Currents & Breaking News Feature
Volume 5, Issue No. 13
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .
The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Wednesday, July 20, 2011
~ The clamor has become irresistible. So while San Diego's creative baker contemplates whether to proceed or not with yet another specialty creation, customers at her bakeshop repeatedly asked. So one day this month, "the Noynoy Pandesal" and a companion bread, the "Noynoy Ham & Cheese Bread", were quietly introduced at the famous The Original Richard's Bakery in National City, California. Public response has been overwhelming.
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| The "Noynoy Pandesal" at the Original Richard's Bakery in San Diego, California. |
ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL BREAD
Filipino Baker Creates "Noynoy Pandesal" for Philippine President
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC)
TORONTO - After the smashing success of her name breads, there's no stopping this hardworking Filipino entrepreneur from creating another.
This time, it's a special bun or dinner roll - pandesal as Filipinos call them - labeled "Noynoy Pandesal" after the popular Philippine president Benigno Simeon Aquino III, nicknamed Noynoy or P-Noy by Filipinos, who was elected in June last year.
It's no coincidence that the Original Richard's Bakery in San Diego, California is known widely in the United States as the "bakeshop of presidents, champions and celebrities" for in its stock of merchandise, there's extraordinary bread for each one of them.
"It began with President Barack Obama," explains Ms. Wilma Fernandez Ventura, owner and creative genius behind all her distinguished creations, in a phone interview.
Mr. Obama's election in 2008 was a watershed in US history. In her San Diego Filipino community, there seemed to be not much appreciation for the fact that Mr. Obama is a person of color and that his triumph may be construed as a huge breakthrough for all people of color like Filipinos.
"In that context I thought of celebrating him and immortalizing his achievement with a bread. So I created the 'Obama Pandesal,' a hamburger-bun shaped bread made from wheat and stuffed with stewed (adobo) chicken, green peas, carrots, raisin and cream cheese," Ms. Ventura says.
On the same day Mr. Obama took office on January 20, 2009, the Obama Pandesal was officially launched at the Original Richard's Bakery with a commemorative program attended by high-ranking officials. (I was there and covered it for several online publications and my San Diego newspaper).
The mayor of the City of National City, Ron Morrison, cut the ribbon that unveiled the new bread. Also in attendance were the city's vice mayor, Frank Parra; Cesar Solis, the first Filipino assistant chief of police of San Diego; and other guests. (Video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gJUd7EQ2pA ).
The Obama Pandesal instantly became a hit in both the mainstream and Filipino communities, and made Ms. Ventura's two-decades-old bakeshop even more famous, though her intent was to honor the US President.
"The Obama Pandesal reflects your belief and admiration with President Obama," wrote North Carolina-based journalist Pasckie Pascua. "You have the right to exercise that admiration. Some write songs, dedicate a movie, put up a statue -- you make a pandesal. A novelty and it's cool".
Now President Noynoy Aquino - simply P-Noy to all - is joining the presidential rack at the Original Richard's Bakery, with his namesake bread Noynoy Pandesal occupying a place of prominence like the Obama Pandesal. (Video at: http://www.youtube.om/watch?v=GtBSbk6QzqE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL ).
The Noynoy Pandesal is the same size as the regular pandesal, except that it looks yellowy with the addition of artificial coloring to simulate the president's favorite color, yellow, which was also the trademark color of his deceased mother, former President Corazon Aquino.
"The ingredients make it special," according to the 46-year-old Ms. Ventura who herself formulates the mix. Nearly 30 years of experience in bread-making has made her an expert. That expertise goes into the making of the now-familiar celebrity breads, a niche her bakeshop now solely occupies.
Customers wear a smile coming into the bakery. That's because the names of the different breads ring familiar. For example, the Brazo de Pacquiao and the Siete Coronas de Pacquiao are specialty breads named after Philippine boxing champ Manny Pacquiao.
The brazo is for his formidable arms; the siete coronas (seven crowns) for the seven boxing titles he currently holds. And then there's a healthy, non-alcoholic drink from Philippine fruit juices quite appropriately named Pacquiao Punch, a take from the champ's knockout jabs that have floored his boxing opponents. (Video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD2yNU_oUuQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL )
Cory Aquino, the housewife turned president after the removal of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, is likewise celebrated. Ms. Ventura made sure her memory lingers with special rice cakes (or bibingka) in artifically-colored yellow, yellow being the revolutionary color in ousting Marcos.
Then there's another tribute to a fine Philippine actress, Patricia Javier, who transitioned from entertainment to domestic bliss and marked the occasion by a change to her real name, Genesis.
Ms. Ventura immortalized the milestone by creating Genesis Loaf, a hugely successful bread that tastes like a muffin. (Video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU8DbR5sm6E&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL ).
Asked how the Noynoy Bread is faring so far nearly a week after its soft launch, Ms. Ventura says: "People gobble it up crazy. I can say it's a testament to his popularity as president".
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| The "Noynoy Ham & Cheese Bread" |
Ms. Ventura already created a variation, the Noynoy Ham & Cheese Bread, after noting her customers are clamoring for it.
This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 13, July 20, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).
My news channels can be viewed by clicking the links:
The Filipino Web Channel at YouTube:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
At Vimeo:
1. http://vimeo.com/16962555
2. http://vimeo.com/user4144767
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