Struggling through a bazaar

If you don’t have enough energy, skip the bazaars, especially those held in parking areas and open spaces. Struggling through any of these holiday markets can be very unnerving, and they are not necessarily cheap either – prices have gone up. Vendors blame it on the tax that is now being imposed by the BIR. Question is, will they really pay the taxes? How will they be monitored?

This brings us back to consumer complaints. We have it from a reliable source that unless one knows somebody at the DTI, any letter from consumers will end up in the trash bin. What are we paying their salaries for?

Anyway, we are glad to note that while government seems to turn a deaf ear to people’s concerns, some private business establishments do listen to feedback from their customers. SM is one of them. Gladly we noted that they have changed the half-kilo tags on their meat products to one-kilo rates. There will no longer be any confusion.

SM Makati is always teeming with people, especially now that the Christmas season has begun. On one side of the entrance, fruit stalls offer all the holiday harvest, locally grown and imported. One is hard pressed to choose which supplier to patronize. Dizon sells mangoes for P84 a kilo; mangosteen is at P170. There are Japanese and US pears, durian, grapes, apples, pineapples and the exotic dragon fruit. 

Enter the supermarket and you will be bombarded by so many sales – from food stuff to houseware – it could be difficult to stick to a budget. In the meat section, there are items that are tagged a few pesos less than in similar outlets. Big Mama is a brand selling ground round beef at P138 a kilo and lean ground pork at P146. Farm Fresh kasim is at P159 while sliced pata goes for P144. We have three marinade suggestions using pork lomo, which should be sliced thin and maybe pounded to make the meat extra tender. One is mixing mustard with soy sauce, garlic and olive oil. The two others are made by combining Worcestershire sauce with white wine, garlic and olive oil; and mixing oyster sauce with white onions and again olive oil. Brocolli florets can be added when done. These can be stir-fried, baked or grilled.

The price of potatoes rose to P96 a kilo while cabbage is now tagged at P100 a kilo. Other SM good buys are: buy-1-take-1 Royal hamon de bola at P204, Magnolia queso de bola (350 gms) for P171. Stock up on what you will need for the holidays.

On the lower level, where kitchenware selections are, you’d find what you need for packaging your gifts or for serving your holiday food. There are lots of attractive platters, trays or bowls either plain or in vibrant colors. We found white ceramic jars with covers for our chicken liver paté. The medium size ones cost P39.75 each, nearly a third of what they’d be priced in some specialty stores. The large ones cost P10 more each. Across this section is a collection of native baskets. We got the woven tampipi-type at P29.75, where we’ll put the paté jars. Tied with ribbon in Christmas colors, they’ll be very pretty.

Erratum – we need to correct a telephone number we had in a previous column. Josefina’s Ham, located in 87 Kanlaon street in Sta. Mesa Heights, Quezon city, can be reached at 514-4448, 734-2024.

To avoid being caught in a frenzy of Christmas dinners and activities, it might be more practical to set your parties ahead of Christmas week. Plan for December 20 or earlier.

Be sure to go through your holiday lists once again.

E-mail comments and questions to: [email protected].