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

Ready-to-cook Pancit Molo balls

It was only today that I remembered buying a pack of ready-to-cook pancit Molo. Locals are fortunate to buy them at groceries here saving them time, money and effort in the tedious preparation of pancit Molo. Anyway every pack of the RTC pancit Molo has the balls and the lang-lang . Its the balls that entice the buyers and the lang lang that "dictates" the price and weight. For this blog entry, I opted for the AR brand (150 grams for PhP 21) since they had the more photogenic combination at that time though I'm more partial to the Cares brand. Separating the contents makes you realize that what you actually bought but for that price, it's already a bargain, can be cooked in many ways and can serve 2-3 people. It is then up to you what you can make out from a pack or more. For this preparation, I used 2 chicken broth cubes and just estimated the amount of water. Upon taste test I added a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper and few drops of soy sauce. I boiled the lang

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 (

A new flavour for the Dinagyang 2011 Food Festival

Aside from the dances, drums and colorful costumes, Dinagyang also means food and Iloilo City has a lot to offer during this 3-day event. The festival brings them to the streets with the much awaited Dinagyang Food Festiva l . For four days, major streets in the city are lined with food stalls and kiosks that everywhere one turns it all about food. As this article states, major streets in Iloilo City will have a food festival there will be plenty of places to indulge in during D inagyang 2011 . ILOILO City's world-famous Dinagyang Festival will turn the spotlight on Ilonggo cuisine this year. Tourists are encouraged to try chicken barbecue the Ilonggo way and other tasty local dishes during the festival. There are also the world-famous Ilonggo delicacies and other concoctions to bring home after enjoying the Dinagyang ati-atihan and Kasadyahan competitions. Not only that. The 1s t Iloilo Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) International Food Festival 2011 will attempt t

Valenciana

A close relative of paella, this dish originated in Valencia, Spain and probably brought by the Spaniards when they colonized the country. Always a staple in family gatherings, this yellow rice is a complete meal in itself, with pork, chicken, liver, chorizo, shrimps, bellpeppers, peas and raisins to name its basic ingredients. RECIPE Saute your choice meats and vegetables. Cook malagkit rice with turmeric and broth cubes then mix sauted meat and vegetables when almost done. Garnish with hardboiled eggs and onion leaves.

SIDRO: Iloilo's very own gourmet doughnuts

Just listening to Isidro Panizales Jr. animatedly talking about his life before and after being a “doughnut-preneur”, is like the different flavors of Sidro Doughnuts . Each variant seems to reflect different aspects of his almost three decades of living in America. From his work in corporate America for more than 10 years to that one little spark of deciding leaving work to pursue his delicious passion – life is like a box of doughnuts! IN A DOUGHNUT HOLE Sidro is an offshoot from the name Isidro but as Sid says, it’s a tribute to his father. The first Sidro Doughnuts came out of the kitchen and delivered to one lucky doughnut-phile on Dec. 18 last year. It comes in two sizes – Junior Doughnuts which at 30 grams each are perfect for parties and occasions. But if you can’t enough, there are the Regular Doughnuts which is more than 3x at 100 grams and comes with more toppings and flavours. Choose among nine specially concocted creations - Bugnay Berry, Calamansi, Dulce

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Search This Blog