June 2008 – Kain Pinoy

A Poppin' Bloggin' dinner at Nestle Creamery

Ice cream plays a big role in the Filipino household. It’s always present in any celebration, and it’s one of the best way to cool down on a hot and humid day in the Philippines. With all the ice cream variants in the market, how else can you entice customers who are already spoilt for choice? By giving them a whole new product, of course!

Chocolate chip morsels? No, it’s Nestlé POPS

After extensive market research, the people at Nestlé found out that snacking is a vital part in any Filipino’s day. Be it the mid morning snack, the afternoon merienda or the guilt-inducing midnight snack, Filipinos snack as if there’s no tomorrow, and we do it in groups. With this in mind, Nestlé came up with the perfect ice cream snack that can be eaten on the go and shared with friends: Nestlé POPS.

Flick ’em Nestlé POPS into the mouths of the rock stars and win an XBOX 360!

Nestlé POPS are chocolate coated vanilla ice cream that looks like chocolate chip morsels. Except frozen. And cold. If you eat it straight out of the freezer, it’s like a hard candy and you have to suck on it till the outer chocolate shell melts and the creamy vanilla ice cream ooze out. A minute out from the fridge, and you can bite into the crunchy chocolate and into the cold ice cream. Either way, it’s a fun way of eating ice cream.

The lucky ~~bastard~~ blogger who on the Lomo Pop 9 camera.

Nestlé POPS have been out in the market for months now, but it was only last night that it was formally launched to a gathering of bloggers and friends. Nestlé has clearly studied the trends, and in keeping up with the Pinoy’s penchant for anything online, they also launched the Nestlé POPS website, www.GetYourPopOn.ph. The highlight of the website is the Get Poppin’ game, wherein you have to flick Nestlé POPS into the mouths of the rock stars performing on stage. Unlike other online games wherein you only get the bragging rights when you hit the high score, you get a chance to win cool prizes. Fancy watching IMAX for free? How about a karaoke dinner, a bowling party or a trip to Enchanted Kingdom for the whole barkada? Or how about an XBOX 360 console with the Rock Band set? Log on to www.GetYourPopOn.ph, and try your luck! (I did and only got 45. Booo.)

A big thanks to Nestlé, Proximity Philippines and Mad Crowd Media for the fun, poppin’ night!

Ouran High Host Club's Mangaka's favorite: 7D Dried Mangoes

While reading Ouran High Host Club volume 11, I was surprised to see this drawing in the author’s box:

7D Dried Mangoes

This was recommended to me by my manga artist friend, Midori Shino. I’ve been crazy about it ever since!

It’s really delicious!!!! Be sure to try it!!

Wai!! Hatori Bisco loves our dried mangoes! It’s a shame it doesn’t mention that it’s from the Philippines, but that drawing is spot on! I hope this mention entices Ouran readers to look for this brand and try one of the Philippine’s biggest exports 😀

Beard Papa Cream Puff

Though I don’t regularly watch TV, there are still some series that I keep tabs on. Gossip Girl’s first season has ended, and Scrubs suddenly ended mid season, so I was left with no choice but to re-watch Daria over and over. A friend was raving about Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend), a Japanese drama based on Yuu Watase’s comic book. Since I loved the book, I quickly erm, sourced out episodes.

The thing about having watching a movie that involves people cooking or baking, you’re often left craving for whatever they’re cooking, baking or eating. I remember watching Chocolat and ended up with a mad craving for chocolates. This time though, it’s cream puffs.

The story is about this girl who works as a temp in a company selling desserts. She dreams of becoming a patissier, and she bakes this delicious cream puffs, which her immediate supervisor loves because it reminds him of his Grandfather’s cream puff. There’s also a hunky humanoid robot in the story, but let’s focus on the cream puff. 😛

After stuffing ourselves with sisig the other night, my friends and I wanted something sweet to cleanse the palate. Luckily, there was a Beard Papa at SM North EDSA. Ryan and I had a vanilla cream puff each, while Rey opted for the eclair.

Beard Papa’s cream puff has a crispy, crunchy shell, filled with a soft and creamy vanilla infused custard, topped with powdered sugar. We love how the vanilla custard wasn’t overly rich and had the right amount of sweetness. Our only gripe was the overly generous dusting of powdered sugar. It wasn’t that the sugar made the cream puff too sweet. When you bite into the pastry and inhaled through your nose, you might end up snorting the powder up your nose (and might leave you looking as if you just finished a line of coke). On the otherhand, if you exhaled through your nose while biting, the air would make the powder blow off and might make you sneeze. (Wow, this has to be the stupidest food critique ever! I’ll stop now.)

Beard Papa cream puffs cost Php50 each, while eclairs cost Php55.

Beard Papa Branches in Metro Manila:
SM North EDSA (Quezon City)
Phone: 441-5039

Promenade (Greenhills, San Juan)
Phone: 727-4080

Glorietta 4 (Makati)
Phone: 752-7036

Megamall (Pasig)
Mobile: 0922-898-1120

Mall of Asia (Pasay)
556-0227

Guinataan Bilo-Bilo

Another popular Pinoy merienda is the Guinataang Bilo-Bilo. It is also known as “Guinataang Halo-halo” and more commonly, the simple “Guinataan”. Guinataan is anything cooked in cocunut milk. It comes from the root word gata, which is Tagalog for coconut milk.

