YES, the very popular Shake Shake Fries of McDonald’s has returned, and it can now be enjoyed in three exciting flavors—spicy but sweet BBQ, melt-in-the-mouth Cheesy Butter, and savory Cheesy Tomato Pizza—so you get a different snacking experience every time.
Diners can order Shake Shake Fries a la carte, on its own, at Php65, or pair it with the refreshing and creamy Coke McFloat for a totally refreshing snack. Customers who order any Medium or Large Value Meal with Fries can also have a free upgrade of their French Fries to Shake Shake Fries.
The Shake Shake Fries is available in all McDonald’s stores nationwide for Dine-In, Take-Out, Drive-Thru and McDelivery for a limited time only.
ITALIAN cuisine is one of the most popular foreign cuisines in the country. Filipinos simply love pizza and pasta and have adopted these as their own. They’re also fast becoming more familiar with other Italian fares, such as risotto (rice dishes), bruschetta (toasted baguette slices with tomatoes, fresh basil leaves and cheese on top), panizza (rolled thin crust pizzas), calzone (stuffed pasta) and panini sandwiches (grill-pressed sandwiches). Caprese Salad (slices of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese with basil leaves), Osso Buco (braised veal shanks), Tiramisu (coffee flavored cake) and Cassata (layered ice cream dessert) have also become big favorites.
The problem is that despite all the Italian restaurants that have mushroomed in the country, especially in urban centers such as Metro Manila, most Italian restaurants have adjusted the flavor profiles of their food to the Filipino palate., Thus, they’re not quite fusion but not exactly authentic, either.
Caffe Puccini’s bar area
Caffe Puccini, located at The Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City, in Taguig, is one of the few places where diners can enjoy an authentic taste of Italian cuisine because the person that created the brand—and the food—is a true-blooded Italian, Ettore Rossi. Rossi arrived in the Philippines more than 30 years ago and made it his new home. There were times, however, when he longed for his homeland because it was difficult to find restaurants that served authentic Italian food. So, in 2004, he decided to put up his own restaurant that specialized in just that—true Italian cuisine—and called it Caffe Puccini, naming it after the famous Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. To turn the restaurant into a little piece of Italian heaven in the metro, he had the place, including its interiors, patterned after Italian architectural design. He also had Puccini’s famous works, such as Tosca (1900) and Madame Butterfly (1904) made into murals on the wall.
The food, likewise, is as Italian as it can get, as it makes use of high quality Italian ingredients imported direct from Italy and the chefs prepare each dish the traditional Italian way. This also means that the pasta and the breads are made from scratch—no shortcuts.
The extensive menu covers everything from antipasti (appetizers), insalata (salads) and zuppe (soups) to pasta, risotto, pizza, panizza, bruschetta, panini and calzone to secondi (mains) of pesce (fish), pollo (poultry), agnello (lamb), manzo (beef) and vitello (veal) and dolce (desserts).
Antipasto al Italiana Platter
San Daniele Platter
For those dining in groups, an order of Antipasto al Italiana (Php970) should be a good way to start an authentic Italian meal because it is a platter of assorted Italian cold cuts with black olives, tomatoes, artichokes, anchovy and cheeses. Pair this with light and airy Gnocco Fritto with Parma Ham (Php360), a special bread topped with thin slices of Parma ham that puffs up when cooked. You can also opt to keep your taste buds focused on thin slices of a special Parma ham from Friuli, Italy, with the San Daniele Platter (Php600 per 100 grams).
Caprese
Insalata di Capra
Follow through with a salad choice of Caprese (Php395), which is a salad of tomato and mozzarella cheese slices with basil and oregano; Insalata di Capra (Php375), which is salad greens with tomato, stringbeans, goat cheese, roasted red onion, mushrooms and Parmesan shavings; or Insalata Rucola Mango (Php365), which combines arugula and Lollo Rosso lettuce with mango, pepper, cinnamon, Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar.
Ravioli Lobster
Dining like a true Italian, the pasta or risotto course should come next, and the best choices are Ravioli Lobster (Php445), black ravioli stuffed with lobster and ricotta cheese and served with tomato sauce; Spaghetti Truffle and Parma (Php485), black truffle, butter, olive oil, mushroom bits, Parmesan cheese and Parma ham; and Risotto Spinachi Gamberetti (Php435), Italian rice with shrimps, spinach and Mascarpone cheese. The risotto at Caffe Puccini is cooked to perfect al dente, which is a cross between the “rare” al dente that Italians prefer and the “done” al dente that Filipinos would enjoy more.
Osso Buco
Stinco Brasato
The ‘Chianina Steak’ is what diners keep going back to Caffe Puccini for
For the main meal, it really is a tough choice because a lot of dishes come highly recommended. One is the Osso Buco (Php1,350), which is veal shank braised in white wine with vegetables—carrots, French beans, broccoli and cauliflower florets—and served in a ring of risotto Milanese. The veal shank is so tender and flavorful and goes perfectly with the risotto. Another good choice would be Stinco Brasato (Php1,295), a whole lamb shank braised to flavorful perfection, served on a bed of mashed potato with spinach and julienned carrots. For those who prefer beef, Chianina (Php375 per 100 grams) should be the perfect choice. It’s a huge 1.2 to 2kg. special steak from Florence, Italy, that has very tender and tasty meat and is perfect for sharing because the 1.2kg. steak is already good for three to four persons. It is cooked for an average of 22 minutes for medium to medium well doneness and is served with fried potato wedges and cherry tomatoes.
