Philippine blueberries?

Yes, I am not joking. There really are Philippine blueberries! I was actually amazed to discover this the first time I went for a climb to the summit of the 2nd largest mountain in the Philippines- Mount Pulag.

My friends and I were concentrating on the rocky and sometimes slippery trail in front of us when our eyes caught movement on the side of the slope. There were locals bending over picking something from the bushes. At first, I thought, they were just picking some leaves either to eat or to use for medicinal purposes. But on closer inspection, the locals were actually eating what they have just picked right out of the bushes. That heightened my curiosity! So I asked them what they were eating.. And guess what?! They said they were blackberries (maybe they got used to calling it "blackberry" because of its color). They even offered some of their bounty for us to try. They were as small as beads, purplish, bluish, and sometimes red or black- depending on how ripe they were. But no doubt, they really are blueberries (smaller version compared to what we import, but nevertheless tastes the same). Amazing right? never thought we had them here in the Philippines!

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Cooking with Clay Pots (a.k.a. Palayok)

Before anything else, kudos to my dad for showing me how to make fire out of a pile of wood! If that job was left to me, I would have toiled for hours with no avail! Well... I am just being honest ;) But anyway, I am very excited to show you what we cooked earlier, using an earthenware popular in the provinces, but unfortunately (and as far as I know), not here in Manila- especially now that electric stoves/ovens and induction cookers are the trend. Please do contradict me on this if you find my statement quite untrue. But what's amazing is that clay pots have been used for decades all over the globe- from Europe, Africa, Southeast and East Asia. It has been called different names and made into different shapes and sizes, but all of which have one basic purpose- to cook a tender and flavorful dish that would hopefully delight ones taste buds. The Philippine version of the clay pot is called "palayok" in Tagalog or "kulon" in some parts of Visayas. We used to

Philippine Independence Day Special: Salad Made from Pako (Fern) and Arosep/Lato (Seaweed)

Most of the time when it comes to making salad or ordering salad, we are not very interested as to where it came from. Most of us think that it is just pieces of leaves tossed in your choice of vinaigrette or dressing. All we are concerned about is that: it is healthy (depends on how much dressing you put into it and the ingredients of that dressing... if it is full of mayonnaise then it's not as healthy as you think, my dear!) it cools us down (especially during a hot summer day where it is very nice to eat fresh salad cooled down in the fridge) it tastes divine (depending on your taste preference- the combination of ingredients and its special dressing/vinaigrette). But really... these salads have an origin. Just look at the way of preparation as well as the ingredients feautured in that salad- you will know! From Waldorf Salad of England to the Caesar Salad of Mexico* down to the Raita of India and the Greek salad of... obviously, Greece! But wait... how about our

The Omnivores' Diary

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