Looking for basil

The supermarkets we normally frequent did not have fresh basil leaves we needed to flavor the Thai beef dish we were planning to serve. An appointment at Eastwood City led us to Robinsons Choice and presto! We found what we wanted. For .06 gms, we paid P12 which meant a kilo was P200. We noted a rather extensive selection of wines, mainly from California. They have some from Chile like Gato Negro at P253 a bottle. A friend recommended the Turning Leaf red from Ernesto and Julio Gallo at P536.25.

In their dairy section we found various cheese spreads (flavored with sambal, which should have an exotic taste, onions and cumin) from Holland under the Frico/Stankie brand, for P39.25 each. The good thing about this is it comes in small containers (less than 150 gms), ideal for small families. Our favorite Camembert goes for P116.25. For bakers, there is soy bean-based Golden Swirl non-dairy pastry topping at P126.25 per tetrapak. Another brand of cheese spread is Galaxy, also flavored with herbs and onions at P82.50 per. Also in two sizes is Formaggio Parmesan. We like the smaller one because this type of cheese has the tendency to dry up, making it difficult to pour when stored in the refrigerator.

Choice also has fresh tamarind, and there is nothing like this for sinigang. They have a lot of Japanese products, including dried seaweeds for making soup. Bottled specialties from Leyenda are tempting–mixed vegetables at P295 and artichokes at P353.35. Magnolia chicken is at P86 a kilo, pork pigue and kasim at P125 and beef kenchi at P125, a bit higher than in wet markets.

Our Choice visit came after we had a delectable sampling of what the restaurant called Twist offers. As this belongs to the family that owns and manages Una Mas Mingoy, we expected a lot of Spanish specialties, but this time with some sort of a "twist" the group’s younger generation has injected into each dish. Take the Cochinillo for instance, instead of the traditional liver sauce, it is served with a brown sauce with the very evident taste of green and red peppers. Lunch buffet every Sunday is P350.

From Eastwood we moved to Greenhills for some of their tiangge items. Needless to say, we had to stop at Unimart which is always full of good buys. One side of the structure is undergoing renovation, so we suggest you enter through the main entrance or the side door. Lots of biscuits, from Japan, the US, Australia are on special sale. Among the other good offers are Paul’s thick cream (259 ml) at P25.75, slightly cheaper than the more popular brand; Libby’s 46-ounce bottled juices, including grape at P105.50; a line of Sir Thomas Lipton tea at P125. Black frozen cod is a bit pricey at P875 a kilo. You might want to get the salmon belly at P149.50 a kilo or the squid at P89.50. One of the easiest ways to prepare the belly is to marinate it in teriyaki sauce and fry in olive oil. From the freezers, we noted some Japanese products such as gyosa at P54 each, fish rolls at P62.85 and siomai at P180.95.

While we have a good recipe for curry (normally chicken or prawns) we always include a block or two of prepared curry cakes for a more authentic taste. At Unimart this comes in two sizes, normal and small (40 gms) under the Lavani brand, which costs P125.85, good for at least two recipes.

The meat section is dominated by MC Bunye products–ground round at P170 a kilo, pork spare ribs at P165. The fresh section offers maya-maya at P200 a kilo (rather high), salay-salay for P100, squid for P150, Señora lapu-lapu for P350 and bangus for P120.

The rains must have pushed the prices of vegetables to a record high. We got 140 gms of chicharo for P26.90, thus a kilo would be P200; Baguio beans were at P72 a kilo, cabbage at P56 and cilantro (kinchay) at P172.50 a kilo.

You need at least the whole morning or a leisurely afternoon to really look at all the items in Unimart, because you will definitely find some unique buys. Unfortunately that day we were rushing. There’s always a next time.