No cookbook, no recipes

When we decided to meet Rina Cu-Unjieng Andrews and her mother Marilou, we did not expect that we would soon be like old friends. But we were charmed and impressed by her cooking, more so when she said she never referred to cookbooks or published recipes but, as the saying goes, playing it by ear, or in her case playing it by taste. She has been doing well, building a steady clientele for her food. She uses garlic, herbs and spices, seasonings and wine in flavoring her dishes, successfully blending flavors and textures. Her list includes special dishes like Paella Valenciana, Pollo Iberia, pastas and dips. She operates from her house in Quezon City, tel. 713-8338.

Cost U Less in Libis was not ready to open; at least not their staff. A few days after they welcomed guests at the launch, we decided to have a look-see. The place is spacious, neat and brightly lit, but we were disappointed. Most of the employees gave us blank (dazed even) stares when we asked for certain items, and worse, one said, "Kabubukas pa lang ho namin." That is no excuse: The moment an establishment decides to start business, everyone must be prepared to answer queries and help shoppers find their way around. Anyway, we took the safest route, going from one section to another. The outlet is so Price Smart-ish, we almost expected to meet our favorite boys and girls from there. The cakes and pastries looked tempting enough. Under the Hungry Pac brand they have Double Chocolate Cake, chocolate cookies (P245 for 12 pcs), brownies for P240 ,cheesecake at P430 and oatmeal cookies at P125 per jar. The last one is good, crunchy.

The Deli has a variety of processed meat–Italian garlic sausages for P312.75 a pack, Ementhaler Brutwurst at P279.75 and Cheese Hungarian. There’s quite a collection of pre-cooked frozen food, but check the price tags. We thought we’d get the Trident 12 pc Salmon Hamburgers, until we saw its tag–P999. Durkees seasonings cover many types of cooking — barbecue, grill, ethnic, mesquite, from P129 to P249.75. Fresh chives are expensive, we might settle for the dried chopped at P229.75.

We did not look at the fresh meat section. We caught a glimpse of Butterball turkey P214.75 a kilo (there are caterers who can roast the turkey for you, from P300 to P800 a kilo, including stuffing and sauce). The fish section is a bit limited; tilapia (small ones) at P83.75, bangus at P99. The vegetables were in an upright cooler and didn’t look fresh anymore.

Among those we put into our basket were Dodo cuttlefish balls, (P257.75) which we made into soup with sotanghon, Kitchen Best’s Crab Nuggets, P47.75 a pack of 200 gms; Farmer John ham slices, 16 pcs. at P129.75; Tyson’s turkey ham for P199.75 and three types of pizzas (the family’s favorite snack food)–Jeno’s combination, Totino’s 3-meat number and Farm Rich Pizzatas (small packets)–and some instant noodles, Wai Wai brand, P42 for a pack of five. One needs a much longer time to really explore the whole store, considering the range of products they offer.

Some restaurants claim that a Senior Citizen card holder is no longer entitled to a 20% discount if the food ordered is among those on promotion. Will somebody from the proper monitoring body clarify this for us?

Our next stop will have to be the much publicized Gateway Complex at the newly upgraded Araneta Center. We received a report about a rather unpleasant experience a friend had there. They were looking forward to a good Singaporean meal and therefore chose the Rasa restaurant. But it turned out to be a struggle between keeping their cool or walking out. The Hainanese Chicken Rice did not come with rice! A request for not spicy was not heeded and unsavory jokes were heard from the cooks.

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