Fish be with you

There are many reasons why you should start living — and eating — healthy now.

First, the new year has just begun, and maybe you can take your New Year’s resolutions seriously this time. Second reason: Valentine’s Day is coming, and you owe it to yourself and your loved ones and family to really shed those unwanted pounds now. Third excuse, I mean reason, is that Chinese New Year is happening just a few days after Valentine’s, and it offers another opportunity to start anew. And then there’s the Lenten season reminding you to abstain from meat for not just physical but also spiritual cleansing.

If these are not enough reasons to finally make healthy choices in your diet, specifically, and your lifestyle, in general, then the bountiful seafood that is available at this time of the year just might convince you to do so. With the Philippines being an archipelago, with islands surrounded by water, a wide assortment of seafood abounds. Fish, shellfish, crab, shrimps, squid, even lobsters, can be found all over the country.

Fish alone offers a huge variety of choices, from the smallest anchovies to the biggest tunas. The country also has access to big, imported deep sea varieties such as salmon. These days, you only need a reliable supplier of fresh fish and seafood to cater to your kitchen whims so you can whip up the dishes that restaurants usually do. Or you can avail of paluto services and have a neighborhood seafood paluto chef do the marketing and cooking for you. He can even marinate the fish of your choice for you and vacuum seal it so you can put it in the freezer upon delivery and just pull it out and thaw/cook when you want to. So going healthy does not have to put a strain on your daily workload.

Paluto chefs, such as Chef Toto Erfe, do the “dirty” job for you, so the food gets to you mostly in ready-to-eat form, in time for lunch or dinner, and all you have to do is plate and eat and enjoy.

Chef Toto has been doing this for five to six years now under his Tito Toto brand. He started his seafood paluto business during the pandemic.

“Back then, people couldn’t go to the market. Luckily, I lived in the vicinity of Farmer’s Market in Cubao,” he says.

People in his neighborhood knew he was a chef and culinary instructor, and so they started requesting him to cook certain dishes for them, and he graciously obliged. In time, and even after the pandemic, they became “sukis” of Tito Toto’s paluto services, and word got out that he offers such services and orders started coming in. There has been no let up since then because he cooks delicious dishes, offers these in big platters (good for 8 to 10 persons) or half platters, and has these conveniently delivered using delivery apps. The corresponding fees go directly to the riders so, technically, no delivery charge per se is made, and since independent riders make the delivery, his business also provides income to them.

The freshness of Tito Toto’s dishes is unquestionable, since Chef Toto gets the freshest catch of the day from his seafood suppliers. He has through the years formed business relationships with vendors, so he does not only get the dealer’s price but he also gets the freshest seafood available from them even before they display their produce in the market for the general public to partake of.

Chef Toto has been doing this for so long, so he has come up with a menu that customers can choose from. Just recently, he started #mayrequestkaba orders. He asks his customers, especially his “sukis,” how they want their dishes cooked, then he gives suggestions based on their requests, they agree, and he executes. Of late, requests have been of the healthy type of fish dishes, such as Grilled Talakitok, Baked Local Salmon, Steamed Lapu-Lapu, Garlic Baked Lapu-Lapu and Swordfish Steaks with Garlic Tomato. And he’s all the more inspired to oblige.

“I believe that eating seafood is a healthier option than meats, more so if it’s fresh. We try not to put too many ingredients into our dishes in order to maintain its integrity,” explains Chef Toto.

Inquiries and orders may be coursed through Tito Toto’s social media accounts (Tito Toto on FB and IG) or send a direct message or Viber to 09228141761.