Comments on: Battle of the Balls…

By: Juan

Juan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:45:18 +0000

Enjoyed knowing about the Filipino traditions and recipies in this site. Recently brought some Queso de Bola Holandes that Dad sent to share in the office and a Filipino employee was telling me it reminded her of cheese she had eaten as a child in the Islands. QdB is also a favorite for centuries in Puerto Rico. Eaten there all year, not just for Navidad. The favorite brand there being Gallo Azul (apparently the same preferred in Yucatan, Mexico). Seems more as to the Spaniards brought it with them wherever they settled in the 1500’s and thereafter. It caught on strongly in some places (Filipines, Mexico, Puerto Rico) and not in others. As far as I am concerned, the taste is secondary to the universal great memories brought by eating it — childhood days sharing time with grandparents and close family members.

By: DJ Rainer

DJ Rainer — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:38:17 +0000

And once you had run out of shrapnel? Right, you go to the next hardest item on hand–those stinky Dutch cheeseballs. As another post noted they were used in the Caribbean as shot as well. The Christmas custom is in remembrance of that victory over the Spanish, but only a few old-timers are still around whose grandparents told THEM the story–totally oral history. The fact that General DeGaulle’s favorite cheese was the French equivalent is not an accident–a General WOULD prefer a cheese that had been used in warfare. Filipinos are not big fans of dairy, hardly any Asians are (maybe Mongolians). It’s one of those things that is so outrageously unlikely, it HAS to be true.

Battle of the Balls? As we say in California, “it’s the cheese.”

By: jrpascual

jrpascual — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:05:37 +0000

Our favorite cheese is called luncheon cheese in cans. I used to get it from a chinese store in Dasmarinas, Manila. I do not know who manufacture it and where we can order the cheese here in the US.

By: JoyToy

JoyToy — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:55:55 +0000

Like you, I never liked queso de bola. But if you wait for it to harden (the best part is the outer layer), wrap it into a lumpia and fry it, it is the most wonderful thing for your nose to behold! And the taste is exquisite!

By: lulu

lulu — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:42:20 +0000

queso de bola na de lata is marca de ganso

By: Marketman

Marketman — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:33:15 +0000

joey, it should be okay to buy now for January giveaways, but you ave to kep it in a cool place, like an airconditioned room. If you stick it in the fridge, the red cellophane tends to get moist and bleed…

By: joey

joey — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:11:23 +0000

is it ok to buy Qdb now though im going to give on January 2 next year? i’m worried that i might get busy in the upcoming weeks so im planning to buy it earlier

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:44:15 +0000

It is not uncommon that export cheese is slightly reformulated for export purposes, also though ‘Edam’ is a city where the Edammer cheese originates from, it in fact is the process that makes the cheese and it is very wellpossible to make Edam, outside Edam and even outside the Netherlands (which I am sure happens). When I was young, I had a Holiday job in a cheesefactory where both Gouda and Edammer cheeses were made. This may result in slight variations in taste. Personally, being Dutch, Edam is not my favourite, as it is too dry to my taste, but yes it does make handy gifts as they look colourfull. Gouda cheese is an alltogether softer and better tasting cheese and I think that is most universally eaten in the Netherlands. Many other cheese look a lot like the flat round Gouda cheese.
I read someone found it pungent ;=) Can’t imagine. Try smelling French cheeses (basically greese with fungus) or the German ‘Leichefinger'(=fingers of a corpse).
I have heard the cannonball story when I was young, at school. I think that so many stories that are told, it is absolute bogus. Any ship that runs out of cannonballs in those days would load the canon with shrapnell (nails, chains).

By: Nancy Reyes Lumen

Nancy Reyes Lumen — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:30:43 +0000

Hi Market Man…nice read on the QdeB…I remember writing about a certain brand from Holland, in a ball tin can…very expensive. My folks remember the name, in fact, when my father was alive and i was interviewing him about Qde B, he suddenely had the epiphany of remembering the name of that expensive cheese “na de lata”…and he immediately drove over to Hi Top to look for it. Unfortunately the last one was taken (kontilang ang stock) and I finally got to trace some more stocks in Cherry Foodarama…you know what, when I tasted it, lasang Marca Pina na rin…but because it was real expensive (1,600.00 then in 1989) sumarap na rin!!! Heh-heh.
nancy (If and when I get the name, I shall write again…but if you do get the name , pls post it.
PPS: How to tell if you got the name: get close to a rich looking elderly couple and say the name. if they turn towards you – Bingo!

By: crissy

crissy — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 01:21:38 +0000

Marca PiÃ±a is usually given to my Mom as a Christmas gift from clients. It gets smaller and smaller every year, probably because of the price. Haven’t actually tried Marco Pato, our family loves the saltiness of Marca PiÃ±a