PASALUBONG: A UNIQUE ZAMBOANGA TREAT

Whenever my Aunt would visit me in Manila, I always ask her to bring me sati, a street food that is very popular in (and can only be found there, I think) Zamboanga City. This is made of chicken meat that is diced in really small sizes (hardly bite sizes; you can eat it in one gulp) and comes with a really mean sauce for dipping. It'd blow your head off, but it's really unforgettable stuff (think red cayenne pepppers). Sati de Zamboanga is actually its the city's version of satay, pretty much something that can also be found in other Southeast asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia (may have originated in Java).

Tip: Keep the sauce refrigerated. It easily spoils, usually within the day it is made. This is because of its coconut content.

THE ANTIPOLO CATHEDRAL (PART TROIS)

Outside the cathedral, commerce thrives. Mention any familiar fastfood in Metro Manila, they're all here just hidden around the corner. It's just like being in Baguio or something except that the metro is just a minutes away from here by car or by jeepney.

Near the gate, I decided to light a brown candle with two human figures. The girl said this is for thanksgiving. Indeed, how apt - thanksgiving for the graces of 2007 and for those to come this new year.

Candles for all occassions. There are candles for all kinds of requests: Brown (thanksgiving), Yellow (health), White ("kahilingan" or request), blue (peace), green (business). The multicolored ones are for the family. Cute.

PASALUBONG CORNER

When in Antipolo, tourists think only of two things to bring back home to loved ones: kasuy (cashew nuts) and suman (rice cakes wrapped in coconut leaves).

This is my all-time favorite. It's been roasted with the skin on so it's nutty and with a slight bitterness to it, too. And it's not oily like what happens to peanuts.

This is my next favorite. It's what they call "plain" because it is not salted. Just simple cashew goodness. This is perfect for summer salads.

The kasuy goes the adobo route in this new version. It is garlicky and salty. Very tasty because cashew nuts usually do not have a pronounced flavor. During fiesta season (December 8), the tallest glass could cost Php 150 per, but for lean season like now, it's down to Php 50/glass.

And of course, kakanin! Here we have the famous Antipolo suman and those wrapped in banana leaves are sapin sapin. The latter can be had at Php 100 for 4 packs. Not very mind blowing. Ask first if they are new as old kakanin has that oxidized coconut oil aftertaste.

The panotsa - shelled peanuts embedded in pure brown sugar.

And - wierd enough - glazed pili nuts. These are not local produce.

Until my next visit! Thanks so much!

PASALUBONG: TARTS! TARTS!

The earliest record of egg tarts in the East is in a royal banquet for the Kangxi Emperor as part of the Manchu Han Imperial Feast. Egg tarts were then introduced in Hong Kong in the 1940's, probably as an adaptation of the English custard tarts.

In 1989, the Lord Stow's Bakery was opened in Macau and has continued to expand throughout Asia including the Philippines, where these eggs tarts are a hit and would be a much bigger hit if only they were not so expensive. Anyway, I got myself a 6-piece box from this outlet along Ongpin St., Binondo, Manila.


Using the puff pastry method, the crust is very crisp even when placed in the fridge, but these are best eaten warm. You can pop them in a toaster first. Heavenly!

The Lord Stow's version is based on the original Portuguese tarts called pasteis de nata. Portuguese-style egg tarts were evolved from "pastel de nata", a traditional Portuguese custard pastry that consists of custard in a crème brûlée-like consistency caramelized fashion in a puff pastry case.

It was created more than 200 years ago by Catholic nuns at the Jerónimos Monastery at Belém in Lisbon. Casa Pastéis de Belém was the first pastry shop outside of the convent to sell this pastry in 1837, and it is now a popular pastry in every pastry shop around the world owned by Portuguese descendants.

