The most ideal Christmas gift

 Go around or make it a point to look at Christmas offerings when you do your regular shopping chores. You just might find the ideal Christmas food gifts to suit your needs.

For some years now, our Christmas gifts have consisted of food items, which are most practical and can be shared by families or even brought to a potluck. Most of them we prepare ourselves, giving them a more personal touch. Others we buy from special stores, delis or restaurants.

After a satisfying lunch at Alba’s Spanish restaurant in Westgate Center in Filinvest Alabang, where we indulged our craving for paella and cochinillo, we looked at the deli items and found some delicious ideas for Christmas presents.

Surely there are home cooks who use a lot of Spanish chorizo in their holiday dishes. Alba has a small box containing 200 gms each of chorizo de bilbao and chitorra; 100 gms each of pamplona, salchichon, mortadela, and vela de lomo (smoked pork loin) for P900 a box. The same contents are in a big box which includes 100 gms of jamon serrano, for P1,150.

Individually, the customer can package his/her own selection – the bilbao goes for P95 per 100 gms, the tanguingui ahumado (smoked) for P220. They have ham bones for P45 for 100 gms, which can be used for rendering broths more flavorful. They also offer Christmas baskets that contain champagne and queso de bola for P3,850.

Alternatively, order their authentic paella at P2,600 for a platter good for six to eight persons. They have different varieties – valenciana, de bacalao, verde (with vegetables), parillada (with grilled meat and seafood), de pato (duck), etc.

Alba’s sweets and cakes, including the traditional canonigo, the torta de chocolate al Cointreau, and the pastels, are also ideal as gifts. Call or visit them in Polaris, Tomas Morato, Two E-Commerce or at Westgate (tel. 771-2178).

The supermarkets also abound with holiday baskets ranging in price from slightly over P1,000 to P5,000, while bakeshops and specialty shops are also a good source of food gifts. One of these is Sugar House which sells a good selection: cookies, ensaymadas, empanadas, fruit cakes and even popcorn. They have bottled bacalao Filipino, spicy tinapa, and tawilis, all in olive oil, each at P220 and pickled vegetables for P135. Likewise, they have gift bundles that contain a selection of their products, from P215 to P595.

Go around or make it a point to look at Christmas offerings when you do your regular shopping chores. You just might find the ideal Christmas food gifts to suit your needs.

The cronuts craze has not yet abated. If you and your family crave for them, you need to call the outlets and make your reservation. They still go rather fast. Wildflour Café + Bakery in the Global City and Poduim in Ortigas Center, make them more like croissants, but they tend to go makunat after a day. They are also the most expensive in town at P150 per.

Lugang Café in the new Glorietta 1, is perhaps one of the most popular Chinese restaurants in Metro Manila. Incidentally, having skipped going to Makati for quite some time now, we almost got lost looking for the place which has taken on a completely new look.

Lugang always has a long line of diners waiting to be seated. This is a place where one eats and runs because the waiters would sort of make you feel you are over-staying after you finish your meal. No after meal chit chat here.

Let’s all look forward to a happy and peaceful Christmas!

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