Last weekend was one for the books indeed.
It was a fun-filled holiday getaway in the suburbs and it was the best reunion since the pandemic occurred and its craziness. My husband, Adrien and son, Finley packed up our weekenders and headed for New Jersey. We stayed with our buddies in their spacious and stunning town house in Rockaway, NJ. It was perfect because we dropped off the baby at Grandma's, who he hasn’t seen in months. I wanted to make it an epic get together so I decided to make one night all about Filipino cuisine. I have been craving a flavorful serving of chicken adobo and the classic style Pinoy pork barbecue for quite some time now. As I was going through my Facebook account one night a few weeks ago I noticed a series of enticing and mouthwatering pics of home cooked, Filipino dishes from the talented and gorgeous Kay Habana aka “Tata”. We haven’t spoken for years but I just felt the need to reach out. I mean, if you saw these photos you’ll probably be placing a food order with Kay before you know it. I met Kay back in 2016 for an event at the Philippine Consulate and we just happened to be at the right place, right time. As we both share mutual friends in the Filipino community, I have always admired my Ate Kay’s hustle. It’s a wonderful feeling to call Kay, “Ate” (pronounced ahhh-teh) also known as older sister in an endearing, loving way even though we have no blood relation. That's just to show the warmth us Filipinos possess. What’s crazy is I’ve known Kay for all this time but this has been the first time ordering from Sweet Habana Catering.
“It’s time for some home cooking!” I said.
I was ecstatic to have been able to get an order in and work it out with the logistics of somehow transporting our massive order to Northern NJ from Queens, NY. We were long over due for some comfort food and I did not care if we had to rent a car, which we did end up doing. Getting back to the food, I then phoned my mom and asked her what it was she was absolutely craving when it came to home cooked Filipino dishes
She replied “Pancit!”, after I sent her screenshots of Kay’s business page on Facebook along with a menu. Orders should be requested within 3-4 days before delivery date. I was lucky because I got the order in on a Monday for the Saturday coming up. (Memorial Day Weekend) What’s great about the catering company is that they can deliver to Manhattan for a reasonable delivery fee starting at $25.00. So I reached out to Kay aka #bossbabe and #bossmom. It was that simple; she made it happen. Kay sent me another menu with just desserts and my mouth was salivating. I definitely did not hold back.
When we met in the city last weekend for the drop off I couldn’t help but be so thrilled. Everything was packaged so perfectly with the Sweet Habana Catering Company logo neatly visible on every cellophane wrapped dish. The best part was the personalized, "Thank you" note hand written by Kay that was placed on a fresh bag of pillowy, soft, purple ube pan de sal rolls. (It’s a purple yam paste mixed into the bread with a hint of cheese melted in the center)” It’s a feast!” I told Adrien in amazement of how much food we received. I might’ve over ordered for a party of 10 but it was meant to be a feast. I ordered a large tray of seasoned pork and chicken barbecue on a stick, a half tray of Pancit, a half tray of Bistek Ilonggo as well as a half tray of Lumpia,Shanghai spring rolls. As for dessert, it was very hard to choose but we were stoked to get a tray of ube macapuno biko and the classic biko ang ginatan. Since I have been going through an ube obsession, it was the ideal choice. These classic Pinoy desserts are essentially composed of ube aka purple yam, macapuno which is a translucent textured coconut string, more coconut and rice.
When it was time to eat, we made an impressively beautiful spread of the savory dishes then prepared for dessert fit for royalty.
Let’s just say we took it to town as everyone was pleased. I highly recommend Sweet Habana Catering company if you want true authentic Filipino food, specifically with the inspiration from the Iloilo Province. You won’t be disappointed. Check out Kay's business page on FB. (www.facebook.com/sweethabanacatering) or follow on Instagram @sweethabanacatering. I was also lucky to score some time with Kay and ask her questions about her successfully run operation. This #bossmom maintains a wonderful balance of work and home. In addition to running her full time catering business and being a wonderful mom, she also sings professionally. I needed to lean in and ask just what her secret was.
The Super Woman Behind Sweet Habana Catering Company
Kay was born in Batangas, Philippines but has spent most of her childhood in Guimaras, which is an island province in Western Visayas.
When Kay was in elementary school her mom and two sisters migrated to Canada which explains her affinity for French cuisine. This determined home chef has been cooking and baking all her life, ever since she can remember. Fast forward to when she gave birth to her son in 2003. This was when she decided she wanted to be her own boss. Kay started her business because her new role as a mom propelled her to take charge of her life and career so she was able to be with her son every chance she got.
