The Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See
Mercy Tuason - such a beautiful and elegant lady - hosted a few events before and after the canonization rites of Saint Pedro Calungsod. The biggest event being the lunch immediately following the rites at St Peter's Square. I wrote about it in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, article below and
here.
Menu (as printed in The Philippine Daily Inquirer 1 November 2012)
Filipino feast celebrates canonization with ‘lechon’
The lechon is truly the worldwide symbol of the Filipino celebration.
We were fortunate enough to attend the thanksgiving lunch at the
Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome after the canonization of St.
Pedro Calungsod. I was curious to see what the most regal hostess, the
Ambassador to the Holy See Mercy Tuason, would serve the group composed
of Vice President Jojo Binay, Hawaii congressman who’s Filipino-born,
Joey Manahan, and all the Philippine cardinals. Luis Antonio Cardinal
Tagle, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales were all
present.
While the Filipinos did as the Romans do for the rest of the
meal, the lunch kicked off with good ol’ lechon. Call it Lechon Roma.
At first I thought it was flown in all the way from Cebu since
the Cebu contingent led by Cebu Rep. Rachel del Mar was so big. Turned
out, only the image of Saint Pedro was flown in from Cebu; the lechon
was “made in Italy.” I must say, though, that the lechoneros of Rome did
a good job—crispy skin, succulent meat. Oh so Pinoy and delizioso!
Of course the lechon was just to give one a taste of home. The
lunch had for appetizers—arugula, aubergine and bresaola, an aged and
air-dried beef that had been sliced so thinly it was almost like
prosciutto. This was scrunched in a toothpick with a thin slice of
lemon. It was an explosion of flavors!
This was followed by a heaping of risotto. As if that wasn’t enough starch, there came another heaping of ravioli.
The cardinals should have been told to bring their Lipitor and
Metformin because the zeppole or Bigné di San Giuseppe dessert that
followed was extremely rich as well. Imagine the traditional donut, its
texture, placed in a little muffin basket sprinkled with sugar and
filled with cannoli-like pastry cream, then topped with blueberry sauce.
Served in a lawn filled with blessed men, this was heaven. (the rest of the article
HERE)
Fun :)
 |
| VP Jojo Binay (top center), Cardinal Vidal with margauxlicious (middle center), Amb. Mercy Tuason with VP Binay (left), Mayor Junjun Binay with Baby Salcedo (right), Ms. Josie Bantug (in shades, lower left) and Mr. Lino Lebron (lower right). |