Cassata
Tartufo Classico
Finally, for dessert, Caffe Puccini offers Cassata (Php260), which is sabayon, chocolate and cream semifreddo ice cream and candied fruits served with whipped cream; and introduces the dome-shaped Tartufo in three exciting variants—Tartufo Classico (Php250), sabayon semifreddo ice cream and chocolate ice cream coated with crushed hazelnuts and cocoa; Tartufo Caffe (Php225), coffee semifreddo ice cream with a liquid coffee core, coated with crushed meringue; and Tartufo al Limoncello (Php250), lemon semifreddo ice cream with a liquid limoncello core, coated with crushed meringue.
(Caffe Puccini is located at Unit 12, The Fort Strip, 28th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City; with telephone number 816-3055.)
IMAGINE rows of chest freezers filled with all the ice cream you can imagine—on popsicles, bars, scoops on sugar cones or cups, mochi ice cream balls, gelato and frozen yogurt—and you can have as much as you fancy!
This was exactly what it was like when the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), through its Philippine representative Synergy Asia, held The California Ice Cream Wonderland at the Mind Museum in Bonifacio Global City recently.
California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) officials enjoying ice cream during ‘The California Ice Cream Wonderland’ held at the Mind Museum
Interactive art fun at The Moo-hatter’s Studio
Synergy Asia’s Evelyn Mercurio (extreme left) and Reji Retugal Onal (extreme right) with the ice cream ladies
The Special Exhibition Hall of the Mind Museum was transformed into an ice cream wonderland, with giant ice cream cones with “melted” ice cream on the floor with throw pillows in front of the stage, benches that look like ice cream sandwiches as additional seats, lined at the back with picnic tables… A dressed-up The Moo-hatter’s Studio tent for interactive art fun and another tent housing The Cheshire Cow’s Magicorner for face painting… A studio set with giant animated cows and ice cream cones as props for taking selfies and groupies… And Alice, The Rabbit, The Mad-hatter and The Queen of Hearts of the fairy tale Alice in Wonderland running around and mingling with the crowd…
Taking groupies complete with props at the ‘moo-ed up’ studio
Foxy’s Pash Frozen Yogurt’s commercial director-Asia Thomas Lee Scruby and marketing manager-Asia Pree Scruby join in the fun
Characters from ‘Alice in Wonderland’–The Mad-hatter, The Queen of Hearts, The Rabbit and Alice–pause from mingling with the crowd to have a family picture taken
It was a fun afternoon indeed, with kids of all ages, accompanied by their parents, coming in droves to enjoy an afternoon of bottomless ice cream from California. They were a real treat, especially considering the fact that the featured ice cream brands were not yet available in the Philippines and were expressly flown in from California, USA, for the purpose. These included ice cream treats from companies such as Coolhaus, Mikawaya Mochi Ice Cream, Gelateria Naia, Rosa Brothers Milk Company, Crystal Creamery, Café Classico Foods, The Latest Scoop, Gelati Celesti, Helados La Tapatia, Superstore Industries, Loard’s Ice Cream and Ramar Foods.
They offered all sorts of ice cream treats in different flavors, including Salted Caramel, Crème Brulee, Cappuccino Chip, and a whole line of curiously named Foxy’s Pash Frozen Yogurt flavor variants such as Naughty, Sneaky and Fancy.
Mikawaya Mochi Ice Cream
A family enjoying their ice cream!
Father and son sharing bites of California’s frozen treats
All kids got to bring home ice cream shaped mini pillows as souvenirs
The program hosts giving away raffle prizes
Science experiment segments…
… kept the kids glued to their ‘seats’
Wowed by the bubbling result of an experiment
Hula hoop time!
Giving hula hoops a good spin
An ice cream-themed ‘excerpt’ from ‘Alice in Wonderland’
The afternoon began with ice cream men giving away assorted ice cream bars from their wire baskets for everyone to try. From that initial frozen treat, they could try everything else in the chest freezers as the program proceeded, with the hosts giving away plenty of raffle prizes in between science experiment shows, an interactive hula hoop session, and an excerpt from Alice in Wonderland that incorporated the ice cream theme into the play.
An afternoon well spent in an ice cream overload indeed–and it was fun, fun, fun!
This food and health festival is on at Metrowalk this weekend
THE Tzu Chi Foundation, a charitable institution that has contributed a lot to rehabilitation work after the occurrence of natural calamities and disasters, is holding a healthy food festival at the Metrotent within the Metrowalk Commercial Complex along Meralco Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City (in front of Marco Polo Hotel), this weekend of August 22 to 23, 2015.
