Going Bananas

People are forced to eat right because of their state of health. Take me for instance - five years ago, I could eat anything I wanted; nowadays, eating is pleasing more the heart than the palate.

Of course, people can please both, but it takes careful planning of the menu.

With the present global state of health and sickness (diabetes on the rise, heart attack still the leading cause of death, juvenile obesity becoming rampant) governments have focused on educating their citizens on the merits of healthy eating.

In Ontario, for instance, diabetes has been a problem for many years; today, it is almost an outbreak, more specifically in the impoverished communities. If this were to continue, the Ontario healthcare system could be crippled fast.

The concern for eating right and eating well, has given rise to the popularity of cooking shows. There is Rachel Ray, the Iron Chef, the great Emeril, Martha Stewart, and the countless cooking shows on the cable channels, the Food Channel and the Home and Garden TV (HGTV). In fact today, more and more individuals are taking up cooking as a career and as a hobby. But learning this skill can be costly, both in terms of money and time. Which reminds me: the last time I read, to take up cooking in Manila, one had to shell out at least four hundred grand.

It reminds me of another thing: an uncle we had who was an all-around guy. He was married to my mother’s sister, and we, kids, adored him. He was the sort of man who could sew a pair of pants, build a house, cook a splendid mechado, decorate a halayang ube, take you shopping at the Quinta Market, drink sioktong, and do magic tricks with his giant hands. But our most favorite feature of him: his cooking.

For a couple of years now, my breakfast has been spartan. A bowl of hot oatmeal with slices of apple, a cup of coffee, a peanut butter sandwich and a fruit - banana most of the time.