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Wow!

That’s the first word that came out of my (salivating) mouth when I stepped inside an enclosure that resembles a garage with steel grills from outside, but looks, smells and tastes like (food) heaven inside. The second word I uttered was: “Wow!” For some strange (gastronomical) reason I had the urge to dive into the sea of kakanin. If I did and got sued for it, I would definitely raise the defense of insanity brought about by sensory overload.

You think I’m exaggerating.

I’m not. Here, take a look.

It’s like winning a lotto and the price is one year supply of various kakanin.

Suman, sapin-sapin, puto, minatamis na beans, minatamis na garbansos, leche flan, fruit salad, kutsinta, cassava cake, biko, jalaya or halaya (ube), tikoy and a whole lot of kakanin. I thought I’d see those only in Governor Pascual in Malabon (by the way, anyone knows the English term for “kakanin“?).

There was puto stacked one on top of the other, side by side with the suman. The sweet kakanin goodness was too much to handle on the spot, so we bought a ton and brought it all home.

Maybe next time I’ll know how to handle the shock.

All we asked for was to buy a variety of suman that we call “pinipig“, although that’s our term for something which almost certainly has another name. This suman is colored green and the banana leaf used to wrap it isn’t steamed. In other words, the banana leaf wrap is fresh, in contrast to the usual suman, like Tita Lynns. It has brown stuff sprinkled on one side. This is one of my favorites.

Our friend, who lived near the area and who was with us when we watched the Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark, offered to bring us to the “source” of this type of suman. The long and winding roads led us to a place somewhere in Marilao, Bulacan (a fact I later learned). I thought her car had a problem, for she stopped in a strictly two-lane road, in front of a house. She waived reassuringly, saying that this is “it”. So put on our hazard lights and also parked.

And the rest is described above.

Where is this place and how to get there, you ask? Well, I don’t know how to get there. The name of the store is Rosalie’s Bibingka (Puto, Suman, atbp). All I know is that it’s somewhere in Marilao, Bulacan. If you happen to be in the area or if you intend to search for this kakanin heaven, call them and ask for precise directions. Here are the numbers: (044)711-5724, (0920)246-6030 and (0921)951-7187.

If you go to Rosalie’s Bibingka and have the guts to dive into the sea of kakanin, I won’t blame you.