Revisiting Salcedo Market

It was independence day and it was the 8th anniversary of the salcedo saturday market on velasquez street in makati. Reasons to feel patriotic and nationalistic. Thus we walked into a festive selling area and found some ladies in baro’t saya and staff sporting the old familiar cotton bandana in red with white floral prints, worn either around the neck as kerchief, as a scarf for the ladies or even as a turban.

This is now called the salcedo community market with an emergency medical clinic right beside it. We found out this was not the pioneer weekend market but a spin off from that in ayala alabang, though this one has overtaken its ‘mother’ as it has grown to more than 150 sellers plus a very expanded eating area, attracting groups of weekenders who are either there to buy food supplies or to gather family and meet friends, lunching on the collection of regional and international specialties. Good dining with good company.

We sought out our friend monchet and looked for tita cely, who has closed her kitchen and is perhaps relishing her “retirement.” We miss her kare-kare, alimango sa gata and paksiw na bangus. With monchet, we recalled the early the days of the market. We went from stall to stall, finding our old favorites as well as happily discovering some new tastes. He has been here for years, maintaining sabo de espana (the flavor of spain), a stall that sells spanish dishes. Sad that when we got there, nothing was left of his paella. But he had callos and bacalao. Great! Our craving for paella was satiated when we found the lady who also specializes in this, margarita, smartly garbed in kimona and patadyong.

We could not pass up the chance to see what our favorite chef (one of them anyway), michelle of la cuisine française, had on her tables. Some ladies huddled there, making their choices while she talked (in what we presumed was fluent french) to a gentleman. Her voluminous menu can be enjoyed at a full-service restaurant a few steps away. Revel in lasangne au chorizo, roasted chicken with different garnishings, paupiettes de bouf. The lechon baka was already a skeleton when we passed by.

Also an old acquaitance, marilen kahn, has len’s kitchen, serving lamb caldereta, eggplant masala and the innovative santol chutney. We also visited abby house for her choco ice cream box and, of course, her cookies. Among the new sellers is tita ope, offering croquetas, chicken relleno with garlic, and osso bucco. From davao delicacy, we noted the tomato-calamansi and mango- papaya jams. Wagyu and angus beef are sold by viger trading, but we failed to see the recommended steak store called il ponticello. Chery’s cuisine imports their goods from hong kong – chinese sausage at p40 per, the roast peking duck, one fourth at p300. Oriental basket sells honey shrimp sauce, or bagoong with honey. Pampanga’s everybody’s café could have filled the void left by tita cely. They’ve got little stuffed frogs.

Ensaymada Factory, based on Vito Cruz (tel. 895-9476) is also in this market. Josie was out of ensaymadas with queso de bola that day, but still available were her oatmeal and walnut muffins, yema, cheese rolls, flour-less cookies made of corn flakes, and meat empanadas. From another store, we got foccacia bread, which disappointingly lacked flavor.

Other items on sale – organic rice from Full of Grace; Trappist coffee beans; Ivi’s sushi and kikiam; Thai vegetable salads. We had a cursory look at the seafood, vegetable and fruit sections. Meduim sized shrimps were at P480 a kilo; alimango at P480, alimasag for P320. There was chicken lamang loob, including un-hatched eggs which the vendor said would be good for soups.

After a very hot mid-day, we went to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf where we enjoyed their Summer Treats – Swirls, basically frozen ice cream in different flavors. On their racks are ginseng and peppermint teas, plus mild, medium and strong coffee beans.

We got word that Liberty Flour Mills is now producing their own all- purpose flour, meaning they have gone independent of General Mills. This is now marketed under the brand Maya. This is a good move, considering Liberty has good quality control and efficient technical services.                                                                             

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