I love munching on crunchy pickles; I love the big dill pickles.
In Canada, the refrigerator or cupboard always has jars of pickles, Miracle Whip, Old Fort Cheese, cans of tuna, beans, whole tomatoes, spaghetti, pancit bijon and canton, Kikkoman soy sauce, Extra Virgin Oil, Knorr mixing powder, fish fillets, boxes of frozen shrimp, frozen squid, red peppers, broccoli, bok choi, carrots, fruits, tins of coffee for brewing and herbs and more herbs.
Then I have my low -sugar biscuits, my chocolates and candies with no sugar added, my boxes of pancake mix, and my peanut butter and grape jelly. So when I cook and when I want to eat -
I have what I want.
Yesterday, after an exhaustive search for a filing cabinet at Edsa Central, we headed to Shangri La Mandaluyong to shop at Rustan's but there was no parking spot available. So, instead of going back to Mega Mall where we were earlier, we headed to Mariwasa to pick up a replacement faucet. Beside the warehouse was a small mart.
I only needed one item: coffee. But alas, the shelves didn't have a single tin of coffee for brewing. All that there was: lots and lots of instant coffee - decaf, granulated, the fine ones, and the coffee of the moment - those with sugar and cream already added in the coffee.
I've discovered that I can only buy Folger's or Maxwell at SM Megamall. I haven't tried Cash and Carry, though. That's why whenever I go home to Canada, I always make it a point to bring to Manila, tins of coffee, Splenda, Miracle Whip, lotion and men's toiletries, vitamins and calcium, and my medicines.
Not having the right ingredients and vegetables that I want has dissipated my interest in cooking. The few times that I cook, I make do with what the household has. At least there's Extra Virgin Oil (the only oil I would use), Kikkoman, and broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.
Of course the household refrigerator holds the staple food of Manila: chicken, pork and beef, and bangus. But I want squid and shrimp, my staple food in Canada.
Then I have my low -sugar biscuits, my chocolates and candies with no sugar added, my boxes of pancake mix, and my peanut butter and grape jelly. So when I cook and when I want to eat -
I have what I want.
Yesterday, after an exhaustive search for a filing cabinet at Edsa Central, we headed to Shangri La Mandaluyong to shop at Rustan's but there was no parking spot available. So, instead of going back to Mega Mall where we were earlier, we headed to Mariwasa to pick up a replacement faucet. Beside the warehouse was a small mart.
I only needed one item: coffee. But alas, the shelves didn't have a single tin of coffee for brewing. All that there was: lots and lots of instant coffee - decaf, granulated, the fine ones, and the coffee of the moment - those with sugar and cream already added in the coffee.
I've discovered that I can only buy Folger's or Maxwell at SM Megamall. I haven't tried Cash and Carry, though. That's why whenever I go home to Canada, I always make it a point to bring to Manila, tins of coffee, Splenda, Miracle Whip, lotion and men's toiletries, vitamins and calcium, and my medicines.
Not having the right ingredients and vegetables that I want has dissipated my interest in cooking. The few times that I cook, I make do with what the household has. At least there's Extra Virgin Oil (the only oil I would use), Kikkoman, and broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.
Of course the household refrigerator holds the staple food of Manila: chicken, pork and beef, and bangus. But I want squid and shrimp, my staple food in Canada.
No comments:
Post a Comment