Hot Ube Piaya and more at Merzci

I just love Merzci's "hot of the grill" ube piaya and everytime I pass by one of its stores (most of the time at Marymart Mall), I always have a piece or two to satisfy my cravings. It's filled with all the ube goodness and being freshly cooked makes it even more delicious. And today, I think I may have eaten more 5 pieces of these delicious treat as Merzci opened its 4th store in Iloilo at the intersection of Delgado and Iznart streets.

Used to be named Merci, as in the French word meaning “Thank You”, it was rebranded as Merzci back in October 2014. This family business started in 1995 and is the market brand of CM and Sons Food Products. It started as a small bakery supplying bread to a single store at the Libertad Market in Bacolod City and evolved in making pasalubong products and having a fastfood restaurant in some branches.

RIBBON CUTTING RITES at MERZCI DELGADO BRANCH with (L-R) Ms. Josie Rizada (Merzci Area Manager), Ms. Jo Villegas (Senior Tourism Operation Officer, DOT-6), Ms. Ma. Fe Jimenea (Tourism Officer II, DOT-6) and Ms. Ches Gellecanao (Senior Area Manager, Merzci)

Today's blessing of the Delgado branch brings the total of Merzci stores to 46 with more openings in the comings months. The simple rites was led by Merzci managers and representatives from the Department of Tourism, regional office. After the ribbon-cutting, a filling snack of Merzci products and treats followed - piaya galore for me!

After which, eager Ilonggos who were patiently waiting in line, packed the store as the newest branch offered a "Buy 1 Take 1" promo on selected products.

With a galore more than 70 pasalubong treats and goodies, one can entirely get lost in gastronomy. Take your pick from piaya, tarts and napoleones to barquillos, biscocho and butterscotch, it surely have a field day choosing what fills in your pasalubong box.

I highly recommend their napoleones, aside from being neatly and conveniently packed they really taste good – brings out the flavour of the city of smiles, literally. Their boxed tarts - caramel, mango and cheese among others, also are good buys.

But to bring some signature Bacolod delicacy, there’s always piaya, comes in regular -muscovado filled and ube. Then there’s kwakoy, (in) famously referred to as "plywood" for it looks like one and it’s mainly made with rice flour and sugar. They also have biscocho (which I'm munching at the moment as I make this blogpost- namit!) meringue, squid rings, ugoy –ugoy, egg crackers (one of my favorites) and my new discovery pita crackers – it’s just plain and lightly salted, good for endless munching.

Quality products, good packaging and innovative marketing (e.g. Travel Plus Promo just present any travel ticket upon purchase and you’ll get 10% off on some products) collectively made Merczi what it is today. Thus uplifting not only the morale and pride of the people – not only the bakers, food attendants and bosses of the company, but also to anyone and everyone who buys, tastes and enjoy what Merzci has to offer.

And true to its tagline “Sa Merci, tanan Manamit!” (Everything's delicious at Merzci!)

Merci Pasalubong Treats has now four branches in Iloilo - Ledesma Street near Plazoeta Gay, Marymart Mall, Iloilo International Airport and this newly opened branch on Delgado Street across Amigo Mall. A fifth branch is set to open in May along JM Basa Street and will be their 1st branch with a fastfood store component. Check out their website www.merzci.com.ph and like them on Facebook. For direct inquiries, just call or text 0197-303-7511

Fruits from the grocery

These packs of cut up fruits were bought from SM Delgado's grocery. Got enticed by their color and luckily, they were as good as they looked, especially the papaya. Each was just less than Php 22, really a bargain!

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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