E29 Immigrants' Table | She Grew Up Poor in the Philippines. Now She Feeds Her Whole City. | Café Baboy

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getting hot in here what's wrong with you technically those balut is good for uh old people and like especially men Filipino milk sugar vinegar and the soy sauce we eat seven times a day and we love to eat rice hahaha every dish on this menu crossed the border before it crossed your plate immigrant stable finds the story in between every plate has a story let's find it Leah yes thank you for just sitting down with me I'm gonna ask you a couple of rapid fire questions to get to know the story behind your food okay first of all where are you originally from I came from a Santa Cruz Laguna Laguna is like a uh is the main uh language in my country so it's pure Tagalog what dish reminds you of home so I have two things one is the adobo because adobo they have in the Mexican also and then the noodles noodles everywhere so noodles in Chinese noodles in uh Mexican so it's like those two dishes remind me of my my country's food mm hmm oh is it more sweet savory salty so our food is pretty much sweet most of the time sweet we either use sugar or condensed milk okay yep two key ingredients I know right always sugar tell me what is one ingredient you can't live without it's gonna be vinegar vinegar yes we love sour and vinegar is like all over our food so you we used to be don't have a refrigerator long time ago so you put vinegar so it don't get sour right away so it's like the key uh to the food is stay longer so vinegar is it white vinegar just standard or is it special so we only have a white vinegar because our country is like have a lot of coconut so we use a coconut vinegar coconut vinegar yes could you buy it here it's very expensive yes you you can but it's so expensive I bet it's better for you it is better it's healthy and organic sweet or savoury sweet of course we just talked about it we love sweet how can I what can I say every ingredients they have either vinegar or sugar just a little bit of something okay that's a special touch yes every Filipino meal yep Filipino milk sugar vinegar and the soy sauce what's the first thing people should order I would say technically our number one food is a adobo adobo yeah but the street food is a skewers the pork barbecue because that one you don't need to have a side dish you can just grab the stick and eat with it but the adobo of course you need to have a rice or you need to have a porks you can just walk a walk around without a you know plate or either porks right but then the skewers is like you can hey hello I'm eating on it so something like that yes and then for the adobo tell us more about what makes the adobo the adobo is very simple the ingredients is only three sugar soy sauce and vinegar there's only three ingredients with the meat you can use chicken or either pork but we use a lot of chicken because we grow chicken in the backyard but then the the pork is like you can buy that one but supposedly is a pork adobo so that is more tender tender than the chicken so that's what we like awesome a food everyone should try at least once I will say the balut which one the balut the balut is like a a the the duck egg and then have a little bit of duck inside but if you get the bigger one of course I don't you don't want that one just like it's like a like let's say maybe like seven days or something like that so the balut is it's not my favorite and I don't say I like it but then I tried it before but everybody when when they hear balut ooh because have a duck inside but technically those balut is good for uh old people and like especially men because they say that's their Viagra so a lot of men eat the balloon how much do you need to eat for it to have the Viagra effect that I don't have any idea so my father used to do that buy me a balloon and the balut is so expensive buy me three so maybe three I guess three OK so I don't have any idea OK so that's something to try especially for men especially for men the balut if your restaurant had a theme song what would it be so I'm thinking about it and then when I'm cooking I say it's getting hot in here so that's the only thing I'm saying or either I will say I want more customer my hungry customer and then say Pink Pony Club I don't know I don't have a theme song but those two I like it I love it coffee or tea coffee coffee yeah coffee so Philippine drink coffee we can't even afford to buy a tea before so coffee is number one because we just grab from the tree and then make your own hot or cold uh hot even if it's hot in here oh yeah hahaha oh yeah if you drink hot cold coffee and then what's wrong with you that's what they're gonna tell you but now I'm I live here and then uh uh all the youngins they drink cold but used to be everything is hot hot hot what's one thing people don't know about your culture the Filipino culture so the only thing I think they don't know everybody there speak English that's one thing that's one thing I can tell you we speak English and we love to eat rice hahaha this thing so we eat bread in the morning breakfast we eat seven times a day seven seven why seven we don't know so we have a we have breakfast I mean a yeah we have breakfast we eat sometimes bread and then 10 o'clock snack and then lunch snack and then dinner and snack so it's like we non stop eating and what are the snacks made of usually since so this is the funny thing so in the morning we usually eat pandesal or either uh fried rice right so R is not guess you're not gonna guess either noodles haha there's a snack either noodles or another bread then lunch you're gonna eat rice and meat and then another snack it should be spaghetti it should be bread or