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Ispaghetting Pataas...


I was once asked: if I were to eat only one food every day for the rest of my life, what would it be?

There was not the slightest hesitation as I answered, "spaghetti!"

Ah, the naïveté of an eleven year old. I have since learned that variety is the spice of life, and my self-diagnosed suspicions of ADHD would probably have me sick of the stuff within a week, but I do love a good plate of spaghetti.

I will have it alla vongole, or alla carbonara, or aglio oglio, even baked like lasagna in cheese and sauce...and I would eat it in a boat. And I would eat it with a goat...and I will eat it in the rain. And in the dark. And on a train. And in a car. And in a tree. It is so good, so good, you see!(with apologies to the late great Dr. Seuss)

But my favorite pasta pleasure is embarassingly plebeian: more often than not, I hanker for the children's party variety of spaghetti - that of the sweet, slightly spicy sauce with hotdogs, goo-ey processed cheese food, and (heavens to Betsy!) banana ketchup. The Italians would probably have a conniption at this strange admixture, so thank goodness I'm not one of them (in fact, the only plate of pasta I ever had on that side of the world was, unfortunately, too horrid for words...can you say "tourist trap?"). Jollibee spaghetti used to be my favorite movie snack (don't you just love Philippine theaters!), and I remember telling my friend Larry, during one trip down to Sorsogon, how wonderful it would be to have that kind of spaghetti both of us loved - you know, the carinderia spaghetti that's all ketchup, Eden cheese, and hotdogs - for breakfast. Lo and behold, guess what that morning's breakfast was? The angels and the universe had smiled upon us!

Anyway, I could go on and on about my predilection for pasta - sophisticated and otherwise - but all I really wanted to share are a couple of "secret" ingredients to approximate that Jollibee flavor. One is actually non-Jollibee in origin, but instead was dissected from the spaghetti "Bolognese" of the Valle Verde Country Club, which I adore: my sister's boyfriend took one taste and declared, "liver spread!" The other is the slightest hint of condensed milk, creamy enough to thicken the sauce and have it adhere to the noodles, but not have it too cloyingly sweet. And of course, the reglementary dose of UFC tamis-anghang banana ketchup to seal the deal.

Hmmm...breakfast isn't too many hours away...

Recipe (approximation thereof, I don't really do measurements) here.

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