Tablea for Two.

After finishing some business activities yesterday, we hied off to Global City to check on some merchandise.

As we passed the Metro Supermarket at the lower level, we noticed a food stand selling "hot chocolate."  Earlier in the day, we missed the breakfast fare at ADB which always included hot cocoa.

So at Metro, we couldn't contain our longing for the hot chocolate and immediately bought a cup. Lo and behold, it tasted "watery."

And there I was pining for the "Pinoy tsokolate."

When we were growing up, our Mum and Aunt served piping hot "tsokolate" on New Year's eve and day. Walang palya, (no miss). Mum had the wooden "batidor," which she used to stir the pot of chocolate. And she served the hot drink with grounded peanuts in fancy and tiny cups and saucers.

Wooden stirrers or "batidor"

Tsokolateng Pinoy, tablea purchased at the recent Trade

 Fair in Megamall.

Batangas has the best cacao in the Philippines. In college, we used to ask our Batanguena friend to bring back cacao whenever she went home to the province.

While the first cacao plantations were established in Batangas, Davao ranks today as the number one producer of cacao in the Philippines.

Last Saturday, Toyz bought "tablea" at the Trade Fair at the Megamall.  It was from the Visayan region. Ordinarily, Toyz  stocks up on the Antonio de Fuego tablea, which we even use in cooking champorado. A niece from San Jose, California always asks her Mum for the cacao tablea as pasalubong.


So early morning I placed two tableas bought at the Trade Fair in a pot and presto, tsokolateng Pinoy, an early traditional Filipino Yuletide drink.

Yummy. Masarap.

Tsokolate with hot pan de sal.