anya?

Anya is a local Ilocano term, which literally means “what” in English. I’m part Ilocano and part Caviteno; however the Ilocano part was lost since my grandfather’s passing. In our household, we never really talked about our Ilocano blood since all of my aunts and uncles were raised in Manila and spent most of their time in Cavite. Personally, I only discovered that we have an Ilocano blood when a colleague of mine asked me if I’m related with the Dacanay clan in Ilocos Province. I told him that I don’t really know.

I asked my grandmother about it, and after 3 long hours of storytelling I was able to trace my Ilocano bloodline. I really wanted to know more about my Ilocano bloodline. On a very undesirable event, which is the passing of one of my grandfather’s cousin, I was able to get in touch with some of my Ilocano relatives. And I am amused of how big our family is.

During the wake, I asked one on my newly acquainted aunts to give me a brief background of the clan. And she welcomed it. I learned that our clan is really big, learning that my grandfather’s father, Julian, got 3 wives and more than a dozen kids. It is really overwhelming since our family has a “one kid per family” ratio. I also learned that being an Ilocano you must be good at cooking and she also mentioned that all of them know how to cook. After my chit chat with my aunt we were called for lunch.

Wow, the lunch was such a feast, with lots of Ilocano dishes prepared like pinakbet, diningding, bagnet, igado and other dishes not known to me. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to cook these dishes because my grandmother is the one who cooks for us, and I never really learned to cook even after several attempts. I only know 2 things in the kitchen, frying and heating left over foods (with the aid of the microwave), I don’t even know how to do a sunny side up egg.

Enough with my family history and let’s start talking about this somewhat new street food in the UST area.

I kept on seeing lots of small food stalls near the UST area with a banner that says “Ilokos Empanada”. Hmmm. Ilokos Empanada? Yup, that’s right. I’m a pastry digger and empanada is one of my favorite snacks, but knowing that there is another variety of my beloved empanada made me a bit curious, so I tried one.

Well this empanada is very much different from the usual ground beef or chicken empanada that I know. The filling is a mixture of green papaya, mongo beans, bean sprouts, egg and my favorite, vigan longganisa. The empanada was made with unusual dough, which is evidently different from the usual empanada. It is thin, it’s crispy and it’s orange in color. I asked the lady vendor about the dough they use and if they use something to give it its color. The lady smiled and told me that they use achuete for the coloring and rice flour so that it will be crispy once they fry it. She offered me ketchup and vinegar to complement my empanada and I chose the latter because vinegar would go along with the vigan longganisa stuffed in the empanada. It’s almost a complete meal.

Well for P30, it’s a good buy since it is heavy thus fills you up fast, and savoring the vigan longganisa along with other playful ingredients is indeed worth it.

Where’s my muffin?

After attending the 7am mass at UST Church I went directly to AMV building where the food joint and carpark is located, to satisfy my cravings for McDonald’s plain muffin. I usually enjoy it with my hot chocolate with ice. Yes, I like my hot chocolate cold.

McDonald’s plain muffin is just a muffin toasted to perfection with a dash of butter to flavor. They serve it with a packet of strawberry jam which I really adore. Every bite of this beauty bring chills into my spine.

Now, going back to the story, after the mass, I went to McDonalds and tried to enter the place but it was jam packed so I decide to hit the one in Gov. Forbes. Thank God, there are only a few people there.

I went to the cashier and ordered big breakfast with rice and hot chocolate, I then asked for my plain muffin. After asking for a plain muffin the crew gave me an odd stare then said they don’t have it anymore. I thought I was not hearing him correctly so I asked again. He again told me that they don’t sell it anymore. I got a bit disappointed and thought this guy is new.

I have been eating plain muffin for eons of years and now he is telling that they don’t have it. Darn. They can’t just let go of that product in one snap of a finger. I then asked the manager for it. To my dismay he told me that McDonalds doesn’t offer it anymore. With a poker face I took my big breakfast and started to splurge.

I was almost done with my big breakfast when I saw a couple across the other end enjoying their big breakfast with muffin!

Furiously, I dialed a friend from McDonalds head office and told her about the crew and the muffin and the couple. I was then told that McDonalds removed some of their ala carte menu. I accepted my friend’s explanation.

What McDonalds did is a business decision but for me it’s a bit unfair. Why can’t a customer buy ala carte muffin whey they still serve it on their menu? Why do I still need to buy a big breakfast for 85 pesos when all I want is a plain muffin that only costs 25 pesos?

With the economy on decline, I think I’ll just buy pandesal and make my own strawberry jam. I only wish that I can imitate McDonalds muffin and strawberry jam or better yet they’ll bring back the ala carte muffin.