Arroz caldo—a chicken porridge. This was the dish that Sammy could compare his mother to, eliciting a questioning look from chef Jen Gerodias who sat beside him during the call. He then elaborated, “It’s a really comforting staple. You have it while you’re sick or maybe when you want to feel better on a rainy day.”
He adds, “And for me, that really doesn’t encompass my mother, but she is something of a staple herself. A lot of people have come to rely on her for her work. And she’s very comforting to be around.”
How Food Expresses Love for Chef Jen Gerodias?
At 16, Sammy already grasped a profound understanding of his mother’s deep love for him and how it’s always been grounded in food. He continued to share, “It was around midnight, and I had just come home after hanging out with some friends. I was hungry, so I went into the kitchen looking for a snack. My mom was right there, and she also had arrived from an event. And in an instant, she made this huge bowl of fried rice. She grabbed a bunch of leftovers from the fridge and somehow turned them into this really filling, satisfying, coherent meal. I only had to take one bite of it to know that she loved me very much.”
The nourishing is a two-way street for the mother and son, as chef Jen credits her children as her official taste-testers for her dishes, including Casa Luisa’s French onion soup empanadas and Cariñosa’s pancit. “I did the R&D at home, especially during the pandemic. If my two boys didn’t eat it or think it was good, I didn’t get the job done. They know how technical I am, so Sammy would go into detail and comment, ‘The color looks nice’ or ‘Please work on the presentation.’ And I would have to tell him that it’s not yet final!” she looked back on the experience, laughing.
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Balancing Family Recipes and Clean Eating Standards
This hodgepodge of a dish could be likened to how Chef Jen manages to play multiple roles in her life as a daughter, mother, and chef. She could be all over the place, mixing and managing all things at once, but it’s balanced and it works. For her, it also had a lot to do with how she was raised.
“In the sabungan of my parents in San Pedro, Laguna, my mother Luisa also had a restaurant there and she would bring me to work. Whenever she was home, she would always be in the kitchen. I love being with my mom, so I was always in the kitchen, too. Even if she was working full time, she always made sure that there was a home-cooked meal for her children. That influence of just nourishing and making sure that the family has something to eat—and now with guests and customers in the restaurants—nobody’s allowed to leave hungry. I got that from her.”
Chef Jen’s transition from cooking for friends and customers to her children didn’t require much adjustment. Her conscious effort of working with quality ingredients and serving filling dishes was already in her core. Explaining the natural evolution of her cooking style, she commented, “It was automatic whenever my friends would come over. They’d go to the kitchen and I would put out food for them. With my kids, I had to make sure that there’s no artificial ingredients, no food coloring. I’ve also applied that with my restaurants by making things from scratch. Ingredients should be sourced properly.”
Teaching the Next Generation to Appreciate Food
Exhibiting his natural inclination to preparing food, Sammy is eager to learn his mother’s recipes. “All the French pastries, also the classic Filipino dishes. I want to learn how to make her chocolate banana cream pie.” To which Jen interjected that all of Samuel’s cakes had been baked by her. But he has since graduated from them, and is now enjoying pies more.
For the chef-mother, there’s not much pressure for her kids to follow in her footsteps. She wants them, however, to be more mindful of their approach to food. “Preparing food is a basic necessity. You are what you eat, so whatever you’re consuming, through media or education, it becomes who you are. So, the same with food.”
She adds, “In a culinary sense, I want them to appreciate how it’s made and where it’s from. The effort that it took to produce that and appreciating who made it also. That’s how you humanize food. I don’t want them to take this for granted, and that’s what I want to impart to my kids. And yes, my employees also. Because they’re my kids, too.”
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Frequently Asked Questions
Chef Jen Gerodias is a Filipino chef and restaurateur. She is the chef-owner of Casa Luisa in San Pedro, Laguna, known for its Filipino comfort food made with French culinary techniques.
Chef Jen Gerodias is known for her flaky Casa Luisa empanadas that gained fame during the pandemic.
Casa Luisa is a Filipino restaurant popular for its elevated Filipino comfort created using French culinary techniques. It is also well-loved for its homey interiors and vintage furniture reminiscent of upscale vacation homes in the Philippines.
You may learn more about Casa Luisa from the Casa Luisa website or their Instagram page @casa_luisa.
Sammy compares Chef Jen Gerodias to arroz caldo because she represents a comforting, reliable staple in the lives of those around her. Just as the traditional chicken porridge provides comfort on rainy or difficult days, her presence and her food offer profound care to her family.
