Food, food, food

No matter what is happening around us, we all need to eat…to live. To some people to live is to eat. Culinary techniques are ever evolving, chefs are always innovating and we continue to buy what is on offer. In the course of visiting markets and going to trade fairs, we note how the industry has grown and how some traditional food items have changed to meet the challenge of the so-called ‘new taste’ or nouvelle cuisine.

Chicken is no longer only for frying and making tinola. Bounty, which has invaded the market rather quietly, recently introduced processed products side by side with their fresh frozen supply. Incidentally, we got the information that the reason why large (1.5 kgs and above) chickens are not available is because there is very little demand. If there is demand, they can easily raise chicken to the desired size. Anyway, they now have (available in supermarkets) Chicken Ham Ball (P255) and longganisa, which should be good for people who want to stay away from pork. At a recent demonstration, Bounty showed how easy it is to make your own chicken ham, with the most basic equipment like two giant biscuit cans over either a charcoal or electric pot.

Vitalife Deli Products, which raises chicken in Laguna and Batangas, is now open for dealership and distributorship for their new line of tocino, tapa, burger patties, ham, bologna and marinated chicken cuts. Their packaging ranges from 200 gms to 1 kilo. They can do house branding.

Bugong (pronounced bug-ong by the natives of Batangas) was originally binalot (wrapped) chicken. Today in its various outlets in YP Sucat and Evacom, Parañaque, it is roasted after marinating in a special Oriental mixture, with hints of lemon and honey. The chicken is tender and weighs about 1.1 kgs. Price is between P150 and P160.

Chik n Run from Pasig has products one can get if in a rush. The collection of burgers, chunks, steak and wraps with mashed potatoes is distributed by Spencer Foods Corporation. Likewise they have the unique mantou (meaning bread in Chinese) bread sticks, which are flour wraps stuffed with corned beef, beef kebabs, Spanish sardines, among others. The taste is very Chinese. A pack of ten (your choice of flavors or you can mix) costs P130.

Bangus the delicious fish has gone a long way from daing and paksiw that it used to be among housewives and their families. Dagupan Prime from Pangasinan recently transformed their Bonuan Bangus into gourmet items, packed attractively, fit for export. Their Gourmet Line has Herb and Tomato (super!!!), Pesto and Terriyaki flavored daing. Each is about 280/300 gms. The packs we got though did not have the sauce, supposed to have been in a pillow plastic container inside each pack. This is one daing that is very flavorful and needs no dip (sawsawan) anyway. Retail price is from P90 each.

Daing na biya is one native delicacy that our family always wants on our breakfast table. This is also perfect for a simple lunch, served with achara (of radish or papaya). CFE from Cavite sells this at P50 a pack.

A bottle of Guava Vinegar attracted us recently. This is by Natureinspired (that’s how they spell it in their business card) Objects of Desire Enterprise. With a name like that, one can’t really ignore it. They say they use wild guava (whatever that means) in making this type of vinegar.

Antonio Pueo tablia (chocolate disk) now comes in two variants: plain choco and another with skim milk, which means you only add water. P60 per.

Allow us to caution you about going to the malls. Some bad elements are very active in these places. A quick hand dipped into a friend’s bag in a Las Piñas mall and got her wallet; another was somewhat luckier because the cashier of the shop saw the man grab her bag. While the security people caught him, the bag was minus her cellular phone when recovered. Beware then of people (they come in teams) who innocently walk very close to you.