Ang Tunay na Torres ay Galit sa Gulay:
A True Story of How My Uncle Ben Taught Me How to Eat Vegetables
I grew up in a family compound in Pasay City where everything important in our lives is within walking distance or a short jeepney ride away. Our family compound is a U-shaped community with a row of apartments facing another row that created a wide space in the middle where children played during the day until the cars take over the spaces at night. My Papa, Mama, my three sisters and I lived in one door apartment. Our unmarried uncles and aunties lived in another.
I have one such uncle, my mother’s brother, who lived in the family compound. His name is Ben. One day, he said to me, “Shell, come with me to Libertad and let’s eat.” This was in the early 1980s and I was only about 8. From our family compound we walked to Holiday Plaza. At that time, the popular restaurant was Goldilocks. I remember feeling the cold temperature upon entering the glass door and delighting at the sampler of children’s birthday cakes at the refrigerated stalls. There was a Superman cake and a Cinderella cake.
I ordered my favorites: brownies and spaghetti. My Uncle Ben ordered lumpiang sariwa. I mindlessly ate my brownies as I watched my uncle savor the lumpia. He cut into the thin, soft lumpia wrapper, slathered with sweet garlicy brown sauce and sprinkled with chopped peanuts as he scooped up a portion of carrots, ubod, green beans in match-like strips wrapped inside. He put a spoonful into his mouth and started chewing fast and delightedly and with crunchy munching sound effects (“chomp, chomp, chomp”). I asked him, what is that green leaf? To which my uncle replied, “That’s lettuce.” And what is that round nut? “Oh, that’s garbanzo.” Watching Uncle Ben eat lumpiang sariwa that day convinced me that vegetables are the most delicious food in the world.
After that day, lettuce and garbanzo became my favorites. Whenever a scrap book question asked “what is your favorite food?”, I answered lumpiang sariwa. Whenever we ate at Goldilocks or at a restaurant where it was served, I ordered lumpiang sariwa. And, from then on, because I loved lettuce, carrots, ubod, green beans, cabbage, celery, I enjoyed all kinds of salads and a whole variety of other vegetables.
Fast forward to 20 years. During a family gathering, I told Uncle Ben, “Alam mo ba, Uncle Ben, na ikaw ang nagturo sa akin kumain ng gulay?” He said, “Huh? Paano nangyari yun eh hindi ako mahilig kumain ng gulay?!” As background, our family barely ate vegetables. The Torreses love lechon, inihaw na baboy, or nilagang baka. Kaya naman ang tunay na Torres ay galit sa gulay. I recounted that day at Goldilocks in the 1980s when we just walked a few blocks to eat and how he devoured that lumpia sariwa! My uncle said, “Mabilis at magana lang talaga ako kumain, may sound effects pa (“yum, yum, yum”), but it doesn’t mean I love vegetables.” But it was too late. By that time, 20 years na akong mahilig sa gulay, eating mostly vegetables than meat.
And that is the story of how I became a pioneer of the family: the first to love vegetables. I eventually shared my love for vegetables with my son and daughter. In May this year, Uncle Ben passed away. I will always remember him kasi sya ang nagturo sa akin kumain ng gulay.