MY sister, Maria Lydia who, along with her husband Joseph Lomibao, owns and manages J. Emmanuel Pastries that exports pilinut delicacies to the US, Canada and Japan, asked me to help her introduce their newest babies: the double decker pilinut cookies and the pilinut butterscotch candies.
Crispy and meaty, the double decker pilinut cookies were first tasted by freelance American travel magazine writer Aaron Gulley and his photographer Jen Judge when they recently visited Naga for their special feature on Bicol coco-based cuisine and delicacies. They thought the cookies’ taste was heavenly, pro-environment and healthy. Some of Aaron/Jen’s works appear in the National Geographic and international in-flight magazines of which I was given a sample copy.
The cookie is baked in a delightful blend of pilinut kernel, premium butter milk, Swiss choco liquid, fresh butter, and pilinut testa. The testa is the thin brownish protective covering of the pilinut that other food processors just throw away. It enhances the distinctive taste and aroma to the double decker which is black on one side and white on the other with a creamy sweet stuff in between. It’s world-class, says my sister’s Japanese associate-consultant who’s going to try it with his health-conscious countrymen in Tokyo where J. Emmanuel Pastries products are sold year-round in selected supermarts there.
The second baby is the pilinut butterscotch candy. The word butterscotch has nothing to do with Scotland. Fact is, it was first introduced in Doncaster, England. “To scotch” means to cut or score something; when butterscotch candy was poured out to cool, it was “scotched” to make it easier to break into pieces later. It is a favorite among those who have sweet tooth and penchant for a creamy texture. The concoction is a mixture of pilinut kernel (the white nut itself), premium butter milk and fresh butter. The process uses high-heat to attain the right crystallization and graininess of the candy, whether it is to be brittle or smooth when mixed with the three other ingredients. The difference with its English version is the pilinut kernel whose exotic taste and aroma can only be found in Bicol, far away from the Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood where almond nuts abound.
In my sister’s processing plant the main product which is pili practically does not churn out waste. Its empty shells are used as decorative or souvenir items and as fuel. With the help of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the plant acquired two units of gasifiers that burn the shell into fuel, reducing LPG consumption in its ovens by as much as 40%.
Indeed, waste segregation at J. Emmanuel’s plant is strictly observed as this is a basic requirement by a Japanese bulk buyer who comes to visit the factory regularly. Fact is, J. Emmanuel Pastries’ production lay-out was installed by DOST when the company availed of the agency’s special program for local entrepreneurs. The working area is clean and orderly at all times with its fully air-conditioned packaging section. Personnel are required to observe personal hygiene and undergo regular medical check-up.
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As a rejoinder to my column last week that discussed the finer points of the resolution dropping the libel case filed sometime ago against this paper, a reader asked who was our counsel that helped prepare our counter-affidavits on which the state prosecutor may have anchored his final arguments to dismiss the case.
I am proud to say that his name appears in our editorial box, Atty. Henry Briguera, who first argued that there was no malice in the controversial printed article. Briguera underscored for us good motive and a justifiable cause as articulated in Article 361 of the Revised Penal Code and thus prayed that the libel charge be dismissed for lack of merit.
As a young editor then in another weekly and in the first Bicol daily in the earlier part of my career before the Bicol Mail, my friend Atty. Briguera brilliantly steered me out from at least 7 libel cases, both at the level of the prosecutor’s office and in the court of law, most unforgettable of which was a case in Albay where the judge had acknowledged that aside from the lawyer’s pointed arguments during the trial of the case, both the accused publisher and editor, ehem, took their ground firmly as smart and intelligent witnesses. It also mattered dearly (no pun intended) that Atty. Briguera was a former respected journalist and broadcaster who understands clearly the nuances and perils of the media profession.
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The Bicol Mail mourns the passing away of Atty. Stephen Fabul Sergio due to cardiac arrest last June 27 at the age of 71. He was editor of this paper in his younger days before scaling the heights of success in Manila until his retirement as Asst. Secretary of Labor. Cremation will be held after the mass at La Funeraria Paz in Sucat, Paranaque City, at 2:00 p.m. today, July 2, 2009.
