NEW NORMAL Jazz singer Megan Herrera’s delightful cupcakes, Senior cabin crew and flight attendant instructor Cenn Andrew Nuyda’s Tapa & Barbecues by RSRH, Management and training consultant Mayen Ramirez’ Pork and Kutchay Dumplings.
—CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
The pandemic has seen the birth of many new entrepreneurs, especially in the food industry. Friends in media now have their own food specialties, like Arnold Clavio who cooks savory food and Love Añover who makes ube pandesal.
I think it’s a blessing to have all these new choices. We also now have the option of having the food delivered right to our doorsteps.
Here are a few other recent creations by individuals who were already excelling in their own fields but have pivoted to the world of food:
Jazz singer’s shepherd’s pie
If you love live jazz in the Philippines, you would know the name Megan Herrera. She is a divine Australian jazz singer who fell in love with Filipino bassist Roger Herrera while she was touring Asia.
She married him, moved to Manila and started a family here. The 79-year-old singer is also the mother of designer Pepsi Herrera, who unfortunately passed away three years ago.We have been lucky to listen to Herrera sing once again the past few years at different festivals and jazz bars with other great jazz musicians—living legends to my mind—like Romy Posadas, Colby dela Calsada, Jun Viray (who passed away just a few years ago) and Henry Katindig, among others. Herrera was also awarded the Hall of Fame award at the Philippine International Jazz Festival.
With no live gigs since the pandemic, Herrera went back to her other love: baking. Aside from singing at an early age, she was also already baking by the age of 8.
She is now offering her Granny’s Goodies cupcakes “made with love,” previously available only to her grandkids.
She also makes an amazing shepherd’s pie. She is, after all, Australian, so her shepherd’s pie is OZ-some. To order Granny’s Goodies call 0917-3687558 or landline 8-7247915.
Flight attendant instructor’s tapa
Cenn Andrew Nuyda is a flight attendant instructor and has been part of the senior cabin crew of a major commercial airline for 22 years. However, he had to stop working because of the pandemic.
He recently started a food business called Hungry Quago and now sells tapa by a brand called RSRH, among other products.
I have ordered tapa from Hungry Quago and it is quite addicting. They also have good pork barbecue.
To order from Hungry Quago, contact 0926-6116304.
Training consultant’s kebabs
Mayen Ramirez is an independent management and training consultant. She would organize personality development, leadership and management training sessions and seminars for corporations.
However, as with the events industry, her training sessions have also been put on hold due to quarantine restrictions.
Thankfully, she loves to cook. She would often cook for her lovely niece, Lexie. Her menu would not be your ordinary rice and viand, but would include restaurant favorites like pork dumplings.
She was able to capitalize on this and now makes pork kutchay dumplings, koobideh kebab and chicken kebab. She now also bottles her signature chili garlic sauce and yogurt sauce.
It’s quite a treat as her menu lists food that you would not usually cook at home. The dumpling comes frozen and all you have to do is steam it to appreciate, or if you prefer, you can also fry it like gyoza. The same simple steps can be done for the kebab. To order, contact 0917-1741877.
Stories like these make us realize that life need not be linear. As long as we are open to other options, we will get through the challenges of the pandemic. May you be blessed with the grace of resilience … and lots of orders to get through this trying time.
More from the author at margauxlicious.com. Follow @margauxsalcedo on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.