Small Talk: Random Short Stories

That champorado story

One of the earliest memory of Champorado (chocolate porridge yo!) I have is actually not from my mother, it's from that hole-in-the wall (a carinderia) in our street that is ran by a husband and wife tandem named mang(uncle) Badong and aling(auntie) Tinay. Every morning as early as 5am they would be selling food to people going to their work as well as to moms or dads with kids going to school and are too busy to make something that really early in the morning.

Their routine would start at the really early mornings of mang Badong, a cook/chef (depends on who you talk to) from a catering company (R&E) would cook food they are going to sell and by the time it is 5am aling Tinay would man their hole-in-the-wall and be greeted by a barrage of customers ranging from 3 to 35 year olds asking for different food items they are selling. Aling Tinay seems like a super heroine in the movies. She was a hearty woman, but moves with grace in her little 10ft x 5ft shack.

Aling Tinay uses a ran down shack in front of one of the big houses in our street to sell their food. Even though her place is small, she could move really quickly serving up 3 to 5 persons with ease while answering questions from stupid kids like myself who don't know what I want to get that morning.

Now, don't mistake yourself, every morning is a battle. As a small child, it is your right of passage to fight off people older than yourself and get the food you want. If you're too slow, the food you wanted that morning is already gone. That's why as early as 4:30 I am keeping watch over aling Tinay's shop, hoping she would be open already and I get the first dibs on her camporado.

After all the commotions and struggles of the morning, aling Tinay would close shop at 7am, all the people who are supposed to work are in their places of work, all the children are in their schools and all (or majority of) her food items are already sold. She would retire at her house to prepare the meals that she would then be selling at lunch.

While all of this is happening, mang Badong would go to work and would return later in the day. His shift ends normally at around 2 or 3pm. After which, he will be cooking at the side of their shack with wood stoves, big pans, big fire, and big spatulas. He's cooking their finger foods (pulutan) for the evening's festivities. You see, mang Badong's a man who enjoys the company of friends through drinks and foods. For the life of me, I don't know how he does it everyday. But, here he is, regarded as one of the best cook around our street. All the tangeros (people who drink everyday) sing praises of mang Badong for his culinary prowess. And rightfully so, the morning champorado is spot on every.. single.. time.

Their menu varies from day to day but, there are always 4 items that are consistent, these are: champorado, sopas, spaghetti, and pancit. After that, anything goes, papaitan in the mornings? Why not? It's those random things that I can't seem to explain but works.

So the 6 or 7 year old me compares even my mom's cooking that time to aling Tinay's (actually mang Badong's) champorado. It's that sweet memory that I still am struggling to get whenever I make the champorado. In a way, I idolize mang Badong, not only for his drinking prowess, but for his culinary genius as well. Up until this day, a champorado is never good enough. It's not mang Badong's and aling Tinay's champorado.

Sadly, aling Tinay passed away and with that, the ran down hole-in-a-wall shack stayed closed longer. Opening normally at 6am and finishing up at 7, then longer. Until one day it didn't open anymore. I guess with aling Tinay gone, mang Badong already lost interest as he too is getting old.

A recent update though, mang Badong is currently in Cavite and is doing good. Aside from my lola (grandmother) and my mom, I believe, mang Badong and aling Tinay are few of the first culinary influences of my life; and I think aling Tinay is still active, every 5am, feeding angels champorado in heaven.