Of Tomato Troubles and Hopias

Last night, me and the wife cooked dinner for a visiting friend. He had been busy the last 9 months working out a fiancé visa for his girlfriend. Now, he’s in the Philippines to take her back home to the US.

We cooked chicken parmesan served with a herby tomato sauce on pasta. We filleted the chicken breast and wrapped it in parmesan breading and fried that in olive oil. That gave it a wonderful flavor. The sauce was a mix of our basic tomato sauce and few herbs. It was a wonderful meal. They all enjoyed it, except me.

Looking back, it’s been three weeks since I was rushed to the hospital. The diagnosis was that I had ulcers in my stomach and I had what’s called a
Hiatal Hernia. The latter causes severe pain when my acid is acting up. The pain attacks would eventually develop into anything from severe heartburn to GERD, if left untreated. Or worse, the hernia could tie a knot on top my stomach if it slides into my esophagus. An occurence that will cause internal bleeding.

Bottom line is I can’t eat tomatoes and dairy. That includes products made from them, which probably eliminates most of the pasta dishes I know. I also need to avoid fatty food, even if it’s cooked in canola or olive oil. The doctors surmise that both are still fatty, even if they contain a pretty good amount of good cholesterol. Crossing out olive oil, that leaves us with 98% of all pasta I could cook virtually eliminated from my diet. Not to mention most of the other food I was eating before I was diagnosed. I’m not allowed to drink any soda, coffee and fruit juice as well. It’s been a tough three weeks, I tell you. Especially now that my days are devoid of coffee.

So now, I watch what I eat. I read labels, ask waiters what’s in my food, and so forth. And every meal must be timed by a few hours. I don’t go by the three-square-a-day rule anymore. Small and frequent is what I do. Which reminds me… I have to eat breakfast now. Ah! We have diced hopia! Strangely, it’s label states the brand Junior Macao. It’s amusing to find that the Chinoys have adopted the funny way Pinoys create nicknames. Of course, considering alternatives such as Junior Bumbay, Boy Bangkal or Bertong Kulane, I'd take Junior Macao any day.