I was late to the party, so now I’m currently catching up with the NBC show Hannibal which you can watch on ‘Netflix’. Never really bothered to watch it until now partly because just by looking at Mads Mikkelsen, I didn’t think the role suited him. But it actually does because if you put aside the Silence of the Lambs film and Anthony Hopkins, it’s a totally different uhm, monster. Haven’t read the book so I’m not sure what age Dr. Lecter is, but having him in a much younger body presents a different physicality, perspective and taste.

Whereas I’m sure Hopkin’s Hannibal would be satisfied with proper China, heirloom cutlery and conservative French cooking techniques, Mikkelsen’s is something you might have at a purposely hushed Michelin starred New York restaurant. It’s the theatrics that can sometimes be off-putting in this show which extends to murders so stylised that you begin to suspect, the show’s set stylist probably also does the food.

And the food! The parade of meat- prepped, cooked, styled and given as much airtime as the murders themselves (the victims after all, have a very close connection with the meat) - has given me a craving.

Don’t normally eat a lot of beef but when we ordered our meats when the 2nd lockdown started, I thought what the hell, let’s get 2 kilos of prime eye fillet (which is also known as beef tenderloin and filet mignon).

Two kilos is actually a whole lot of meat- was able to divide it into three generous portions/meals. I’ve been craving Bistek Tagalog & Beef Salpicao so I decided to do both.

Used two heads of garlic and nearly 40 grams of butter. Fried the beef in three batches- didn't even need to cook them that long. I added two large white onions and dried shiitake mushrooms which I didn't mix in with the beef. Cut up a large potato into medallions and deep fried them- this is what dad did when he made his Bistek Tagalog, though at the last minute, I changed my mind about adding lemon juice because the thing is, it’s never really the same as calamansi.

My only complaint and reminder? Use high-end butter, preferably French. You’d want to taste that creamy, buttery note that melds with the Kikkoman..oh well, there’s two more portions to go.