The new staple?

We are a country of rice eaters. Bread used to be eaten only for breakfast, though Filipinos often prefer sinangag, tuyo and eggs or longganiza and tocino for their morning meal. However, with new developments in the baking industry, the breads we grew up with – pan de sal, ensaymada, monay, pan de coco and many others – have been joined by an extensive variety, making it practically our new staple food.

The pan de sal has been given a new lift by innovative bakers. The ensaymada has taken a new form, taste and texture. The pan americano (loaf bread) has been infused with new flavors – ube, coco, etc. The choices are plentiful and for bread lovers like us, each is always a treat.

Hizon’s, based in the Malate area, is what people always associate with ensaymada with a generous topping of cheese. The regular breakfast crowd always savors it with cups of steaming coffee or hot chocolate. Today, Hizon’s is found in some supermarkets and their offerings have expanded to include flavored ensaymadas, though clients still go for those with queso de bola or cheddar cheese, P80 and P105 each, regular and big sizes.

French Baker is a relative newcomer, but in the years that they have served bread fanatics, they have created a niche for their healthy loaves, the latest of which is whole grain. The last time we visited an outlet, they have introduced mini Danish pastries, selling at P154 for a box of eight. Lazartin, a member of the French Baker chain, offers a high-end collection, which is served in specialty restaurants in the city. Breadtalk has their usual offerings which we find a bit more expensive. We particularly like their Earthquake Cheese Loaf (P120). We miss the Jipan counter in a supermarket. Marby’s offers very good pan de sal, and of course Gardenia has developed a wide range of flavored loaves. Then there is the pan de sal at Fortune Bakeshop in the Tropical Hut supermarket in BF Homes, Parañaque, where people patiently line up and wait for each big tray to be taken out of the ovens.

Upon entering Landmark Supermarket in Makati, you’d be attracted to an area called Market Place, where grouped together are little stalls selling merienda and snack food. Dolor’s Kakanin is there with its sapin-sapin bilaos, ukoy, puto and many more. Tita Paring’s suman sa latik is now tagged at P40 each. You can get the suman paired with tsokolate or mango, the latter approximating Thailand’s sticky rice duo. Sevillas offers their popular pastillas and a lot of native delicacies. They have entered into the export market thus their packaging meets international standards. 

Like all other outlets, Landmark has promo packs at reasonable discounts, like the trio of mini Libbys corned beef and vienna sausage at P121, for a savings of about P29. The big pack of two regular sized corned beef goes for P222. They have a lot of spreads from Australia, giving the local Lady’s Choice some good competition.

From the produce section – white onions sell for P72.25 a kilo, big red tomatoes go for P106.25 while the regular ones are at P50. The cherry tomatoes are not so red, P38.75 a pack. Leeks at P90 a kilo, celery at P118, mangoes at P78. Imported portobello mushrooms are at P295 a pack (about four big pieces).They also have fresh herbs. From the fish section, where the attendants are not so attentive, salmon belly is tagged at P400 a kilo, bangus at P150, lapu-lapu at a reasonable P280 a kilo, sapsap at P230, pampano at P290, prawns at P650.

There are different meat dealers including Jupiters’ J and S, Tenderlean and Monterey, with prices not very different from one another. Round steak at P375, brisket at P215, camto for P250, lomo at P350, shank at P310, regular ground pork at P190 while the lean is sold at P280, ground beef at P205 while meat balls cost P325. Monterey has seasoned meat. Much welcome is the Magnolia Chicken Station. It is still rather difficult to find whole dressed chicken weighing at least 1.5 kilos. Pity, because this is the best size to make nilaga, tinola and even roast.

At this point, after more than two weeks, we have not heard from the DTI Complaints Department or from the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) on the issue of ‘unpleasant and disturbing’ ads. The P20 bitten hamburger ad still airs frequently. Do consumers really have recourse?

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