it should be barbecue whatever you can get so usually pretty carbs heavy oh yeah yeah the only you can't be gluten free our meal supposed to be rice so breakfast lunch dinner is rice rice with ulam that's what we call rice and meat rice and soup something like that I see but on the between like the like I said the barbecue and the balut is the outside food it's like uh what do you call that like we call this turo turo because it's already ready I want one of that I want a one of this that's what we call in my country I want a turo turo so point point point point something like that is it food on the street usually yes yes street food we have a lot of street food yeah or either one of the snack at night time is like a you know the fried peanut say hey can I have one of that can I have one of that so we call this Turo Turo Turo Turo so if I go and I don't speak the language I could just get around with Turo Turo yeah you don't need to say yeah you don't need to say the words you can you just need to say can I have one of that but then they will understand you because they speak English they speak English that's true yeah OK finish this sentence food is I will say happiness that's the only thing I can tell and then the second is excitement but food is happiness how does that translate for you and your daily life so even though I don't like the food or I don't eat the food if I see something like somebody ate that food especially I made it it make me happy or either the old people is come right here I've been looking for you I don't know where to find you and then I went over there you're already closed so when they come she's so excited and it give me happiness that's beautiful yes one word in your language for this food that doesn't translate into English this is the only thing I really uh I really think about it is Mali Nam Nam Mali Nam Nam yes Mali Nam Nam is like a is very deep word it's like delicious and masarap masarap is the delicious but then we have another words that say Malin Nam Nam it's it's look like delicious it's so good or something like that you know like it's so good it's so like uh the taste is like you try to figure out what kind of ingredients so it's like Malin Nam Malin Nam Nam something like something like that Mali Nam Nam yeah it's too hard to say in English but you can give a small word to understand yes and so you would you say that as you're eating the food to the person who cook it for you is that kind of the natural way to say the word or is it just a word that that's the word you think of yes as a that doesn't translate and that refers to the food being delicious yes OK yeah we don't use that words a lot yeah unless we're so excited oh yeah yeah so that's why I say Malin Nam Nam so something hmm that's like bellisioso you know something like that but it's very deep is deeper than masarap or delicious yes oh that's great yes I love words like that they you can translate them no just it's unique to it you need to just use that word yeah you need and that's where I'll I like it Malinam Nam why Birmingham so my husband live here so the first time I come here is already in Birmingham and then I'm start working catering over here and people a lot of people knows me already before I even open the food truck they already knows me so I'm start working on the cooking and then I'm baking baking again and then cooking so I'm on a food industry for 25 years and I don't want to move people here is very nice I love the neighborhood I love the people so that's wonderful thank you what ethnicity is your husband uh he's USA he's American yeah OK yeah and how did you meet I travel a lot and he's on a military so I met him in Korea so just like that and then I went home and he follow me home and then we got married there and then we have kids and then he bring me here and I love the place I love it it's so quiet what's your favorite thing about this city you you alluded to it a little bit what do you call that it's like it's almost like I wanna say malinamnam but I don't know the words in English so I like it like a it's very quiet nice neighborhood and it's look like it's too hard to describe but I love Birmingham I don't know why so I went to in I went to Atlanta it's look like ugh it's too hot I went to Texas oh it's too many people something like that so Birmingham is look like maali wallahs oh there you go oh that's another word it's look like uh it's hot but the breeze it's coming oh we have the breeze today it feels good yeah you know that that's the one I wanna say it in English but I don't know how so it's like maali walas maali walas we can imagine the feeling yeah so it's like it's like in my country it's very hot but we have a lot of tree mango tree right there blah blah blah something like that but then you sit right here and the breeze is coming to you so that's what I feel like it so I like it right here yeah what do you hope people feel when they walk in or walk by your food truck I want them to be like excited and like yeah it's ready to try my food and happy to see me because they always said the food is not just good the owner of the food truck is sweet so that's the only thing I can do and they say I'm all I'm always smile so that's the only thing I can say that's always nice to hear yes they say my food is good and the lady over there is so sweet and that that makes the whole experience even better yes what's one Filipino dish that looks simple but has a story behind every ingredient that is the adobo the adobo the adobo so the adobo is a national food and also what happened is the adobo is only three ingredients so you can cook it no matter what so long time ago and not everybody can afford the ingredients not everybody can afford to buy pork or chicken but