The Portuguese-style egg tarts known in Macau (Chinese: 葡式蛋撻, more commonly simply as 葡撻) originated from Lord Stow's Café in Coloane, owned by a Briton named Andrew Stow. Stow modified the recipe of pastel de nata using techniques of making English custard tarts. (Source: Wickipedia)

PASALUBONG: DURIAN! DURIAN! DURIAN!

B.C., who just returned from a trip to the Western Visayas, gifted me with some of the best things one can possibly ask in life. Ha ha, that was pure exaggeration, of course, but being Davao born, there is no way I'd turn down anything that has to do with the king of all fruits - the durian. But these durian products come with a clincher - they come from Negros Occidental, home to the majestic Mount Kanlaon. These products are from the farms of the Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., Hacienda Candelaria (which is racked by labor issues and exploitation, but that's another story) and produced by Reliance Core, Inc. in the town of San Enrique.


Durian in a bottle. Now, there's no more reason not to bring this king of fruits anywhere now that the smell has been hermetically sealed in a easy-to-carry bottle. For the longest time, the actual fruit has been banned in public vehicles and hotels.

O.M.G. I have always been a fan of durian. We used to have durian every now and then when it was in season during my childhood days in Davao. The air then would be filled with the characteristic pungency that has made durian both loved and hated by many Filipinos. The newest variety, a mix of the Davao and Thai varieties, already has no smell but has the same great taste. I still prefer the Davao variety because although it is not as meaty as its Thai counterpart, it tastes so much better. As for this bottled version, try not to use it as bread jam. Pointless. Scoop it out and eat it as it is. It's soooo good, I swear.

Chips galore. For those who want to eat durian but cannot afford to lug around the bottle, there's the chips version. I can only imagine how many seeds it took to make one bag of chips considering that the meat isn't that much.

These have faint nutty tones and the durian flavor is just somewhat subtle. If blindfolded, you wouldn't guess you're eating dried durian fruit.

ECJ Farms
Reliance Core Co., Inc.

Hacienda Candelaria, San Enrique

Negros Occidental

Tel. Nos. (034) 460.3186

PASALUBONG LILIW: DITO NA TAYO SA Y.S.L. !!!

Liliw is on the southern side of Laguna and rests at the foot of yet another mountain - the mystical Banahaw. It is said to be the Footwear Capital but again, footwear makers of Carcar in Cebu and those in Marikina City wouldn't be happy with this claim.

What the heck. Let's just call Liliw the Tsinelas Capital, shall we?Anyway, I'm glad to be finally here. This is my second stop here in Laguna in what is a dizzying tour of this beautiful province. There's just too much to see! And Liliw is one town no visitor to Laguna should ever miss. Founded in 1571 by Gat Tayaw, it is 17 kilometers away from Santa Cruz, Laguna's capital.

According to a story, Liliw got its name from a bird. It was said that Gat Tayaw and his followers decided to erect a bamboo pole and to name the town after the bird that would first alight at the top of the pole within four days. A crow, however, was the first bird to alight on the pole. A crow was considered bad and so Gat Tayaw and his men moved south and erected another bamboo pole. A beautiful bird alighted on the pole and sang, "Liw, Liw, Liw". Thus the town became Liliw.

Throughout the Spanish regime, the name Liliw was used. When the Americans came, it became Lilio since the Americans found it easier to pronounce it than Liliw. However, on June 11, 1965, the municipal council passed Resolution No. 38-S-65 which declared Liliw as the official name and spelling of the town to avoid confusion in pronouncing and spelling it. (Source: Wickipedia)

The historical relics of Liliw are compiled and found in Bahay Laguna that also houses some souvenirs and tokens of the late governor of Laguna, F. San Luis. This museum is found in Barangay Bungkol, Magdalena. It's a newly opened community museum where you can find samples of the great arts and crafts of the province. I hope to visit it soon when I return. No photos of the church for now. My camera ran out of battery on the way there, grrrr.

My hosts brought me here at YSL which turned out to mean YARI SA LILIW (Made in Liliw), ha ha! Don't you just love Pinoy humor?

