PUEY QUIÑONES’ LIFE IN FASHION AND FOOD
A fantastic cook who makes a mean Bicol express and ‘laing,’ the fashion designer also describes himself as ‘takaw-mata’
Fashion is always on Puey Quiñones’ mind. “I’ve been working on my e-commerce business. I’m doing T-shirts now and I started my menswear, which is now available on my website shop.pueyquinones.com.”
He has also introduced a home collection. “I’ve been keeping busy on things I love to do,” he adds.
Another thing he loves?
Food.
Quiñones is a fantastic cook—it’s been years since we tried his Bicol express and laing, and we still can’t forget them.
In this week’s Food Slam- book, Quiñones lets us into his kitchen.
Food confessions
As an eater . . . I am takawmata. I like to order lots of food and in the end, hindi ko siya mauubos.
My favorite thing to eat at home: For breakfast, I like dried pusit, garlic rice and coffee or omelette with sardines paired with pan de sal. I also like ulam with gata and nilaga.
Do you cook/bake? Yes, I love to cook. I am both a purist and an experimentalist. Purist when it comes to Filipino dishes. I don’t like to mix ingredients in my Filipino dish that are not supposed to be in there. However, I love to experiment on my pasta and salad dishes. My husband is vegetarian, so I like to make something that I know we will both like.
My specialty: I am from Samar so we love to cook with gata. Ginataang native na manok, ginataang alimango, humba, pasta with Spanish sardines, with taba ng talangka, with truffle oil and my laing. And also, I love to cook Mexican dishes like chicken tinga, picadillo and tacos.
If I can only eat one food every day for the rest of my life, it would be . . . crabs and crabs and crabs.
One food I will never eat: Okra.
My guilty pleasure when it comes to food: Mang Inasal. If I am not so sure of what to eat because I am a little fussy with food, I will order Mang Inasal.
My favorite midnight snack: Bros Peanuts (@brospeanuts on Instagram). It’s the best.
Favorite food delivery app/ service: In Los Angeles, I love Postmates and Caviar, and in Manila, I always use Grab.
Kitchen raid
If we were to walk into your kitchen today, what
would we see? Because of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), I bought a chest freezer and I have lots of frozen meats, ready-to-eat frozen meals, and lots of vegetables and fruits in my fridge, and spices, of course.
Kitchen gadgets/appliances I can’t live without: Gas stove, microwave, toaster and blender
What’s always in your refrigerator? The basics—tomatoes, onions, greens, cheeses, butter, wine and champagne.
What’s always in your pantry? Rice, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, 3-in-1 Kopiko, canned goods, instant pancit canton, and I brought Mexican spices from LA to make sure when I cook Mexican dishes, I have authentic spices.
Favorite . . .
Bread: Five-grain baguette from Currywurst Meister
Cheese: Blue cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano
Butter: Kerrygold Irish Butter
Milk: I don’t drink milk.
Coffee: Kopiko but if I want to be fancy, I use my Nespresso. But I also love my grande soy latte from Starbucks.
Rice: Jasmine rice
Pasta: Barilla pasta
Cereal: I don’t eat cereal.
Catsup: UFC Banana Catsup!
Mayo:Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise
Fruits: Mangoes, apples and bananas
Veggies: Pechay, broccoli, malunggay, ampalaya, sayote
Herbs and spices: Basil, thyme, dill, mint, cilantro, peppercorn, five-spice, paprika, cumin
Bacon/hotdog/sausage/ ham: Tender Juicy Hotdog from Purefoods
Cooking oil: Mazola canola oil and Filippo Berio olive oil
Soy sauce: Silver Swan
Vinegar: Datu Puti but if I have a family or relative from Samar coming to Manila, I ask them to bring organic coconut vinegar. It is the best for adobo and paksiw.
Canned products: Delimondo Ranch Style Corned Beef and Rose Bowl Sardines
Frozen food: Frozen food from La Petite Bella are the best. They have the best labtingaw. It’s like fresh danggit.
Snacks: Vcut Classic Flavor, Pik-Nik. Those are my snacks, haha!
Chocolates/candy: Flat Tops and Curly Tops . . . classic.
Cake: Strawberry cake from The Sweet Life by Ange and the best banana cake from my friend Boboy Consunji
Ice cream: I don’t eat ice cream.
Drinks: Champagne and Coca-Cola. INQ