Bottled Philippine delicacies

MR Cuisine chief executive officer Teresa Dula Laurel began developing sauces in 1988 as a Christmas gift to media friends and food critics. At that time, she already had a company called Cater King Food Corp., which owned the Goto King franchise.

The bottled homemade recipes, especially Laurel’s pioneering working with spicy boneless tuyo and spicy dried swordfish flakes in oil, were such a hit that there was a clamor for her to make these available year-round.

Two years later, she began selling the bottled Philippine delicacies in all Goto King outlets under the brand name, Mama Rosa, in honor of her mother, Rosa Eco Dula. Today, MR Cuisine produces 37 Filipino delicacies, including six kinds of vinegar, five pickled dishes and eight spicy fish preparations. Aside from the 39 Goto King outlets, the Mama Rosa label is available in upscale supermarkets, two Mama Rosa restaurants, and a kiosk at the Shangri-La mall.

"We want to increase our outlets via distributors who wish to put up Mama Rosa carts in partnership with MR Cuisine," said Laurel.

Filipino pride

Mama Rosa products are also sold in Filipino stores abroad, supplied by balikbayans who purchased by the cartons whenever they are in the Philippines. MR Cuisine is, however, preparing to formally enter the foreign market by joining international trade fairs.

"In the late 1980s, the Filipino products on the shelves of American stores were morbid-looking. The packages were bursting and the quality itself was in question. At that time, we were completing only against Thailand-made bagoong (sautéed shrimp fry) and the like. Today, you see Vietnamese products already there while ours have lagged behind, especially in terms of variety," she said.

Such was not the case during an ASEAN exhibit in Tokyo late last year.

"People were stalking our booth, waiting for the regular food sampling or taste tests. They couldn’t wait. When they saw us mixing something, they would start lining up and asking what it was we were serving this time," said Dula. "I realized then that we need to introduce true Filipino cuisine abroad. To them, it’s a new product, a new taste."

A crowd favorite was mango salsa, a mixture of green mangoes, onions, tomatoes, coriander and bagoong. When the green mangoes ran out, Laurel did the same salsa, using green apples with the same delicious results.

Mama Rosa crab fat and fish roe sauce were also in demand among sushi bar owners.

"Mama Rosa is for serious eaters and serious cooks. We have stuck to our original formulation for the last 15 years," said Dula. "Sometimes, after attaining commercial success, other manufacturers are tempted, for example, not to use olive oil anymore. But our customers know the high quality of our products. You can store our bottles in the refrigerator and you will find no hard fat or sebo. Our recipes are also not salty because we take extra care in choosing the quality of our dried fish. We ferment our own shrimp fry or alamang," she said.

With such a commitment to food quality, MR Cuisine is clearly ready to introduce more Filipino delicacies to the world.