My brother's culinary pursuits

My brother has gotten into cooking, and I'm just happy to tag along with and encourage his culinary pursuits. How cutting up vegetables or waiting for the water to boil relaxes him escapes me. My participation is in the eating and washing of dishes. For dinner he prepared a salad, sprinkled with lemon, slices of kesong puti and fresh avocado. The highlight was the salmon—so properly cooked, moist in the inside, a bit crispy on the edges, with the meat oozing with flavor in every bite. "It's also low salt," he told me as he poured me a half glass of Chilean merlot. He has read the review article on healthy diets I had emailed him.

On some days he cooks me lassoir laswa, an Ilonggo dish of assorted boiled vegetables that reminds me of home. When it rains he cooks me pochero. We have the occasional fried meat, but this is more the exception than the rule—we eat it when we eat out. During breakfast he leaves me food in the fridge to microwave, knowing I am clueless and therefore useless in the kitchen.

After work or during the weekends, he takes me with him to the grocery, where he picks the meat, onions, kangkong, or whatever it is he imagines the dishes will be. The perishable goods section has become our new hangout place, the starting point for my Manong's unpretentious cooking.