http://www.marketmanila.com A food blog that talks about food, produce, recipes, ingredients, restaurants and markets here in the Philippines and around the globe. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:41:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/san-francisco-treats-part-ii http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/san-francisco-treats-part-ii#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:08:54 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=9193 With superb sourdough and cheeses (as well as salamis) as Part I of the food pasalubongs, how could there not be a Part II with fruit and chocolate. Mrs. MM's luggage included several containers of black mission figs and other larger green/purple figs, all perfectly ripe by the time they arrived in Manila. Also in the maletas were several utterly stunning pomegranates. The figs and pomegranates made a fantastic still life, and now I ompletely understand why artists always seemed to use still life arrangements of fruit and flowers as the basis for paintings...]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/san-francisco-treats-part-ii/feed 37 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/san-francisco-treats-part-i http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/san-francisco-treats-part-i#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:33:01 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=9186 Family, friends and business colleagues have always been amazed by the contents of our luggage when we return from local or foreign trips. I once ran into a professional acquaintance of mine at the Singapore airport (she transiting from Kazakhstan or somewhere equally unusual) and me on the the way home from Melbourne. She grinned on seeing me at the departure gate, and immediately said "your reputation precedes you, open up your hand carry for inspection..." and she was amazed by food items within. So while others may have the latest electronics or gadgets, fancy watches or jewelry, perfume, clothing, etc., we are almost certainly likely as a family or individually to be carrying food or ingredients... Such was the case when Mrs. MM recently arrived from a trip to the U.S. and her last stop was to visit with friends and family for just three days in San Francisco. I love San Francisco, but the last time we visited as a family was nearly 9 years ago, and I was anxious to hear how Mrs. MM found the city this time around...]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/san-francisco-treats-part-i/feed 29 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/a-tale-of-three-tableas-binondo-argao-camiguin http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/a-tale-of-three-tableas-binondo-argao-camiguin#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:53:42 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=9143 After a recent trip to Cebu, I realized there were three types of tableas in our pantry, so I decided to compare them... First and foremost, let me state that I love artisanally produced ingredients, and will patronize them as much as I can. There is just something so pure about something made by a person/persons, often with great skill, experience and soul... So regardless of my comments on this post, I strongly recommend that readers choose to buy local tableas for their hot chocolate, before they opt for the easy way out which is to buy canned cocoa or other pre-sweetened concoctions in their local groceries. This is about getting back to basics, experiencing cacao near its purest form, and we are lucky to have a rural tradition (albeit slowly disappearing) of having our own hot chocolate from scratch. I was very surprised by the noticeable differences in color, flavor and consistency among the three tableas... ]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/a-tale-of-three-tableas-binondo-argao-camiguin/feed 50 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/pots-of-desire http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/pots-of-desire#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:26:11 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=9114 Don't read the rest of this post if you felt any tinge of sympathy for the fishpan lady...]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/pots-of-desire/feed 107 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/quince http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/quince#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:57:16 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=8962 The fruit is a fresh quince. It was early Fall in New York and I noticed them for sale at a nearby market, so I bought a couple, if only to record it for this blog and its readers. Quince (Cydonia oblonga) is an almost pear-like looking fruit but with a skin color that is reminiscent of a golden delicious apple (and I gather the looks and shades can vary). It was once EXTREMELY common in parts of the Middle East and Southern Europe, as well as the continental United States. Elizabeth Schneider, in her brilliant book Uncommon Fruits & Vegetables describes it as having a "penetrating perfume, musky-wild as a tropical fruit, reminiscent of pineapple, guava, Bartlett pear, and apple..." Today, it is much harder to find quince, and even for me, I only know it as the main ingredient in membrillo, that wonderful Spanish paste/solid jelly that one slathers on bread and topped with its life partner an aged manchego cheese. It's no wonder that my version of grainy guava jam, which struck me as a close contender for a Pinoy membrillo fake-out, was likewise delicious when paired with queso de bola and crackers...]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/quince/feed 18