OKTOBERFEST

Whatever virus we brought with us from my first trip to Manila in 7 months was fried by a liter of Johnny Walker Black in Cabanatuan, instantly I pray and not like a slow death from hunger in the camps of the Khmer Rouge who killed Loung Ung's father, Matt and Alejandro blown on the day of the soldado and I with J&B Rare that hopefully neutralized possible contamination during Kuya Boy's birthday bash in Bagong Sikat, Kabir triumphant in his duel with Tanveer to emerge as the sole bard of blood in Balochistan which culminated in a fellowship of fried meat and Double Black after we were handed our Past Master's jackets and before the pandemic finally descended in Bakal 2. 

I wonder if Sylvie's 5-layer sandwich and wild game barbecue of seared elk or Rasheed's barbecue combo and Argentinian asado are compatible with whiskey, or if Tina's 4th of July lamb kebab and ribs will go well with the extra strong beer of our Thursday Club. 

I'm sure Kuya Aztec's lamay-fare of kalderetang kambing and inihaw na tilapia easily upended Rasheed and Tina's old school barbecue of smoked salmon and goat leg one alcohol-free night in Pantabangan, although Tina's whole hog and brisket would be judged as the best in the finale of the American barbecue showdown in Georgia as the Phantom Bikers endured a goto in San Felipe that is as bland as the Giro d' Italia after Miguel Angel Lopez and Geraint Thomas crashed out and Simon Yates fell to Covid-19. 

SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT

The FAT of Liguria (olive oil, prosciutto, parmesan) makes food delicious, SALT from Kama-kamagari (moshio, miso, soy sauce) brings life to food, ACID sourced in Oxkutzcab (sour oranges, lime, Melipona) balances the flavors, and the HEAT of  Chez Penisse in California (grill, roast, simmer) transform food from raw to cooked. 

Yes indeed although Samin Nosrat's tahdig is actually glorified tutong and I have doubts if it will go well with the acidic flavor of sinigang and papaitan or the sugar-tempered saltiness of tiim, all glistening with meat fat, all cooked in a mild simmering heat including the grilled liempo for the tokwa't baboy, all prepared by Jayson to celebrate the resumption of our labors, albeit sanitized, masked, shielded and gloved.   

In another part of the world, DCP Vatika Chaturvedi's task force was rewarded with ice creams for solving a heinous Delhi crime while in Pretoria, Solomon Mahangu (aka Kalushi) was forced fed with apples and tomatoes just for being black. 

But it was too early for lomi so The Phantom Bikers retreated to the usual aroskaldo as Kalifa's rap danced in Jinn's beat, Sara's forsaken cop life etched in alcohol bottles that adorn the Skylines of Frankfurt as Filippo Ganna and Diego Ulissi won the first two stages of the 103rd Giro d'Italia in Palermo and Agrigento, respectively.

FIRE, WATER, AIR, EARTH

It was with FIRE where we first learned to cook by roasting meat before WATER enabled pot cooking to usher the emergence of cuisine, perhaps at the same time that we discovered to make use of AIR in baking and EARTH for fermentation.

Thus was how Michael Pollan explained cheese on bread to Ada and Trela as they finally kissed amidst the mysterious deaths in Sowie Doly, and a bowl of raw egg on hot rice to Akira and Dr. Masamatsu who were lovestruck in Tokyo but won't say so. 

Meanwhile, Tere and Celso waited for Bene's sunset while boiling Pampanga quail eggs to pair with Agu and Strika's smoked beasts from 17 West African nations as Alvin Russel who is with the devil all the time maraude Knockemstiff for a porch pie, Memo getting bigger with Marta's beans and sausages because nobody knows they're in Llanquihue which is 15,557 kilometers from Singapore where Johnny the Mee Pok Man consumated a necrophilic affair with Bunny the dead hooker.

In Nueva Ecija, the Phantom Bikers welcomed a new era as they shift gears from aroskaldo and mami to Thelma's pinapaitan.