Mama's Kitchen and Sinamay House in Arevalo

A stones throw away from the plaza of La Villa de Arevalo is an ancestral house where one can find not only good pasalubong items but also a look into the past of the district.

Known as the Sinamay House, this well preserved ancestral house is an attraction not only in the outside but also what it houses inside.

A collection of what the past like is housed in the two storey edifice which also acts like a museum of sorts. Sinamay is simply known as abaca by most and, here, a variety of products made from this fiber can be found.

I remember watching a feature on tv wherein the owner proudly showed a framed letter signed by the late Princess of Wales, Diana, showing her appreciation of the handkerchief she was given as a gift coming from this very shop.

But the attraction I am most familiar with are the chewies and crunchies made by Mama's Kitchen.

Attractively packed in boxes showing their current flavours and variety, this is among the better packaged pasalubong items from Iloilo.

With seven variants to choose from, the mango chewies easily stand out. Chewy cookies with mango bits, once you pop you can't stop - to borrow a familiar line from a popular potato snack.

Other products in this line are the cashew crunchies, pinipig crunchies, tsokolate crunchies, and peanut crunchies. They also come in combos like the tsokolate cashew and tsokolate pininig crunchies.

Experiencing the old world charm of their shop in Arevalo is one that surely makes it to ones memory and yearns for more.

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FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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