Sweet Habana Catering has been up and running successfully for 10 plus years. Inspired by the woman, she calls Yaya-Mama as well as Julia Child, it’s no wonder that this home cook and successful entrepreneur is the best at what she does simply because she is the true definition of authentic. Kay has immersed herself in Julia Child’s brilliance as she, another home chef, played a big impact on her life and cooking techniques. Kay was introduced to the obscurity in techniques and different palates from watching her show. I was so excited to have asked Kay a couple of key questions but just being around her is delightful. That’s because she is genuinely sweet, just like her empire. DL What is your full name and where are you from? KH My full name is Kay Odessa Habana, but I prefer to be called by my Ilonggo nickname “Tata”. I maintain that it means sweetheart or the youngest, but please don’t take my word for it. Lol. DL When did you start getting busy in the kitchen? KH I started getting busy in the kitchen when I was a teen, but the culinary interest began way back when I was barely 4, maybe 5 years old. I was always a curious kid. And it certainly helped that my yaya-mama (as how my grandmother would call her) was patient with me— she indulged me in practically anything I desired to do. I remember vividly, our first cooking project. It was fried corn cakes. I even insisted on going to the store with her to buy ground corn. The rest of the ingredients were readily available in her stash. That was probably one of my first kiddie achievements. So, I started pretty early on. The education in cooking was organic but constant. Therefore, I can honestly say that I’ve had a lifetime of culinary training, if you will. Just not formally. Sweet Habana is as old as my son. Almost 17 years this October. My son is the reason I started my business. I was too in love with him that I didn't want to be away from him for even a second. I thought, having my own business would enable me to stay home and earn money at the same time. DL What are your favorite flavor combinations? KHI'm Ilonggo, so I'm tendentious to my love for the sour and salty combination. Like, Bistek. See, I'm Filipino, but I'm not a big lover of soy sauce. I feel, it hides the integral taste of any meat I'm using. And I want that integral taste to shine through. I don't want it hidden, I want it enhanced. A good dash of salt does that. However, in Bistek, I find that the combination of soy sauce and lime is just right. And it works perfectly. Another combo I love-- sweet and sour. Just because… how can one not love sweet? DL Exactly, I agree! I love sweet and sour, and I absolutely love how I can taste it in your cooking. What advice would you give to home chefs and emerging entrepreneurs regarding working for yourself during times of uncertainty? KH “Be true to your principles and values”--- I can't say that enough. When you're confident in who you are, it's easy to determine the requirements of a situation and to provide conforming solutions for them. Skill set is just as invaluable. When you are equipped with the right tools and knowledge, it's much easier to reinvent approaches to adapt to a particular situation. Always ask yourself, “what can/should I do” instead of “what's gonna happen to me now?” Mindset is a powerful thing. Train yourself to ask the premier; it allows for a wider thought process, arriving to a positive result, whereas the latter limits and diminishes your capability to think at all because you’ve already set the tone to worry. DL As a mom and entrepreneur how do you balance your time to be non stop? What motivates you? KH Simple. It's knowing what my priorities are and making sure I earnestly fulfill the responsibilities attached to them, respectively. For me, it's Faith, Family, and Business. The rest falls into place. It always does. I've come to understand from the start that my inspiration would be my children. I'm a mom, first and foremost. Everything else I do is adapted around that. If you wish to be a mother and an entrepreneur at the same time, just be sure that you are true to the principles and values you hold dear. For me, my children are my motivators. They're the paramount reason why I built this business. But, that doesn't mean that I should lose time with them. If it's starting to feel like it's too much, it probably is. Stop. Re-evaluate. Patch the holes. Tie loose ends. Take a deep breath, and resume. DL I would love to have some halo halo right now... if I wanted to make some from home can I order the ingredients on Whole Foods and get it delivered to my door? Would you share the recipe or is your halo halo recipe a secret?
KHYes! By all means, go to Whole Foods and get yourself Halo-halo ingredients. Lol. Because you can! If I only had WF for a grocery store to run to, I would pick the following: squash, yellow plantains, kidney beans, green and red jello, condensed milk, Granny Smith apple, and vanilla ice cream. I would make the candied squash first. Put aside. Cut into cubes and microwave the yellow plantains until cooked through. Cook the kidney beans in brown sugar and butter until they're drenched in that caramel. Cut the apple into small cubes. Pull out a Magic Bullet from the cabinet and grind some ice cubes. Put everything together. Et voilà! What's beautiful about halo-halo, it's an amalgam of various flavors, textures, temperatures, and consistencies that are strong enough individually, but when combined together can tell a magical story. DL Yassss!!!! Thanks for the tips, I am definitely going to take a stab at making my own version of "mix, mix" at home. Sounds like a really cool movie title if you ask me. If there was a movie called Halo Halo would you watch it? KH If there was a movie called Halo-Halo, I would love to be the main actor. Then I'd watch it! Lol. But, I would have to play an assassin because once upon a time, I really dreamed of being in a movie where I would be that tiny kick-ass Asian. Lol. I don't know the storyline yet. I'll figure it out in time.
DL There's no doubt in my mind that you'll star in the next Pinoy film production for sure. -@debbie.lefort Don’t forget to follow @sweethabanacatering on Instagram. Please feel free to drop a line or ask any questions, we would love to hear from you. https://www.instagram.com/sweethabanacatering/
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