Dubbed Fiesta Verde: A Benefit Food and Health Festival, the two-day healthy food festival will open at 10:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. and will feature several booths offering vegetarian cuisine, nutritious juices, food supplements, fresh produce, fruit preserves, a variety of herbs, and a wide range of local and sustainable cooking ingredients. There will also be plants for sale, as well as organic toiletries and cookbooks, all intended to raise funds for the foundation so that it can sustain its charitable works and continue to assist both the government and private individuals who are in dire need of financial assistance.
Vom Fass Vinegars and Oils
Ju.D Classic Fruitcake
Some of the booths that will be participating in the food and health festival are Vom Fass Vinegars and Oils, Cocoro Coco Sugar, Vegetarian Kitchen, Daily Veggie, Ju.D Fruitcakes, Cold Layers, Fiorello Gelato, Big Scoop, The Juicery, and DeLonghi Coffee Machines.
The Artists’ Heart painters mentored by Roland Santos and Lupicinio ‘Peter’ Ng have donated a number of their paintings and artworks, which will be up for sale during the food festival to augment the fund-raising effort. These include paintings by cake artist extraordinaire Penk Ching, Margie Yu, Imelda Tan, Grace Olores and Peter Ng himself.
Proceeds from Fiesta Verde will go to Tsu Chi Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in Taiwan in 1966 with the objective of assisting in the field of charity, medicine, education, environmental protection, and promotion of humanistic values and community volunteerism. Present in 54 countries, Tzu Chi Foundation established its Philippine chapter in 1994 and has been extending fast and invaluable assistance to the government especially during times of disaster. The Foundation’s contributions to Leyte’s rehabilitation after Typhoon Yolanda wreaked havoc on the province has, to date, amounted to over Php2 Billion.
Fiesta Verde is one of the fund-raising projects which is expected to raise more funds for the Foundation to make it continue to be responsibe to calls for assistance. To know more about Tzu Chi Foundation’s projects, visit www.tzuchi.org.ph.
EVERY decade has its own cake trends, and these trends in baking have been recorded in The Maya Kitchen’s newly launched cookbook, Simply Delicious. Published by Anvil Publishing Inc. in celebration of The Maya Kitchen’s 50th anniversary, the full-color, glossy cookbook contains more than 150 recipes of savory dishes and desserts, including the cakes that made a mark on each of the five decades that The Maya Kitchen has been in existence. These include Pineapple Upside Down Cake in the 1960s, Gateau Sans Rival in the 1970s, Black Forest Cake in the 1980s, Cheesecake in the 1990s, and Green Tea Cupcakes in the 2000s.
Here, in this post, I’m sharing with flavorsoflife.com.ph readers the recipe of Black Forest Cake as formulated by The Maya Kitchen, published in Simply Delicious, and served during the book launch held at National Book Store Glorietta 1 recently.
Try making this delicious cake and see if you can recreate it or—even better—innovate from it.
For the cake:
1-3/4 cups sifted Maya All Purpose Flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/4 tsps. baking soda
3/4 cup margarine
4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1-1/4 cups water
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsps. vanilla
4 eggs
1. Preheat oven to 350˚F or 177˚C. Grease and line 4 pcs. 9-inch round baking pans. Set aside.
2. Combine all ingredients for the cake, except the eggs, in a mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating continuously until completely blended.
3. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Cool slightly, then remove from pans.
5. Transfer onto wire racks and cool thoroughly.
For the syrup:
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
3 Tbsps. Kirsch or Brandy
1. In a small saucepan, prepare syrup by blending sugar and water together. Bring to a boil.
2. Lower flame and simmer for 1 minute.
3. Remove from flame and stir in Kirsch or brandy. Set aside.
For the chocolate filling:
2 bars milk chocolate (100 grams)
3/4 cup butter
3 Tbsps. confectioners’ sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Cream butter and beat in melted chocolate.
3. Add confectioners’ sugar, then continue beating until smooth.
4. Stir in nuts.
For the cream filling:
2 packs whipping cream (250 grams)
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1. Beat whipping cream until thick.
2. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and continue beating until smooth and fluffy. Set aside.
For garnishing:
Maraschino cherries
1 bar milk chocolate (100 grams)
1. Assemble the cake. Place one cake on a serving platter. Brush top of cake with syrup. Spread half of the chocolate filling, then sprinkle with some nuts. Top with another cake. Brush top with syrup, spread half of the cream filling, sprinkle with nuts and add some cherry slices. Repeat procedure for the last two cake layers.
2. Once you’ve covered the cake with the fourth and last cake, cover the top and sides with the remaining cream.
3. Garnish with chocolate curls shaved from the milk chocolate bar and cherries.
4. Chill until ready to serve.
YES, the very popular Shake Shake Fries of McDonald’s has returned, and it can now be enjoyed in three exciting flavors—spicy but sweet BBQ, melt-in-the-mouth Cheesy Butter, and savory Cheesy Tomato Pizza—so you get a different snacking experience every time.
