There are holiday staples such as jamon and queso as there are old time favorites that we perhaps do not pay as much attention to but are just as important to complete our festive experience - fruit salad, is an example.

A few days ago, while walking down the supermarket aisle, I saw gift packs that consisted of bundled up fruit cocktail and cream. The first thought that came to mind was, people must be tired of making the same fruit salad year after year.

I took the liberty of asking my friends for their recipes and their fondest fruit salad memories. What an interesting collection it came out to be.

Chef Babes Austria
Chef Babes remembered her time as Presidential Executive Chef to Pres. Gloria Arroyo.

"Malacanang is surrounded with fruit bearing trees including coconuts. I was inspired to use the "mala-uhog" (baby coconuts) hanging just in front of the room of the President."

The coconuts of uniformed sizes were hand picked, cut equally in half and used as bowls to serve the cold fruit salad during the state visit of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Recipe:
1 pc fresh Buko , cut in half (reserved the juice, use as liquid to make pandan jello)
100 gr. papaya, cubed
100 gr. melon , cubed
calamansi juice
50 gr. watermelon seedless, cut into cubes
25 gr. fresh jackfruit, cut into cubes
1 pcs banana lakatan, sliced
1 tbsp kaong
1 tbsp nata de coco
1 tbsp macapuno
1 tbsp fresh green pinipig
1 cup Buko Pandan jello, cut into cubes
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
1 scoop ube ice cream
Add a little kalamansi juice to bananas and papaya, mix
Arrange fresh fruits on buko shell
Add kaong, nata de coco, macapuno
Serve with 2 scoops of ice cream
Garnish with pinipig

Lillian Borromeo - Food Historian
Aching Lillian's fruit salad is an heirloom recipe that she learned from her grandmother Doña Maura Hizon Lorenzo. It was the first thing she learned to make, recalling how proud her grandmother was when she made her first homemade mayonnaise by hand - the kind best used for this recipe. According to her, back then, fruit salad was served only during Christmas as it was only at this time that the ingredients were available.

Recipe:
2 cans fruit cocktail
1 cup fresh Delicious apples
1 cup peaches
1 1/2 cup whipped cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp sugar
Chill all fruits - cocktail, apples and peaches separately
When cold drain fruit cocktail and peaches
Combine fruits and add sugar. Mix
Fold whipped cream into mayonnaise
Add fruits to cream, gently fold
Serve as is or freeze


Chef J Gamboa
One of J's earliest memories was helping make fruit and buko salads at his mom Julie's old MilkyWay restaurant on Aguado St., San Miguel Manila.

"I remember the aroma of the sweet Nestle canned creme that filled the cold kitchen. Dozens of cans of Del Monte Fruit cocktail opened, poured through a huge strainer for draining before being mixed into the cold creme."

1 can Fruit Cocktail (825g), chilled and drained
1/3 cup All Purpose Cream, chilled
1 can Condensed Milk (387g)m chilled
1 tbs Mayonnaise
In a bowl, combine all ingredients.
Mix well.
Chill until ready to serve.

Beth Romualdez - Food Consultant / Cookbook Author
Tita Beth perfected her fruit salad when she was in High School by experimenting to combine different ingredients to create her version of it. She calls it "my ultimate comfort dessert!"

Recipe:
2 medium cans Del Monte fruit cocktail , drained
1 medium can peach halves, drained and cut into cubes
¼ cup raisins (sultana is best)
1 cup shredded young coconut
1 big can of Nestle’s cream or whipped cream
½ cup of condensed milk (adjust to taste)
3 ripe lacatan bananas, cut into rounds
In a bowl combine fruit cocktail, peaches, raisins, and shredded young coconut.
Add the Nestle’s cream and the condensed milk (adjust for sweetness).
Cut the bananas into rounds and add to the bowl.
Serve well chilled or slightly frozen.
*You can add ½ cup canned corn kernels and 1/3 cup cheddar cheese cut into small cubes, if you wish

Chef Sau del Rosario
Sau grew up in Angeles City. In the summer, his mother, Lutgarda, took them to Mexico, Pampanga where her sister Gloria lived with her husband Marcelo Nazal.

Sau recalled, "my Tito Marcelo took us boys to go farming while the girls brought us some food for lunch and merienda."

"One merienda dish I remembered that I really liked was this recipe because it was very refreshing and appropriate to beat the hot, sunny weather."

Recipe:
150 g fresh avocado from our backyard, scooped out
200 g mabolo, cut into cubes
200 g bananas
150 g mangoes
150 g watermelon, cubed, no seeds
100 g Kesong Puti (that we used to get from our neighbor)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp condensed milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
In a bowl, gently mix to combine all ingredients
Cool for at least 1 hour.
Cut banana leaves and shape them into cones
Wrap fruit salad in banana leaves and seal with a toothpick.

Chef Jessie Sincioco
Jessie and her Aunt Lita Dy plan their Media Noche feast annually. The duo always comes up with something different but in Jessie's words, " the only thing that should always be present is my Aunt's special fruit salad. She makes it so special. It is my most favorite thing on the menu! She peels the grapes one by one, adds fresh mangoes, fresh coconut, etc! There was a time she added chico and it was super good! I always have a little of everything but get the biggest serving of fruit salad."

Recipe:
1 can Libby's or Del Monte Fruit Cocktai, drained
1 small can Libby's or Del Monte Peach Halves, drained & cut into cubes
meat from 3 fresh bukos, scraped from shell using a spoon, drained
2 pcs ripe mango, cut into cubes
20 pcs green seedless grapes, peeled
100 gms kaong, drained
1 can Nestle's cream (300 ml)
1 can Milkmaid condensed milk (150 ml)
100 gms Velveeta Cheese, (50 gms. grated/50 gms diced)
1/2 pint Mango ice cream
Mix all the friuits, kaong & cheese in a bowl
Add the cream, condensed milk and mango ice cream
Chill before serving