Basic Necessity is a vegetable supplier/consolidator that has come a long way. I first ran into them when they had a single table at the Makati Organic Market at the back 
of United Supermarket in the mid-1990’s. I became friendly with one of their owners and eventually I ended up at their main warehouse near Tagaytay, at kilometer 49 in Silang, on the main highway up to Tagaytay from Manila through Las Pinas. I haven’t been back to their warehouse in several years and I have lost touch with the proprietor but I was always impressed by his drive and desire to bring new produce to the market. In the past few years, I have continued to buy some of their lettuces, herbs, etc. whenever I saw them in the groceries and I think their business has grown by leaps and bounds, including supplying many of the booming hotels and restaurants in the Tagaytay and now, Metro Manila area… But what really caught my eye today at S&R were these fantastic fresh gherkins…perfect for a homemade attempt at dill pickles. Also, they had several containers of fresh thyme on offer…
The gherkins were about ½ a kilo to a plastic container for just PHP48 or roughly PHP96 per kilo. They are a bit irregular in size but I was thrilled to find them nonetheless. 
Labelled as pesticide free, I am going to hopefully end up with edible pickles in a few days! The thyme was also a nice find. The supply of this wonderful herb is incredibly erratic in Manila, and having attempted to grow my own, always to no avail, I can understand why it comes and goes. I purchased two packs of thyme at PHP54 per pack and I will probably use it on a roast chicken, possibly with a roast pork or even a tagine… If you need either of these ingredients, they have them in stock at S&R Fort Bonifacio, I just got back from there…
9 Responses
Is your recipe for pickled gherkins the sweet type? Can you share it with me please? I had some gherkins this summer but did not know how to pickle them so they just ended up in the rubbish bin. Pickled gherkins here are not the sweet type we have back home.
Thyme is indispensable herb either fresh or dried. It goes well too on grilled vegetables and potatoes. They also use thyme in those gourmet tuyo, dulong and daing. I savor pickled gherkins with my chicken, turkey and tuna sandwiches.
I am “herb-challenged”, I have absolutely no idea how to use herbs, but i really appreciate them in my food when I eat out. I only know that basil + tomatoes + mozarella on really crusty bread with olive oil is heaven, other than that i’m totally clueless. So, basically I want to say, thanks for the tip and i’ll continue to experiment.
By the way, the other day I tried to make Kotopoulo lemonato (part of get-over-being-herb-challenged experiments) I added lots of garlic, thyme (dried), some olive oil, whole pepper corns and then lemons, baked it till all the juices came out – it tasted great actually, but there was something slightly bitter, might it be the lemon? (apart from marinating it, I added lemon slices) or maybe it’s the dried thyme?
I have bought some of their “salad time” stuff…i like them too! Your heads up on thyme come is quite timely for me…my thyme plant is in it’s death throes! :( I guess it wasn’t so bad, i had her for 2 months…but still…sob!
I just wish we have all the herbs, fruits, vegetables and other stuff you buy in Manila here in Pampanga. Until now, I haven’t found any good establishment here where I can buy them aside from SM Hypermarket in Clark and sometimes, at Robinson’s in Balibago, Angeles City. But they don’t have all of them and their stocks are also very limited… is there anyone here from Pampanga who knows any good place where I can buy them?
renee, yup that would be the lemon, happen to me too when i put lemon slices in what i’m cooking/baking…..
MM, I have just purchased growing thyme, tarragon and rosemary at the Sidcor market at the Lung Center. the guy selling it said not to water the thyme and the tarragon daily. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that these will thrive
thanks edee!
Basic Necessity’s lettuce got its certificate for Good Agricultural Practices by BAFPS. GAP is like ISO for agricultural produce.