In her essay, Constantino recalls how she grew up with her mother’s unique adobo without the customary soy sauce. Her mother, a tomato vendor, did not want to throw away leftover kamatis at the end of every day and found a way to make use of them in her version of the Filipino comfort food. While having adobo sa kamatis on the tale meant that business was bad for her mother that day, Constantino shares that the very family meals with heWhen the lady behind Adobo sa Kamatis turned 80 in 2013, Constantino and her siblings decided to cook the special dish to celebrate. And when she tasted the tomato infused adobo, the normally forgetful matriarch in her old age suddenly remembered every single family member’s name.