Nope, I won't make a post about the instant sweet chili pancit canton I had for breakfast nor how I am craving for another one now. I just finished my feature article (out this Thursday) and it's almost all about barquillos - how it began in Jaro, how the Deocampo family innovated the delicacy and made it among Iloilo's signature pasalubong item. My blog entry title is just an expression of fortunate I am to have actually seen how it is made and to have tasted a freshly made barquillos which is uncommon to most. Unlike the cliche "best eaten when hot", barquillos right of the wafer grill lacks the crispness of the one that has been already exposed to air. But that's not the point, it's the experience and the Deocampo story - it's more than barquillos, is among the most touching I have ever heard. I hope I can do justice sharing it by Thursday.
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...