Rough Groove

A weekend at Baguio, 3

Other than the ubiquitous strawberries (when I went there, these were just big, plump, red and sweet) there are other food and delicacies that one can find in the public market: different fresh vegetables, fruits like longgan (imported), the usual oranges and apples, mangoes, passion fruit. There are also pasalubongs like sundot kulangot, different fruit jellies and jams, biscuits and other sweets, strawberry wine…

Strawberries are available at around P70 per kilo and were just delicious.

As for passion fruits, I prefer those that are sold in the city which are sweet. The first time I’ve tasted these were when I was still a child back in Cebu and there was a small variety of this fruit that grows just outside the house which was semi sweet to bland in taste. The second time, was in Tupi, South Cotabato, under the foothills of Mt. Matutum during a beetle collecting trip and these were yellow in color but very sour.

One of the strangest delicacies, and one that have always caught my attention ever since I’ve been to this city but have not tried it was the strangely called food stuff sundot kulangot, literally, pick (?) on booger! It doesn’t really take a genius to know why. Encased in bamboo strips in groups of 9 - 10 small round pieces like the size of marbles, one opens it into half and with one’s pinkie (if the other fingers are just too big), you pick on the “booger.”

These are really small and bite sized kalamay, a native delicacy that’s made of sweetened sticky rice with coconut milk. These are sold for around P25 per bundle.