A galore of native delicacies from the town market

I made a side trip today in the town market knowing it was "market" day - Friday. It's when the public market is teeming with sellers, selling all kinds of goods, to buyers, from all walks of life. But I went there for a sole purpose - to buy a galore of native delicacies.

And indeed I got a whole lot of it for a fraction of the price I one often can get in the city. All these for a total of PhP70 only. Yet I know for a fact that most of these would be lacking "quality" just by the looks of it.

This alupe costs only 5pesos a pair and was just ordinary - not good nor bad just ordinary. It's a bargain for it's price. It was an impulse buying since there were no other alupe available around.

These baye baye made from mais (corn) was worth it's price of 5 pesos per 3 balls (I ate one while durign the shoot-lol). Though Im not exactly a fan of baye baye mais (like the white one (rice) much better) but this was at par with the other ones I've tasted. I didn't buy the rice baye baye that time since theo nes that we available were not that good even to look at.

They may look inviting but actually th worst among the ones I bought. These bingka was at Php15 per pack of 5 and they actually remind me of the ones I hate (that of Nang Palang's - though they have the best buko pie). It was a total waste of in all aspects. Consolation-wise, the Lenten season next week will usher in better quality bingkas in our town plaza.

A pack of 5 puto manapla proved to be another waste though it was juts only 5 pesos (or was it 10?) It's a degradation of the much revered puto from the town of Manapla in Negrod Occidental. It was like hardened rubber yet at some point I got to taste the distinct flavour of this type of puto wrapped in banana leaves.

Buti or popped rice with caramel proved to be very good. Just the like the ones I loved when I was a kid. Perfectly popped rice and just the right sweetness made me devour a ball in just seconds.

Visually appetizing, these colored putoswere actually the ones that caught my attention first, obviously. But also obviouly I just know that they will be a dismay and they really were. Just as rubbery as the puto manapla, the visually appealing colors didn't quite distract one from tasting the real quality.

While most kutsinta comes in circles, this one was obviously cut fro ma big batch. Much more convenient to make indeed but lacks the appeal on the "conventional" kutsinta. But this one tastes good. Plus those kinudkod na niyog toppings make this kutsinta a good buy at PhP10.

And lastly one of my favorites since I was a kid - suman latik. Sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves with sweetened coco ctrips as toppings. Unlike the ones I gew up with, this one has separate plastic for the coconut topping that you'll have to put over yourself. I liek the original ones better than upon openign the banana leaves you'll find them on top of the sticky rice. And much better quality too.

Some lessons learned from this blog buying spree are that some times it pays to pay a little more to get the quality we want, don't settle for "pwede na"- make an effort to find the best and lastly learn from your past experiences. So there will be a next round for this native delicacies galore and maybe on another day and in another market.

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FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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