About the food:
Last Saturday, I went to one of the biggest foodie events in the country, the Ultimate Taste Test, held annually, and is now on its 6th year (ver 6.0). I went to this event not (just) for the sake of eating myself to the fullest, but more of appreciating the creative side of food, that is, finding new flavors and tastes, and giving them a good rating. With that in mind, here are some of my photos and top picks for UTT.
1) Terimayo Chicken Pizza by Creative Concepts Pizza
I haven't visited the Midnight Mercato Centrale before but I've heard there was good pizza being sold there. This was that stall. Their pizza flavors are inspired by different countries and and are unique. For one, there's seafood wasabi pizza.
For the sample, they gave terimayo chicken pizza.
I love teriyaki sauce and chicken so this pizza is a winner. I just wish they were available on Saturdays at Mercato.
2) Yoh-Gee Frozen Kefir
Gelato and self-serve yogurts are slowly losing its coolness nowadays and Kefir seems to be becoming more popular as it is healthier. Yoh-Gee is beginning to sample its Frozen Kefir and it provides a good healthy promise.
Unlike other Kefirs being sold locally, theirs has the consistency of gelato because it was made using a gelato machine.
3) Eat My GF (Garlic Fries)
Though french fries are considered far from healthy, the use of real garlic instead of garlic powder is a wonderful start for improving its health factor.
The founder/s of Eat My GF has done a splendid job with their potatoes.
Garlic doesn't just work well as a vampire repellant and as a garnish, it also works well with fries. :)
4) Fruit Jams by The Fruit Garden
Not only did I like the presentation and containers of their fruit jams, I also liked their newest flavors.
I've tried fruit jams bought in supermarkets before such as the orange marmalade, but I never really liked their taste. It was just too sweet and unnatural tasting.
But for The Fruit Garden, I think I'm willing to try fruit jams once again with my favorite breads. Their jams are made fresh and in small batches and their flavors comprise a multitude of fruits. It's a real sensation to one's tastebuds.
5) Adobo and Smoked Bangus Quiche by Casa San Luis Pastries
I have tried lots of quiche but oftentimes their flavors were the usual: ham and cheese, broccoli and cheese. I was pleased when I found a unique combination, which is the smoked bangus quiche. Its a mix of filipino ingredients and western cuisine. It was worth the taste.
These are my top 5 picks for UTT. But that doesn't mean that the other stalls/vendors do not deserve special mention for their creativity.
One of those other UTT vendors that offered something in line with unique flavor and ideas is My Pink Wasabi. They offer desserts that are meant to look like the famous sushi of Japan. But this time, its not raw fish and vinegared rice. Instead, it is a hand-rolled dessert made from a a generous serving of ganache wrapped in moist cake. For ordinary people like myself, ganache is also known as the filling you find in truffles (something close to that).
This one is a dark chocolate filling with orange zest wrapped with almond sponge cake. The combination of orange and dark chocolate is wonderful.
This one is Amarula ( a liquor made from the famous Marula fruit from South Africa) and Milk Chocolate wrapped in pistachio cake, which is also good.
To end, kudos to the creators of UTT and the vendors who spent a lot of effort making samples good for one thousand people. Though a lot of customers, myself included, may have been disappointed by the sampler sizes given the price of the ticket (after all, PHP585 is close to the price of an eat-all-you can). We should not compare UTT with an eat-all-you can. I'd like to think of UTT as a way of supporting our home-based vendors who spent sleepness nights after their full-time jobs in order to share their passion for cooking/baking food.
