A toast of Banayad Whisky to the 'King of Comedy' from Pepper.ph

“Loko-loko lang ang iinom nito!” Dolphy’s character Mr. Pagudpud says of Banayad Whisky, the fictional drink that sent his character spiraling into drunkenness in the 1995 movie “Father en Son.”

There certainly is no better way to raise a toast to the late comedy king than with Banayad Whisky, whose momentary popularity can be owed to the signature Dolphy brand of humor with which it was fictionally endorsed.    The thing is – being that Banayad Whisky isn’t an actual drink – nobody knows how it really tastes like, though based on Dolphy’s expressive asim face could be stronger than your usual Gin Bilog or Lambanog.   Fortunately (or unfortunately), the mad folks at the new food blog Pepper.ph paid tribute to Dolphy, who passed away Tuesday night, by coming up with a recipe for Banayad Whisky, based solely on Pagudpud’s reactions as he downed shot after shot of the liquor.     To paraphrase Dolphy, “Loko-loko lang ang gagawa ng recipe para dito!”   There’s no denying that the people at Pepper.ph are, to an extent, loko-loko, but the thing is, they know their food. If the two-and-a-half month-old blog’s recently-acquired Tatt Award – an honor given to social media groundbreakers – isn’t enough to make one believe that, a quick browse through their home page should do the trick.   “For the last three or so years, we've been in the business of taking pictures of food and we just realized that this is a pretty good way to make more use of it,” said Dwight Co, Pepper.ph’s “secret editor-in-chief.”   Impossible recipes for alcoholic drinks aside, Pepper.ph is actually a legitimate food blog, though you’ll find none of the usual generic restaurant reviews and underwhelming food photos in their archives.    “We've been closely observing the local food entertainment scene... and as saturated as it is, we noticed that there are still niches that are waiting to be filled... the one we found was creating a really fun, funny and honest food blog that speaks to a young and creative audience,” Co added.   The photos on Pepper.ph are instant munchies. They are absolute succulence in high-definition – delectable derivatives of food photographer Mylene Chung’s keen eye, and food stylist and recipe developer Katherine Jao’s attention to detail.   But the photos are only a prelude, the soft and chewy bun to the juicy burger that is the blog's collection of recipes written with gusto and a good dose of sarcasm by Rich Tuason and Mikka Wee.                                                  It’s utter debauchery, the way their recipes take both classic and trendy dishes, break them down and embellish them, but that’s exactly what sets the blog apart from the rest. After all, where else will you encounter macaroni and cheese cupcakes, rootbeer-boiled bacon and beans, cheesy bacon oatmeal, honey bagoong chicken wings, champorado amaretto shots, or Lucky Me miso butter corn ramen?   Of their recipe collection, Co said, “Truth is, it’s really just random.  “But a lot of times, we scan restaurants and dishes that we personally love, then we go from there,” he noted.   More than that, Pepper.ph seems to advocate an epicurean philosophy: “eat, drink, and be merry," something that might have resonated well with the late king of comedy.   The blog is certainly not a haven for the health buff – in fact, with recipes for Wicked Oreos, Spam Chips, and food art featuring Belgian Chocolate-Dipped Bacon Strips, it's a veritable nightmare for dieters, cardiologists, and nutritionists.   But Pepper.ph makes no pretensions about health. It’s not as if it’s promoting heart attacks and cancer either, only advocating the sheer pleasure of eating.   “We're very biased towards foods that are extremely fatty, sweet and strange because those are the most entertaining ones,” said Co.   Their recipes also act as a commentary of sorts, a chronicle not only of food, but of Filipino cuisine and pop culture.   Their “food hacks,” for instance, are hilarious parodies of the most talked-about and demanded dishes of the moment, subtle mockeries of any food that is over-hyped or overpriced.   Of course, it's only done in the name of good fun and, obviously, good eats. But more than that, the recipes empower the reader-eater.   You can make a better version of KFC's Double Down, they say. You can make 3-in-1 coffee mix Starbucks-chic. You can resurrect those food items that the fast food chains have so heartlessly taken off their menus (Yes, they have a recipe for the sadly defunct McDonald's style Rice Burger).   And that is perhaps what makes Pepper.ph a food blog worth reading. They don’t just tell you where or how to eat good food, they show you how to prepare it, as if to say that food is not reactionary but participatory, not simply something to bite on and chew, but something to hold, to mold, to create, to revel in, and, in doing so, to enjoy all the more. — AC/VS, GMA News Photos courtesy of pepper.ph