their colleagues are triumphant in taking revenge against their enemies and in rescuing the women. Conrad, Medora, Gulnare and Ali set sail together for new adventures, and certain this time of true and lasting hapiness.
To give the public a preview of PBT’s newest offering, a short yet entertaining performance was performed by the lead cast of Le Corsaire before media and visitors.

The media were treated to tantalizing excerpts from the ballet from its lead cast

Why Le Corsaire?
“This is a question we have been asked since PBT decided to stage this not so well-known ballet, except for the popular Pas de Deux of Medora and the slave,” enthused Felicitas “Tita” Radaic, one of the PBT founders during the media launch at the Cultural Center of the Philippines recently.
“For one thing, PBT, which is a classical company, would like to venture into lesser known ballets, since staging these would form part of enlightening audiences and students, aside from offering entertainment,” she added.
Radaic, however, said she hesitated to use the word entertainment, which would be misconstrued in its shallower connotation. “Ballet, especially the classics, should form part of one’s education, together with the other arts: music, drama, visual arts and literature... outside of the academic scenario. And because PBT believes in education, it is venturing further than the more usual offerings, and spending more than the usual to produce Le Corsaire. The financial risks are tremendous, some think foolhardy, but still necessary to flesh out an exciting and rarely seen classic,” Radaic, who is also part of the organizing committee, explained.
The official also related this ballet act to our historical events and even to our present times, which she noted that Le Corsaire will show us a glimpse into one of the oldest problems in our society, i.e kidnapping and human trafficking.

PBT's Tita Radaic

“The abduction of young maidens for sale as chattel in public markets/bazaars. It harks back to our own pre-colonial experience when men, women and children were kidnapped,” Radaic said, citing Pintados of Iloilo as perfect example.
The Pintados, according to her, were terrified people who escaped to higher grounds away from the coastlines, when marauders plundered their villages and carried off entire families for sale in the slave markets of Asia.
For Radaic, Le Corasire is not just entertainment, but also an educational presentation, which will take us into the history of the Balkans and the Middle East. “Yes, the dances look exotic, like the Middle East, surroundings are strange by our more modern experiences, a page different from the fairytale classics, yes, and romantic, too. For romance is always appealing and so human,” she averred.
Asked if the PBT is “intimidated” when it comes to its rival ballet companies that already performed Le Corsaire, Radaic stressed: “We are artists, and we are interested in what other groups are doing. We are happy that the other groups have done it, and hopefully we are doing it successfully in our own way... The appreciation of the arts is not limited, so if there are three or four or five companies that already performed Le Corsaire, we will do it for the first time with our very own interpretation.”
She encourages everyone to support this PBT performance. “Experience the magic of suspended belief for at least two hours... away from the more common and chaotic realities of our milieu. A healthy exercise in a world of dream. A momentary isolation from pedestrian noise,” Radaic, a ballerina herself, concluded.
Directed by Ronilo Jaynario, Le Corsaire runs on April 5 (gala night; 8 p.m), April 6 (3 p.m. and 8 p.m.) and April 7 (3 p.m) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theatre). For tickets, call/text PBT at 632-8848/893-1369/0917-9221515/09292482554; or CCP at 834-3704; or Ticketworld at 891-9999.

From left: Julie Borromeo, Joanna Galeste, Lobreza Pimentel, Veronica Ylagan, director Ronilo Jaynario, Regine Magbintang, Lemuel Cap and Nordic Caraig