In a bookstore, if I had to choose between a cookbook and a volume on ecology, I would usually take the latter. Between food and current affairs magazine, my instinct is to take the latter.

Food blogging has been changing my reading habits slowly, however. Now and then, I tend to look at the different magazines available in the newsstands. I now look forward to each month and see what’s available in the glossies, hoping that they feature more Filipino food.

This month, Yummy Magazine has its maiden issue. It looks like a cooking magazine, albeit for fast and simple recipes. Although I would like to see a bit more in-depth articles, what I appreciate about Yummy Magazine is how it is meticulously organised, such as step-by-step pictures for a tricky procedure and a recipe index by category.

Overall, it has awakened my curiosity as to what lies ahead. More Filipino food features, perhaps?

Manilkara zapota (L.) van Royen

Very sweet, they taste like honey. Quite smooth, they glide on the tongue. Each year, starting in late November till just when about summer announces its arrival; we have these fruits that very few can resist. Even with a single tree, sacks upon sacks of the fruit are brought down in one season. There was even an exceptionally good year when the branches of the tree almost broke from the weight of its own fruits. Now, that’s what is called bountiful!

The chico tree is one of what I would call migrant plants. They are native to the Yucatan peninsula, in Mexico . They seem to have been introduced early in the country. According to Doreen Fernandez, the Philippine name is from the contraction of the Spanish chico zapote, which in turn is from the Nahuatl xicotzapotl. Although Doreen mentions four varieties or cultivars in Tikim, only two are commonly known to the public, especially in Pampanga. These more common varieties are Ponderosa, which are large and juicy but have a coarse and grainy texture and pineras, which are small and sweet but not as juicy.

Our tree has a long and interesting history. It was a seedling that came to our yard after the Second World War. One of my uncles, who was then a student at UPLB, smuggled it home because it was supposed to be special, a hybrid of Ponderosa and pineras. True enough, it bore big fruits that are not only sweet and juicy but with smooth flesh as well. It also had a seed or two to a fruit, unlike others which could have as many as six or even a dozen for the bigger varieties.

Read the rest of this entry »

Oh I didn’t know that what we commonly refer to as Indian mangoes are really called katchamita, which of course originate from India.

A previous post articulates how different mango varieties are eaten in the Philippines. Indian mangoes, for us, are best eaten unripe, for snacking with baguc (bagoong, salted shrimp fry paste) or a bit of salt.