An afternoon merienda staple in my grandparent's house was tsokolate and bizcocho principe. The tsokolate is made from cacao round tablets (tablea) and fresh carabao's milk, although now-a-days because it is hard to get this, we use Alpine full cream milk instead, which is a good substitute in terms of taste. About 6 years ago, a friend who regularly goes home to Iloilo brought us tableas sourced from her hometown (Passi) and they smelled exactly like the ones my grandparents used to have. From then on, we would buy our stocks from her. It is also cheaper than the commercial one we used to get in supermarkets, the brand Antonio Pueo. I also noticed that while before they only had the pure cacao tablea...today, they have diversified into different products like the mixed kind of tablea which is more easily available here than the pure kind. But the taste of the Iloilo tablea in my opinion, is much better than this commercial one.
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| (Retrieved from http://flavoursofiloilo.blogspot.com/2009/01/tsokolate.html) |
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| (Retrieved from http://photos.the-protagonist.net/sulong_negosyo/antonio_pueo_1) |
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To this day, we cook our tsokolate in the same way as my grandmother's cook, Culing did...pure unadulterated tsokolate! We would have it during breakfast, poring it over our rice, or afternoon merienda together with suman, toasted pinipig, but the best for me was bizcocho principe...the original Silay version...and it is not the sweet kind of biscocho with sugar and baked butter on top or the ones that taste like toasted sponge cake sold in Bacolod and Iloilo. The bizcocho principe I grew up on was a crunchy, mildly flavored, breadlike slice that literally melts in your mouth. For the longest time I have been looking for the original...and failed. The ones being sold in Silay are what they now call...Kinihad, thin slices of toasted bread much like biscochos without the butter and sugar. SIGH...then one fateful day (exactly one day ago), my Mom attended a meeting and she came home with.....yes! the bizcocho principe of my youth! She said it is available in Hda. Luguay, a farm near the northern border of Silay which operates a bakery that makes specialized bread. This is the family where the owners of the famous 21 Restaurant of Bacolod belongs to. The bakery, I believe is a joint enterprise between the owners and farm workers which helps augment income during off sugar season. This afternoon we ordered 2 packs and it was delivered just before merienda time :) |
| my afternoon merienda-09/23/11 - Tsokolate and Bizcocho Principe |
I might as well share my family's Tsokolate recipe. I can honestly say that none of the other commercial tsokolate I have tried tastes as well as ours...but of course, I'm biased. It is very rich and probably (^_^) fattening...that's why we use the little cups :)
My Family Tsokolate
3 tablea
3 cups of Carabao's milk or 1 (one) 370 ml can Alpine Full Cream Milk
Melt 3 tablea in 1 cup of carabao’s milk in a deep sauce pan using medium heat. Once melted, pour the remaining 2 cups of milk. Bring to a boil and start mixing using a batidor (see picture above). How to use a batidor: Place it in the saucepan, then roll the handle quickly between both flattened hands until bubbles are formed in the tsokolate. Serve in small espresso cups.
Enjoy!
To order Hda Luguay's special breads (french baguette, bizcocho principe) either call: 4950536 anywhere in Negros where there is a PLDT phone. You can order their products and they deliver anywhere in Silay. Or you can pick it up in an agreed location. Or you can drop by their bakery...it is on the left side of the highway after the bridge before the road to Central Hawaiian, if you are coming from Silay City.
