Good evening, New-Knows!
For my half of the Choc Nut and wine pairing experiment, keeping in mind the considerations Gail mentioned in the first part (i.e., conventional wine pairing principles, price point, etc.), I wanted to choose vastly different styles of wine to get a greater range of food and wine interactions.
Anyone who’s got a drop of pinoy blood is very much into the Trese animated series on Netflix these days.
Originally a Filipino comic series by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, the series (and comics) features traditional Filipino folklore and supernatural creatures we grew up scaring each other with… Think White Lady of Balete Drive, Aswang, Tikbalang, and my sister’s favorite: Tiyanak… all neatly paired with wonderfully written characters like The Kambal (Basilio and Crispin, named after characters from another Filipino classic: the DepEd mandated Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal), Captain Guerrero… and of course, the main protagonist (and all around badass) Alexandra Trese.
One of the characters who had significant air time was the Nuno, a Nuno sa Punso. Traditionally they’re cranky hobgoblins known to seek vengeance whenever their dwellings – usually anthills, mounds, large rocks, trees, riverbanks, caves, or backyards – get stepped on or destroyed. To avoid being cursed by these beings, people are made to say “tabi tabi po” (which roughly means “please move aside/let me pass by”) whenever they pass by these kinds of places.
Nuno in the Netflix series deviates from tradition by being the go-to otherworldly creature for the latest chismis (“gossip”) within the supernatural circles… with a seemingly silly obsession for yet another pinoy childhood favorite: The Choc Nut.
Yep… Got Choc Nut, will chismis.