Mail call

Every week we get quite a few messages in our e-mail for which we thank our readers. One of these was the reaction of a lady to the short paragraph we wrote about the outrageous KFC advertisement. They expressed disgust over insensitive commercials that could poison young minds. She also enquired about which body monitors television spots. Paging the Ad Board. You might also want to take note of that scandalously gyrating lady selling a cellphone.

Anyway, can you believe a quartet of women driving through rain one Saturday afternoon to Biñan, Laguna for a snack of its most famous comfort food, Tony’s Pospas (or arroz caldo)? We did and while we enjoyed the porridge, we did not fail to notice the sorry state of the town square, where vendors have appropriated the streets around the church and the municipal hall as their display area. Calling the Mayor!!!

Unimart in Greenhills always has something new on their racks. We are familiar with the plastic food savers produced by Edison. They are now into packaging Made in China dehydrated vegetables contained, of course, in their plastic tubs of 150 gms each. Among them are onions, green and red pepper, celery and carrots. Each costs P53.85. Those who make muffins and small sweets like tocino del cielo can also look at the supply of baking cups in varying sizes and designs, from P29.25 to P33.50. From the vegetable section we noted white onions at P17 a kilo, tomatoes at P35 and calamansi at P47.50.

A walk through Makati Supermarket in Alabang led us to their seafood section where a fourth of a kilo of sautéing shrimps cost us more than P100. Whenever we are in this store, we always get kikiam from its Chinese deli, right before the entrance. Price has not changed–P40 each and this makes pancit very flavorful. You need to fry it slightly and then slice diagonally. Add to the palaman when almost done.

These days, we would all do well to hold on to our purses and mind our budgets very carefully. We advise you to make a list every time you set out to do your marketing. It is expected that gas prices will go up again; in fact, LPG now costs P374 a tank. We used to spend about P800 for a full tank. Now it is almost P1000. That means a good 10% to 20% increase in food money will have to be considered. Even big warehouse-type outlets like PriceSmart have hiked their prices, specially the meat. Incidentally, they have the best Norwegian salmon (from P500 plus a pack) for serving as sashimi.

Our search for seabass yielded a call from someone who regularly has this in stock. A lady called Joy Barcelon has a regular supply of fresh and frozen fish and prawns, including seabass (P250 a kilo), tuna sashimi, panga, salmon gindara, asohos, etc. They give free recipes and deliver without extra charge. Telephone contact is 807-6644.

We got information about the new products of Monterey Meat Shop and San Miguel PureFoods. From the former is luncheon meat made of pure Australian beef. The latter has just introduced PureFoods Supreme Cane Vinegar and LOTR (Lord of the Rings) chicken popcorn and chicken hotdogs. This should be exciting for the kids.

Now doing Alfresco service, more like late evening snacking, is Una Mas at Greenbelt 3, starting at 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Tables and chairs are set up outside and a buffet of delicious Spanish pica-pica is offered. Try their chicken croquettes and the new Balut ala Pobre ( we assure you’ll hardly see the bird), and the Pulpo, baby octopus as only Una Mas’ super chef Amalia can cook. To complete the Iberian fare, sangria is served. One day, we will take Amalia’s invitation to be at her kitchen to watch her make her super Salpicao, a dish we have not yet quite mastered.

There is this so-called super microwave oven, the Micromax hydrothelmal cooking equipment that is being sold on television. The oven has three sources of heat, including convection and comes with cooking trays — for roasting chicken, grilling steaks and steaming or making soups. This would be practical for people who are pressed for time to cook. Prawns are cooked in 2 minutes and chicken is done in 9. A set of bake ware is also thrown into the package.