No end to malunggay innovations

Once something gets started, it normally causes a domino effect, with ideas spreading and everybody getting involved. This has happily happened to the malunggay. There is malunggay pesto sauce, chips, and pills. And now, the new malunggay ice cream, concocted by Butchie’s Recipes of Pampanga, the same innovative company that developed the Ebun frozen ice cream made from salted eggs, which tastes like cheese. The creamy malunggay dessert is sold (500 gms a tub) at Butchie’s Recipes of Pampanga on Wilson Street, Greenhills, San Juan. This is one way to have kids eat vegetables.

Before specialty restaurants mushroomed around the city, there was Mario’s, first in Baguio, where it earned plaudits for its pizza, then in Quezon City (Tomas Morato Avenue) which we frequented with foodie friends, where we had really good paella, crisp Caesar’s salad, tenderloin steak, roast beef, turkey, and our favorite, canonigo. A visit to the restaurant a few days ago was an effort well compensated. Mario’s has undergone quite a change, physically and culinary-wise, but retains a homey ambiance and traditional flavors. The owners have coined the phrase, “Dining the Mario’s way,” which is very apt, because their dishes are all original. Mario’s would put to shame the so-called “innovations” of some experimenting modern chefs.

The place evokes nostalgia, even if modern elements have been incorporated with the old look. The new windows allow for a brighter dining area and a view of the garden, the bar has Zen-inspired decor and there’s the Cordillera Hip, where baskets, bulols and old photos of Baguio blend with modern paintings and bright, colorful linen. The day when we dined there, oysters Rockefeller, their almost institutionalized Caesar’s salad, paella, callos, and baby back ribs, did not fail to whet our appetite for more. After satiating ourselves, we settled down with coffee and canonigo. Call Mario’s for meetings and celebrations, or simply drop by for a hearty meal.

There’s this German gentleman, Leopold, who has settled with his Filipino wife in Angeles, Pampanga. A whiz at making breads, he has opened Angel’s Bake Shop (0927-8206846) in Hensonville, off Robinson’s mall in the center of town. A good friend who is always in search of delicious food discovered this couple and today is a regular patron. Angel’s breads have become so popular that his daily production goes so fast he always has to close his shop by 3 p.m. We particularly like the whole wheat, rye, French, and cinnamon which we have tried, taking bite after bite, while still in the car en route home. We have yet to try his croissants which he promised to make the next time we visit. He sells rye bread in three sizes – small for P75, normal at P120, large at P170. Wheat bread is P70 and P60, croissants are P30 each, pretzels at P20 per, and cinnamon rolls are P30 each.

We sampled the Fiorgelato pure Italian ice cream. Our kids love the premuim Ciocco Nociolla. Chocnut flavor, on the other hand, uses no less than pistachio nuts. The consistency, rendered by the fresh cream, is rich and the nut content is generous. Get an ice cream treat the next time you visit a store.

We think supermarkets should include their phone numbers in their receipts so customers will not have a difficult time contacting them. Also, some supermarkets do not have the price per kilo of items such as meat and vegetables in their computerized system. Customers like us always refer to per kilo cost for proper budgeting. Magnolia chicken is an exception. Each of their fowls has a tag that has full details on its legs, unit price, weight and actual cost of any specific piece.

Now we realize there is logic in what a lot of people say – “sa dyario (or TV) lang po yun.” We used to simply ignore this, but a few days ago, there was an announcement on television that the price of LPG has gone down to P475 a tank of 11 liters. A day after, we paid P535, with the supplier saying the price depends on the brand. Apparently we are using the more expensive one. Can we have some serious monitoring done on various prime commodities? We need a stronger consumer board to protect us.

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