Sandals here start Php 70 and can go up to Php 150 per pair. You can always ask for a discount.

The men's sandals surprisingly look very modern!


A Laguna native warned me about buying shoes in Liliw. They are said to be very uncomfortable. Maybe we should just leave the shoe making to Marikina, eh? The sandals are just to die for already!

For a few hundred bucks, you can bring home so much more from Liliw, but the experience is just priceless! I really hope to be back.

PASALUBONG: STREET CAKES (JARO)

I have no great fear of street food. I always take the chance of finding out how street food taste like. Wherever there is a queue or a crowd, I always try to find out what the commotion is all about. You can say that this is a quintessential Filipino trait - to be perpetually curious.

In Jaro, I chanced upon a row of shops on the street selling something in brown paper bags. We walked past them, but I just couldn't contain my curiousity and went back to one and asked what was inside. A-ha! Miniature rice cakes or bibingka! At Php 20 per bag with around 10 cakes, it was a steal. The cakes were tasty, redolent of coconut milk. It was worth the risk.


The cakes are cooked under a stack of burning wood and hot ash.

Miniature bibingka delights in a paper bag!

PASALUBONG: BULAD = TUYO

Bulad is Visayan for dried fish. It comes from the word, uhm, "bulad" which means to dry in the sun. In Tagalog, it is called tuyo from the the word "tuyo" which simply means dry. See the difference in context? :-)

TELL TALE SIGNS

Filipinos have this unbreakable habit of bringing favors or gifts from their trips to the provinces or from abroad.

Called pasalubong, about 30% of the travel budget goes to buying food items, those lousy "I've been to ___ and all I got was this lousy shirt!" shirts, and other kutingtings or small items like wallets, key chains, etc. It would be akin to mortal sin not to bring people back home something, anything at all because they would feel slighted or what we normally call as tampo, thinking that we didn't think of them while were away.

Me and my cousins have stopped doing this practice as it has become very expensive to buy for everyone who knew you were away. I only buy food items for the household. These days, we just take tons and tons of photos and tell our folks back home stories.

Lately, I was at the aging Manila Domestic Airport to fetch my cousin when it occured to me that you can tell where people came from by their pasalubongs. My cousin, who flew in from Cebu brought, predictably enough, Cebu's famed otap (long, flat flaky crusted pastry sprinkled with sugar), dried mangoes and danggit (flattened dried fish). I saw one or two passengers carry out boxed Lechon Cebu (suckling pig; will discuss soon why Lechon Cebu is special). Hopefully those came from Talisay, home to Cebu's lechon products.

From Bacolod or Iloilo, there would be boxes of biscocho or piayas (no English equivalent, sorry). From Mindanao, flowers (orchids) or fruits (durian?). What do people bring from Aklan or Legazpi? What do people bring from Zamboanga? Would you know?



What do you usually bring back to Manila from your provincial trips? Leave me ideas.

PASALUBONG: MARANG

One of the perks of visiting the Visayas is the chance to eat fruits that most Manila people find unusual or exotic. Marang is one of them. Sold at Php 35/each here in Bacolod, it sells at Php 50+ in SM Malls.

The Johey Oak (Artocarpus odoratissimus), also called Marang and Tarap, is a tree related to Jackfruit, Cempedak, and Breadfruit, native to Borneo. Once opened, the marang should be consumed quickly (in a few hours), as it loses flavour rapidly and fruit oxidises. The seeds are also edible after boiling or roasting. More here.

The tree is not cold tolerant (as is the breadfruit). It can grow between latitude 15º north and south, and in coastal regions where temperatures never stay under 7 ºC. It is cultivated for its fruit in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and southern Thailand. The species is largely grown for local consumption; the short shelf-life of the fruit limits its wider use.

Information source: Wickipedia
Photos: Dylan Yap Gozum, Bacolod 2006