Walking tour: Baguio Market

I love markets because they have the grime, colors, and pulse of a locality. Whenever I travel, I try to drop by the marketplace when I can. I probably adore markets because my step-lola always brings me to one in Batangas and I have grown accustomed to the sights, smells, and interactions. Every area has a market day--the day in a week with the most number of buyers or "suki". In Batangas city, it was Tuesday while in my other lola's town, it was Wednesday. During the summers, my lola would pull a woven basket and head for the market, with little me tagging along. Those were the highlights of my childhood.

Market interactions are interesting social cases.

(Old newspaper clippings indicate to bustling market activities in Jolo prior to the burning in the 70s. I wish to one day bring my lens to Jolo and see a resurrected marketplace with crabs, seaweed, and other goods from Sabah.)

My favourite market in the Philippines is the San Juan New Market in Puerto Princesa, followed by the old Baguio Market, which existed since I was a kid. I barely could remember Baguio Market but the writing and cooking class gave me the opportunity to roam around. We were taught how to choose meat, veggies, and basically get the feel of choosing ingredients before murdering them in the kitch. Here are my photos:

Fish be with you!

To get fresh fish, check the eyes, which should not have any red marks. Fish are normally only cleaned and scaled after you bought it. My indicator of a good fish is a beautiful greyish shimmer.

I don't like fish very much; I only eat one when it is prepared properly. I have favourites, though: Blue marlin, salmon, maya-maya (white snapper, the best in sinigang), lapu-lapu (sea beam or grouper), and yellow fin tuna. :) I eat bangs if and only if it is boneless.

The slimy catfish got the name because of its long cat-like "whiskers".

I don't eat hito (catfish), a Kapampangan favourite. But they do look slick while swimming-sliding around. A chef told me, while covering a Kapampangan restaurant, that the stress free way of killing them while maintaining the shape is not to hammer the head (as what is popular) but to douse it with rock salt. Sneaky.

I like squids both in fresh and dry form.

I love seafood, especially the shellfish! I eat every kind of shellfish imaginable, in any cooking. Shrimps are my favourite because they are very flexible.

Chickens are very common in the Philippines that the ones sold in markets are normally freshly butchered. I have no idea how to choose fresh chicken, it just need to look good and healthy, I guess.

I love longganiza (local sausages), especially when fried to fritters in the mornings. There are six (or more) kinds of longaniza in the country and they are all yummy.

Markets are normally divided with the wet and dry. Wet markets have fresh meats, called so because of the floor--normally drenched in water to get rid of blood stench and other whatnots. Dry markets are those that are, well, dry so fares are normally dry goods like rice, seasonings, and vegetables.

Squash flowers are pretty and nutritious

The Baguio market has the best line of greens, which are grown, nurtured, and harvested in the cool climates of the mountain province farms. They are brought down by jeepneys and trucks; the bagsakan happens very early in the morning.

This is mine, do not steal.  -worm

Happy cherry tomatoes.

And of course, one has to get strawberries while in Baguio. Because why not? They are fresh and sweet and good as ingredients for desserts, with creams, or plainly eaten any time of the day. They cost less too--in Manila, a kilo costs almost a hundred pesos.

Going around Baguio market was a visual treat but watch out for pickpockets, even the local sound system issues warnings.

One of the my unusual (but very common in markets, I was told) finds was this pinipig (pounded rice flakes). The green ones are apparently unripe grains, which are softened for rice cakes. The manang gave me a bargain of 3 packs for P50. I bought six packs and we all enjoyed it during the class afterward.

What I like of markets are the the place to find these unassuming local treats. One has a choice between sapin-sapin (layered sticky rice and coconut cake, photo above), kalamay (sticky brown sugar cake, my favourite), and other kakanins (rice cakes). - 3/29/14