then you need to feed the family if you have the chicken just the chicken is not gonna be enough they need to have a sauce so you can put it on the rice and eat that so I don't know who discovered that one but we we add the soy sauce vinegar and sugar and make it adobo and then now it's like upgrading add something something something it's it's better and better and better but the original ingredients is only three very simple very simple and it has carried the story yes it has carried the national dish it became a national dish throughout the years yes and still to this day is a staple yes and now is my number one dish in here everybody say can I have adobo can I have adobo sure sure so that's the only story I can tell you about the adobo uh huh Salo Salo the tradition of eating together from shared plates is so central to Filipino cuisine uh huh and the culture how does that show up in the way you run your food truck Bento so the bento box mm hmm so you see the bento box yeah so if you see my menu my menu is like 7 7 only 7 7 9 items 7 items but for me to them to eat the salo salo so they can try everything I make it up to be a a bento so you can have the rice cause we love to eat rice you can add the noodles you can have the lumpia you can have the ube and one meat so it's look like you have a appetizer you have the meal and you have the dessert and also is the bento is kind of big so I can share with you so you call this Salo Salo and then we have one more thing like a sometimes we call on catering is like a family dinner so we do like a just put the table right there and put the banana leaves on top put all the rice and meat and everything like that and then everybody just come over there and eat with the hands two hands like that it's so nice that's one thing I missed it I'm gonna put that over here soon you will add it to your menu yes I will but it just like I just started so I just need to make sure people happy first and I don't want to change my menu yet until everybody try it yes yes like yesterday I have a phone call and she's from Mississippi she asked me if I I'm I'm open today because she wanna come by and I said I'm so sorry I'm here at the pest you were down so if I know you're coming I can make you some so she say she's coming back next time oh nice yeah a lot of people calling me and send me a message like when is your open where are you so I'm good on responding because I don't want anybody get upset I want everybody eat my food even though homeless so when you park the food truck in Birmingham not every place is safe but I feel safe all the homeless knows me so when the homeless come in I was I'm there and the homeless come I'm here that's mean hey I'm here you're gonna feed me later so I said OK and later OK so they come back when they know I'm almost done and then they hungry can I eat now sure then I make them play you need the drinks Coke haha not water coke OK when you feed the homeless when you feed the people if you're nice to them they're gonna be nice to you why is it important to you to do that why is important to me because uh I don't like people hungry it's only food food is for everybody they don't ask money so they just say food and then even though they don't ask food I wanna give them food because the reason is very important to me when I was growing I don't have enough food and then nobody sharing to us because we're so little we're so poor and somebody rich they don't even see us so that's why um my kids right now Mommy you gonna give the food away again it's okay it's only food you never know maybe that guy one day is helping you so that's why I always tell my kids and then the homeless sometimes I'm giving away a money or something mommy they're gonna cut your hands they're not so something like that but I try to put that on my kids head so maybe they can do that to me too because I'm helping them not because I wanna take care of myself no I'm helping them because I wanna feed them and at the same time you're instilling the values of yes being giving back being generous with others without expecting anything in return yes you have a beautiful heart thank you thank you I have a lot of homeless friend if I park over there hey I'm here it's like okay okay but one thing I can't find a parking lot so hard either they have a cone they run and they take the cone off for me so you see you you feed them but you don't even know they have a brain too so they take it off the cone and I say thank you and then I give I give him a food and he say can I have a bus money too okay hahaha they have a change they don't even pay you but they have a change but it's okay it's okay I'm happy to do that it's not I'm not I'm not it's not gonna hurt me at all if they're happy I'm happy because they even though homeless if your food is not good they're not coming back to you that's what I I I always tell even though the homeless they know if your food is not good they're not coming back to you but they coming back and they coming back I know right of course yes Folia this is all the time we have today but I so appreciate you sharing your story with me thank you and we will add all the links for people to follow Cafe Baboy and yes get it to taste your food because everyone needs to have it the taste of the Filipino cuisine and all the love that you pour into the food that you cook for thank you everyone in Birmingham thank you that wraps up our conversation with Leah the founder of Cafe Baboy if you loved her story wait until you hear the founder's son share the secret to finding a really good olive oil that's next time at Makarios Kebab and Grill follow Cafe Baboy on Instagram at cafe dot baboy to know where to find her next every plate has a story let's find the next one together