Coco Martin and Julia Montes’ recipe for love, shared in the kitchen
Hindi kami mayaman pero lagi kaming maayos kumain (We weren’t rich but we always ate well),” actor Coco Martin said. Food was how his lola expressed her love.
Unknown to many, Coco was a hotel and restaurant management graduate. His dream was to be a seaman, working as a cook on a ship.
He was always enamored with food. As a child, Coco was his Lola Tindeng’s constant companion to the Blumentritt market in Manila.
When he was older, he worked in various restaurants and at a hotel. Even then, Coco was always in the kitchen.
Years later, at his stepfather’s bar, he assisted the cook and washed dishes.
“Masaya ako ‘pag nanonood ako ng taong nagluluto (It gives me joy watching people cook),” he said.
Coco was raised on his lola’s cooking. Lola Tindeng has a vast repertoire of old-fashioned Filipino fare that she continues to cook for Coco every day. When she’s unable to physically cook, Lola still takes command of the kitchen—carefully instructing the cooks on how to slice, and what to sauté first.
When Coco goes to work, he always has food prepared by Lola. Being the doting grandmother that she is, Lola Tindeng does not like her apo to eat just any kind of food, other than home-cooked.
Coco’s baon is the envy of his fellow actors, who now look forward to tasting what Lola cooked for the day.
Coco’s romantic partner and fellow actor Julia Montes loves to eat. Growing up, she cooked when her lola Florentina Hautea was asleep, whipping up dishes from whatever was in the refrigerator. Her grandmother was then busy working in a salon. “Laking Pandacan ako. Laking carinderia (I grew up in Pandacan eating carinderia food),” she said with a chuckle.
It was when she and Coco started dating that her desire to cook was ignited.
In the beginning, Julia said that she was overwhelmed by the copious amounts of food Lola Tindeng prepared.
She cooks like his ‘lola’
Eventually, she became Lola’s student. “Ayaw ni Lola nung umpisa,” said Julia, as the older woman was afraid Julia might cut and burn her hands.
Julia now cooks and even cleans like Lola, though she was quick to admit that she has a long way to go before she could master and replicate the dishes Lola Tindeng makes.
“Magaling na siya (She’s now very good),” Coco chimed in. He is pleased with Julia’s cooking, and takes comfort in the thought that Lola’s recipes will be handed down to her.
When they first started dating, Coco would cook up a feast for Julia. Now, it’s the other way around. Julia finds great pleasure in cooking for Coco. Together, the couple love to experiment in the kitchen, replicating dishes they’ve tried, interpreting it their way.
I asked Coco what his cooking style is, and he laughed and said, “Sagad (To the hilt),” always adding a little bit more of this and that, “para walang sayang (so nothing goes to waste)!”
Julia’s favorite is Coco’s pares. The sweetness, the color, the consistency, everything about Coco’s pares, she said, is perfect. It is a recipe that Coco created based on the pares he loves from Retiro, the original Jonas pares.
Part of his youth are memories of him and his cousins riding his father’s jeepney and eating pares. It is that taste that Coco longs for to this day. In fact, he still goes to his favorite paresan after taping, often having someone buy it while he enjoys it in the car. At times, he braves the trip, going incognito, for he admits there’s simply nothing like enjoying it piping-hot at the eatery.
Julia, on the other hand, loves to slow-cook, a technique she learned from Lola. She is happiest when Coco asks her to keep the food she prepared so he can have it for dinner.
I asked Coco if he is cooking for Julia this Valentine’s Day. He laughed and said, “Nagluto na ako after New Year.” So it’s Julia’s turn.
Julia will cook Lola’s kare-kare, a dish she’s been planning to make for a long time.
Both being innately shy, the couple admits entertaining is not their strongest suit. So when they entertain, Coco shows appreciation for their guests by ensuring they eat well. He himself prepares kare-kare, sinigang, papaitan, bulalo, and nilaga, and more. Julia would also cook a few of her specialties.
It is Coco and Julia’s mutual love for eating and cooking that glues them together. “Happiness namin ang kumain. Para sa amin, happy tummy, happy life,” said the couple in unison.
A restaurant, an events place, and even a frozen food line are all part of the couple’s future plans.
Coco always seems to be a step ahead. When one cooks, he said, there are dishes to wash. So he created Bida Dishwashing Liquid, alongside a team of experts. His experience as a dishwasher and waiter helped immensely in crafting Bida.
In my kitchen, I recently made the switch to Bida and we all love it! The dishwashing liquid easily rids pots, pans, and glasses of grease.
Coco shared his recipe for Pinaputok na Plapla. “Simple lang ito gawin, pero masarap (It’s easy to make, and it’s delicious),” he said.
Coco Martin’s Pinaputok na Plapla
Ingredients:
- Tilapia
- Onions
- Tomatoes
- Celery
- Mayonnaise
- Salt
- Pepper
Procedure:
Clean and fry one big tilapia.
Chop equal portions of onions, tomatoes, and celery (approximately a cup). Mix and season with salt and pepper.
Once tilapia is fried, get a piece of foil and spread half of the tomato, onion, and celery mixture on the foil.
Slather mayonnaise generously on both sides of the tilapia and lay one side on the mixture.
Top the other side of the tilapia with the remaining mixture and wrap the whole fish with foil.
Get another piece of foil and wrap it again to keep it secure.
Fry the foil-wrapped fish (in the same oil that was used for frying the fish earlier) until it puffs, about 10 minutes.
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