Guinataan Bilo-Bilo

A combination of bilo-bilo(which is made from glutinous rice flour mixed with a little water to make a dough, and shaped into marble-sized balls), saba, tapioca, gabi(taro), ube(purple yam), camote (sweet potato),a little langka(jackfruit), sugar and coconut milk make up this hearty dish. Very popular especially during the rainy months,it is best eaten warm to help our body warm up during those cold, rainy afternoon.

Although it is most popular during the rainy season, guinataan is available year-round in Filipino restaurants, canteens, food courts, carinderias(small eateries) and even from hawkers on the street. Depending on where you order, a bowl would cost between Php 10 pesos to Php 50 pesos.

Minatamis na Saba

Saba is a type of banana that is actually closer to a plantain. It is usually eaten cooked, whether it is ripe or unripe. It is widely used in Filipino cuisine, as an ingredient in savory viands like the pochero and humba, sidings to arroz ala cubana, and as snacks and desserts. One example of which is Minatamis na Saba.

Iced Minatamis na Saba with Sago (Tapioca) and Evaporated Milk

What it is basically is saba cooked in sugar syrup. It is best eaten cold on its own, or with shaved ice, tapioca and evaporated milk. It is also a major ingredient in another Pinoy summer treat–the halo-halo.

Minatamis na Saba

Minatamis na Saba is available in most Filipino restaurants, canteens and eateries. These also pop up along with halo-halo stalls in neighborhoods during summer. A serving of minatamis na saba ranges from Php 10 pesos upward depending on where you are buying. This particular one from Barrio Fiesta cost us Php 110 pesos. Ofcourse, you have to consider all the other things we ate along with it. But that’s for another blog post. 😉

Afternoon coffee at Bag of Beans

We were getting tired of lounging around, so we decided to head to Bag of Beans for coffee and to try out their English pies. I’ve heard nothing but praise for Bag of Bean’s coffee and pies, so I was really looking forward to it as Peter drives us through Tagaytay.

Iced Mocha – Php 85

As we walk to the entrance, we were met with half a dozen kids all trying to sell us something. Politely declining their offer, we made our way down the stone steps and into their garden. The transformation was amazing. Though Bag of Beans is along the highway, you can hardly hear the traffic when you’re inside. Most of the tables are under the shade of a tree, though there’s also a covered and screened area if you prefer that.

Mocha Frappe – Php 95

There are trees that give plenty of shade, flowering plants that give the place a touch of color. There are birds in a big birdcage, and a mynah that whistles and talk. It was the kind of place that makes you want to just sit and enjoy conversation with friends.

I hear that the Kapeng Barako is their specialty. As much as I wanted to try this local brew, I opted for a safer, cooler choice: iced mocha. I paired it off with a Beef and Vegestable pie. The iced mocha looked pretty, and tasted okay. I love how thick the chocolate syrup at the bottom of the glass is. The pie I ordered was a disappointment though. The crust was too dry, and the filling tasted as if it was loaded with MSG. Ming’s Steak and Mushroom pie was so much better though.

Beef and Vegestable Pie – Php 95

Over all, I’m satisfied with Bag of Beans. The ambiance of a place really does add a lot to the dining experience, and I’m looking forward to go back. Though this time, I’ll be sure to order the Steak and Mushroom pie, and maybe try the Barako coffee.

Bag of Beans
115 Aguinaldo Highway
Mendez Crossing West
Tagaytay City
Phone: +63 46 413 4356, +63 46 413 2724
Mobile: +63920 954 6369, +63920 954 6370
Website: bagofbeanstagaytay.net

Breakfast at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

I arrived 40 minutes early for our 8 o’clock meet up at Greenbelt. Tired and sleepy, I figured a breakfast would do well to revive me. We were supposed to meet at Starbucks, but the first thing that I saw when I stepped out of the cab was Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I’ve always loved CBLT’s pastries and pastas, now I want to try their breakfast.

Eggs Ben Breakfast set at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

They have a few breakfast sets that comes with your choice of coffee, tea or juice, and a cup of stewed fruits. I went for the Eggs Ben, basically eggs benedict on rosemary focaccia, with a couple more slices of bread and some butter and jam, and a cup of English Breakfast Tea for Php 229.

The presentation is good. I sliced a small triangle and took my first bite. What can I say? It was good; the flavor of the turkey ham and the hollandaise sauce mixes well and thanks to the otherwise flavorless poached egg and the bread underneath, it wasn’t overpowering.

After a couple more bites, I moved to the slices of focaccia. Using my hands to break off a piece, I was disconcerted that it took some effort. One bite and it confirmed what I initially thought: this bread is tough. All the focaccia I’ve encountered have been soft, so eating this bread that required a fair amount of chewing was a bit of a shock. Maybe it’s old and stale or was the victim of an unfortunate reheating in the microwave. Nevertheless, this was the only sour note in an otherwise hearty breakfast.