Market Friday: Tanza's Local Sweet Foods 

I am so excited to write my blog today because I can finally write and publish in the Market Friday community. I have been subscribed here for a month, yet I didn’t have a single post in the community. Reading blogs in this community amazed and astounded me with the vastness and diversity of markets all over the world. Can you imagine just sitting on a comfy chair while exploring the markets of the world? Isn’t it amazing?

_{An image edited in Canva. The original image was photographed by me.}

The beautiful soul @dswigle initiated the Market Friday. I love her enthusiasm for reading various markets. Basically, Market Friday is about shopping, picturing, and posting about it. Such an easy task to do, right? So I want to start you with the once-a-year event in our community. Tanza is located in one of the cities in Cavite, Philippines. It wasn’t big, but the economy was pretty good since there were big businesses.

As I went to the central plaza in Tanza, we could see a lot of food and services offered. Since the festival was about to happen, the locals kept coming in and buying delicious foods. Some foods are cooked and sold once a year, so we had better hurry and feed our tummies with good food. Food that will undoubtedly satisfy your cravings.

_{Kalamay comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.}

We loved sweet foods, so we made sure we could buy sweet foods as well. What you can see is what we call Kalamay. Kalamay is one of the most famous sweet foods in the Philippines. It was made of brown sugar, glutenous rice, and coconut milk. Thus, the toppings are fried grated coconut, which is super perfect for the kalamay.

There are different kinds of kalamay depending on the procedure and recipe a cook will do. The kalamay on the left is called Kalamay Latik because it contains latik, which is fried grated coconut. While on the right side is Kalamay with Buko. It was sticky, sweet, and easy to digest. It costs $0.44 per piece, but you can save if you buy three for $0.88. See? I bought 6 pieces for $1.76 each.

_{Suman sa Ibos piled up.}

_{More of Suman sa Ibos on the table.}

I can say that I can forget anything sweet, but not this one. It was my ultimate favorite food amongst all the Kakanin I found each year. This is what you call Suman sa Ibos. Suman sa Ibos was a type of suman wherein it was rolled and wrapped in banana leaves. I do not know why it turned yellow; perhaps because of the cooking method.

One thing I loved about this food was that it was not too sweet compared to other Suman. You have a choice whether you would eat it like that or whether you would use sugar and dip it in this suman. It was perfect. How about the prices? Is it pricey? No! Each tie consisted of four pieces, and when you bought a tie, it would cost you $0.62. But since we love spending less, they offer 3 ties and it will only cost $1.76.

_{Yema on the front, and packed cashew nuts on the back.}

There is another sweet food you can find here. It was Yema. Yema was the easiest one to cook, but you needed the experience to perfect it. It's only made of condensed milk. You’ll cook it on a low-heat fire and stir it until it becomes thick. You can buy a piece of Yema for $0.16, but three will cost $0.35. I bought 15 pieces of Yema and it was worth it. I just need to brush my teeth afterward.

At the back of Yema are Kasoy ( cashew nuts), one of the priciest ones in the stalls. Every stall sells cashew nuts, but since they are pricey, I rarely buy them unless my mother gives me enough money. Since I am not going to buy it, I didn’t ask for the price. But I guess it was around $2.64 per pack. Quite pricey for me.

_{The juicy and tender beef loin was appealing.}

Aside from sweet foods, I spotted stalls selling shawarma. It was made of juicy sliced beef, vegetables, and sauces, and then wrapped in Shawarma wrapping paper. I bought three, but I forgot to capture them since I was too hungry. The taste of the beef is superb, perfect in the saltiness of vegetables and bland in the taste of the wrapper. I finished the three pieces within five minutes. Can you imagine how hungry I was? I bought the three of them for $1.76 each. It’s perfect for my budget.

_{The table was full of charming necklaces.}

_{Another shot of the necklaces, and look at those designs.}

There is a particular store that made me wonder and I loved their products. They were selling pendants, unique pendants because it was my first time seeing those designs. Some of the designs were eyes, cosmic, stars, patterns, and plain colors. It was mind-blowing! I'd love to buy at least four, but since my budget is tight, I bought two of them. One is an aquamarine pendant with a diamond shape, and the other is an abstract design with a white star shape. I bought them for $1.76.

It was an amazing experience for me to visit the town’s market. The joy was brought by satisfying foods and a fun walk. I would definitely come back when the festival happens again next year. As much as I wanted to buy many foods, my budget was tight, but what was important was that I bought the foods I loved. This is the beautiful, busy, and progressive city of Tanza, Cavite. You are welcome to visit!