Helen’s Kitchen

Helen Gamboa started out as a beauty pageant aspirant when she joined Miss Philippine Press Photography (PPP) in 1961. A student at the Colegio de Sta. Isabel, she was only 16 then and placed first runner-up to Cynthia Ugalde who represented the Philippines in the 1962 Miss International contest in Long Beach, California (she later also became a contract star of Sampaguita Pictures).

Helen, meanwhile, became one of the local delegates at the Manila International Beauty Congress held at the Araneta Coliseum shortly after her Miss PPP stint. There was no competition there. The event was staged to showcase beautiful women from all over the world.

It didn’t take long before she joined show business. In the beginning, Helen was only assigned to light roles in the movies — as leading lady to comedy kings Dolphy and Chiquito. When given the opportunity to show her range as an artist, she was able to show her versatility. She proved to be good at drama, but also gained a huge following as a singing and dancing star. Toward the late 1960s, she was officially enthroned as Philippine entertainment’s pop superstar.

Her career took a backseat though when she married now Senate president Tito Sotto. Family became her priority. But from time to time, she’d be seen on TV and in the movies.

In 1995, she tied with Nora Aunor for best actress at the Gawad Urian. Both Nora and Helen played Flor Contemplacion in their respective movies.

About a decade later, she made a string of teleseryes for ABS-CBN and adjusted her onscreen performance to suit soap opera acting. Oh, she was a hit and gained a new generation of fans and followers.

Gamboa is now on the internet as episodes of From Helen’s Kitchen she did for Cgnal TV some years back are currently being uploaded on YouTube. Directed by Eric Quizon and, later, Bibeth Orteza, Helen’s cooking show looks timeless. Every edition seems like it was shot only yesterday.

The format of From Helen’s Kitchen is simple. Helen invites celebrity guests over to her kitchen – right in her own house – which is big enough to also serve as a studio. Helen does most of the cooking, while exchanging food talk with her guests.

A very informative episode is the one where Gladys Reyes appeared as guest in the show. That was one truly memorable show – what with two Pampanguenas (both Helen and Gladys are true-blue Kapampangans) in the program. Pampango natives, after all, are reputed to be among the best cooks in the Philippines.

In the Gladys Reyes episode, Helen initially prepared beef caldereta and she suggested using kalitiran ng baka or oyster blade shoulder steak for this dish. This meat part is tender, flavorful and has enough marbling to make a delicious caldereta, mechado or even morcon.

Those who do not cook probably are not even familiar with kalitiran ng baka. But Gladys, who is also a kitchen expert, brought this matter up and that is actually useful information, especially for those who are only starting to learn how to cook.

Another dish Helen whipped up with Gladys Reyes is tinolang dilis. Of course, the standard “tinola” (a ginger-based soup) is chicken. But dilis (the Philippine anchovy) for tinola? According to Helen, this is a recipe concocted by her late mother, the former Eusebia Albent, who was actually of French stock.

But for a really savory tinolang dilis, it is best to use the large dilis variety, which is available in wet markets – although one must be resourceful and should have a wide network of palenque connections in order to find this kind of anchovy.

The way to prepare tinolang dilis is no different from cooking chicken tinola. The only difference is that, yes, one has to use dilis instead of fowl.

The Ilonggos, incidentally, also have plenty of uses for the large dilis, which they call tuakang. They use it for kinilaw (ceviche) or in soup dishes, along with vegetables like malunggay (moringa). Sometimes, the tuakang is filleted, breaded and fried to a crisp. “Namit!” That’s delicious in Ilonggo.

The best part about appearing in From Helen’s Kitchen are the to-go food items given by Helen to her guests. The food she gives away are portions of the dishes she prepared in the show.

And so, woe to Eugene Domingo when she guested in From Helen’s Kitchen. Compared to Gladys Reyes’ beef caldereta takeout, Eugene had to appear in an episode where all Helen cooks are “merienda” fare: champorado (chocolate porridge) and guinataan (a dessert in coconut milk). But then, given Helen’s cooking skills, her champorado and guinataan have been levelled up to haute cuisine standards.

Eugene, therefore, didn’t look disappointed when she was handed her share of champorado and guinataan to take home. She seemed genuinely happy with her to-go. But happiest were the viewers who must have been in stitches watching that episode with Domingo in it. Eugene being Eugene, she managed to turn the show into a comedy – what with her hilarious unscripted remarks that even poked fun at the eternally prim and proper Helen. That was some riot of a cooking show.

But the most delightful episode of From Helen’s Kitchen is the one with Donita Rose as celebrity guest. Although she was cast as Barbie Doll in the hit sitcom Ober da Bakod in the 1990s, Donita was never packaged as a comic. Her quips can be very funny, however.

Oddly enough, one of the dishes Helen prepared during Donita’s guest stint was buro with hito (fermented rice with catfish). Not every Filipino is familiar with “buro” – especially not for somebody like Donita who was born in America.

Up to the end of the show, it seemed like Donita confused buro with a bagoong (shrimp paste) variety in Pangasinan, which is her mother’s home province. But she gamely ate Helen’s buro with mustasa (mustard greens). Buro is delectable, but may not look and smell appetizing even among some homegrown Filipinos.

That was the first time Donita tasted buro. But she showed no displeasure when she tried the buro of Helen. It didn’t show on her face. Why, she looked like she was enjoying every bite of it.

While buro is also prepared in other provinces, Pampanguenos still make it best. For sure, the people of Pangasinan also have their version of “buro.”

The Pangasinenses though are better known for their bagoong. Surely, that was what brought confusion in Donita’s head, especially since Pangasinan has different bagoong varieties: bagoong alamang, a shrimp paste, which is the most popular among Pinoys and the bagoong monamon, an anchovy paste used to salt Ilocano favorites like pinakbet and dinengdeng, which are both vegetable dishes that use bagoong as flavoring. Of course, there’s also the special bagoong padas that is made from tiny padas (sole) fish.

Helen and Donita make a good tandem in the kitchen. It surely helped that Donita had turned chef and is no stranger when it comes to food. Except for buro, of course.

The main ingredient, however, that makes From Helen’s Kitchen a successful cooking show is Helen Gamboa herself. Yes, Helen had proven herself in singing, dancing and in both drama and comedy. But it is in the kitchen where she is in her natural environment.

There are a lot of celebrities who are known to be excellent cooks. Most of them went to culinary schools – the likes of Janice de Belen, Judy Ann Santos and, of course, Donita Rose. They are goddesses in the kitchen. Sorry, ladies, but you cannot hold a candle to Helen’s kitchen expertise. If you are culinary queens, then Helen Gamboa is an empress.