For me, Iloilo is synonymous with family, Dinagyang, churches, batchoy, and pastries that will satisfy the saccharine cravings of anyone. The last part are perfect pasalubong from Iloilo. We tried flying batchoy in to Metro Manila before, but it was just too much hassle, so we stick with the solid food items.
For years, I have brought pasalubong from Iloilo to be distributed to friends in Metro Manila, and they were visibly excited to taste something from my hometown. In recent years, some of these products have made their way to supermarkets and weekend markets in Metro Manila. It made my heart swell with pride to see Ilonggo products finally penetrating the national consciousness and making their contribution in expanding the average gut of the Filipinos. 🙂
For related entries, please read Pasalubong – Iloilo, Part I, Cream Horn, and Cream Horn – Reunited and It Feels so Good.
Before I write more digression from the topic of this entry, here are some pasalubong from Iloilo:
Bischoco Haus’ medium and large boxes full of goodies from Iloilo. ☺ Bischoco Haus products are my go-to pasalubong items. They are accessible, and they have a wide variety of products that I can rely on in terms of taste and quality. If I did not write anything about the product, it means I liked it, and it tasted how it was supposed to taste (based on my years of eating experience).
Bischoco Haus’ Assorted Butterscotch, large, P135.00 (US $2.70). Biscocho Haus’ Assorted Butterscotch, small, P54.00 (US $1.08). Mango butterscotch, small, P60.00 (US $1.20). I forgot to take photos of the small packs of butterscotch. The large pack contains 20 pieces of butterscotch bars while the small pack has 10.
Biscocho Haus’ Bañadas, P27.00 (US $0.54)
Biscocho Haus’ Galletas, P73.00 (US $1.46). This pack has 10 mini-packs of galletas.
Biscocho Haus’ Garlic Bread, P54.00 (US $1.08). This pack has six mini-packs of garlic bread.
Biscocho Haus’ Caramel Tart, P42.00 (US $0.84). This pack has five individually wrapped caramel tarts. I just have to say that this one disappointed me. The tarts were not as “fleshy” as before and the caramel tasted a little weird. The white part was not enjoyable either.
Biscocho Haus’ Merengue, P52.00 (US $1.04). Merengue is my second all-time favorite pasalubong from Iloilo, just after cream horn.
Biscocho Haus’ Barquillos Double, P67.00 (US $1.34) and Barquillos Short, P57.00 (US $1.14).
JD Bakery Café’s box of assorted pastry bars. Unlike Biscocho Haus, this is the first time I have some of its products because variety is the spice of life. ☺
Inside JD Bakery Café’s box are the following (I do not know which is which though): choco fudge, revel bars, choco caramel bars, truffle bars, macapuno bars, cappuccino oatmeal, cappuccino squares, honey crunch, espresso bars, choco revenge bars, rocky bars, and buko royale. I had only one bar out of 25. This box costs P277.50 (US $5.55).
JD Bakery Café’s Garlic Biscocho Small, P16.50 (US $0.33)
Margec’s Deli The House of Original Cream Horn large box of cream horn from Iloilo. It contains ten small boxes of cream horn. The large box costs P1900.00 (US $38.00).
Margec’s Deli’s cream horn, the best pasalubong from Iloilo
These pasalubong from Iloilo arrived in two batches (one in April and the other in May), as the two types of background fabric indicate (and yes, there were cream horns in both batches). They were consumed as soon as humanly possible.