Will Biñan follow?

A few years ago, San Pedro, Laguna transfered its market to a clean two-level building, while Sta. Rosa recently opened its new wet market in Sta. Rosa Estate in Barrio Don Jose, right off the highway leading to Tagaytay. A few days ago, we made another trip to our hometown Biñan and saw the market still in a state of disarray, with sidewalk vendors hawking their wares on the muddy street. Could it be possible for this town, my town, to follow what her neighboring communities have done to improve their public markets? The last we heard, the mayor was doing a beautification program. We wonder how this has been going.

We still enjoyed what Biñan had to offer: pospas from Tony’s and puto and kutsinta from Nila’s. We were in search of kandule and settled for the small ones, which we got at P60 for 20 pieces and therefore spent less than P150 to make dinilawan for a delicious family lunch.

The Sta. Rosa Market Station provides ample parking space. Hopefully the place will be kept clean and neat. We did not have much time to explore the area, but noted some of the current prices – pork at P170 a kilo and beef at P230. There are fresh vegetables and salad greens at competitive prices. We intend to go back and look at the rest of their offerings.

At Rockwell we were overwhelmed by all the promos that Rustan’s has on their products, from facial care to canned goods. One-liter Kikkoman soy sauce is tagged at P240.50, Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce at P164.75 and Baguio canola oil, 1.8 liter at P282.75. The new item offered is the Palm Olein produced by ECJ Farms, which claims to be natural with anti-oxidants. At P186.50 for two liters, it is certainly cheaper than other cooking oils in the market. Chicken still commands a high price at P120 a kilo. The Australian line includes striploin at P505, rib-eye at P565, flank steak for P416.75. They also carry the Japanese brand, Waton – ground pork at P399 a kilo, tenderloin at P555 while local pork kasim is at P172.50. From the seafood section, we noted kitang at P258 a kilo and biya at P218. They’ve got beautiful capsicums for P200 to P250 a kilo.

Bacchus Epicurie is a new store ala Santis and Terry Selection at Rockwell’s ground floor. We tried to look up the meaning of the second word, but it was not in our culinary encyclopedia. The lady in the store volunteered that it means “spices.” Ivan, the gentleman who attends to customers, enlightened us on some of their products. They have two of the most expensive hams, Pata Negra and Iberico, costing around P8,000 a kilo. Only for those who have that kind of money. They also carry local brands such as Pamora dips and spreads from Abra.

Has anyone heard of the Induction Stove? It seems that when you buy this (at about P29,000), you also need to get their pots and pans that go for P35,000. What an investment! A friend told us it takes a lot of patience when cooking in it. We hope to have more information on this next time.

Selecta has the new Gold line ice cream concocted by three of the country’s young and acclaimed chefs, Jay Gamboa of Circulo, Rolando Laudico of Bistro Filipino and Sau del Rosario of Chelsea Market. This line is above the rest with its luxurious creaminess and delicious flavors. Gamboa’s Berry Strawberry combines plump sun-ripened whole strawberries with French vanilla ice cream to inject a dose of flair and refinement to an old favorite. We enjoyed each spoonful. Del Rosario took his inspiration from gianduja, an Italian mix of ground hazelnut paste and rich chocolate ice cream laden with moist brownies. Laudico, like Gamboa, is a product of the Culinary Institute of America. The classic French confectionery led him to create chocolate truffles – bittersweet chocolate against a backdrop of rich, creamy milk with swirls of chocolate fudge. The company and the chefs did not scrimp on the ingredients.

We have a grandson who visits us at least twice a year and shortly after setting foot on Philippine soil, he always asks to be brought to the nearest Jollibee outlet for his favorite chicken. The next time he comes, maybe we can convince him to have the Jollibee burger steak. There are two variants, the classic with gravy and slices of mushrooms and the steak ala pobre, topped with butter-garlic sauce, sprinkled with crunchy garlic bits. Sometimes it is more economical to buy ready-cooked meals than go through the process of buying, preparing, and cooking from scratch.

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