Umuusok Pa

It is already September - the first of what Pinoys like to refer to as the "ber" months.

In the minds of many, it signals the start of the Christmas season ...
We were brought up like that
That is the culture
That is the body clock

So - characteristically my body is starting to look for "ber" stuff
Even more so today because they were playing Christmas carols in the mall as I walked through
I longed for some "ber" food
I needed a carbo fix
And just before I got to the jeepney terminal -there was the answer to my craving

Ferino's Bibingka has been one of the Philppines' leading bibingkas since 1938.
A long time ...
A long honored tradition




















Started by spouses Mang Ceferino "Ferino" and Aling Tinay Francisco with three clay stoves and a bench in front of their apartment in Juan Luna St., Tondo - this longtime favorite has stood the test of time ...

And the test of taste .
After all, it's been around since 1938
It's got to be good

Bibingka is a traditional dessert of coconut milk, rice. salted egg and "kesong puti", cooked with live charcoal over and above the batter resulting in a soft fluffy flatcake with a slightly toasted surface. Eaten hot with coconut pulp grating on top - this is greaaaat for those cool "ber" evenings.

So there I was ...
Enjoying the breeze
Listening to Christmas carols blaring from the monster sound systems of the jeepneys by the terminal
Watching Pinoys doing their after office pasalubong shopping
Enjoying bibingka

Before I left I just had to express my gratitude to the lady cook ...

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay naku
Fresh na fresh
Mainit
Malambot
Umuusok pa ...
Ang sarap talagang kainin ang bibingka mo :-) "

She froze
Perhaps it was the cool Septem"ber" breeze ...