Supermarket prices

We spent practically the whole morning one day last week checking up on a supermarket for food and other stuff, noting their individual prices. Our stop was at the Makati Supermarket in Alabang where we came across some new items and noted some reduction in price for a few.

First off, we went through the deli items in their freezers/coolers. Breakfast, to us at least, is one of the most difficult meals to plan, considering there are not much varieties of morning food. From Purefoods, we found the spicy BBQ bacon thick cut, at P292 a pack of 500 gms. For those trying to stay away from pork, there is the Deli Beef with Angus franks tagged at P165 a pack of half a kilo.

If one prefers canned items, there is the new Liberty ham luncheon meat at P51.95 for 375 gms.

Moving on, we checked out the meat and chicken sections. We noted a drop in the price of Magnolia dressed chicken, now at P135 a kilo. Also available is ground chicken meat for P200. Monterey has short ribs at P475 a kilo, shank at P370, premium sirloin at P525 and BBQ baby back ribs at P357.

Now if you are in the mood to splurge, spoil your family, and if your pocket is deep, take the special angus beef rib eye at P7,999 a kilo. Alternatively you may opt for the cut that sells at P2,000-plus. They have other cuts – shank at P420; brisket at P429.

There is an increase in the number of imported 3-in-1 coffee brands in the market that led us to wonder how our own local producers are being affected by this phenomenon. Good Day was the first we encountered more than a month ago. Today, there are more that come from Malaysia, Singapore and even Indonesia. Glorious Blend is a complex 7-in-1 coffee mix that includes extracts from some unfamiliar herbal leaves and mangosteen. Each one of these has slight coffee flavor unique to their country of origin. We’ll take our own Great Taste anytime.

You now don’t have to make your tempura coating from scratch. Makati Supermarket has tempura batter mix, Kasugai brand and Sanwa in two sizes at P59.90 and P73.95, respectively. From the racks, we found a few mixes that can make a home cook’s task much easier. Now available are packets for chili crabs, Hainanese chicken, calamares and gambas.

The rare French beans are in the vegetable section, selling at P240 a kilo, while lettuce is at P209. Slightly cooked in butter, French beans go very well with steaks. Celery and leeks are cheaper.

We were discussing food with some foodies recently and the discussion was about cooking oils. All of them have found out that using extra virgin olive oil is not quite as healthy as we and other homemakers thought. It is recommended to use pomace, oil from the third olive extraction. We should keep that in mind, especially since it costs less.

Happy weekend cooking!

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