Located at the Heart of the Summer Capital of the Philippines, the Baguio City Public Market is merely just a local market, I can surely tell it is one spot that every Baguio visitor should not miss! With it's fresh fruits and vegetables, to the reddest freshly butchered meat and to it's native Baguio Souvenirs, it is truly a must! With it's burst of colors and bustling sounds, this Market is surely the busiest market throughout the Cordillera Region.
From the Greenest Lettuces and Cabbages up until the juiciest Cucumbers, this market caters from the simplest retail buyers, up to the provincial suppliers that brings the freshest produce from the Mountains up as far as Metro Manila and the Southern Luzon Region. Knowing that these are truly fresh and cultivated high above the mountains of Benguet down to the La Trinidad Valley, you surely will have a great tasting Veggie Dish.
Strawberries line up the sides of the Market
As every Filipino know, when you say "Baguio City" at least on of the five things that would first come into your mind are Strawberries. Baguio City and its nearby Mountain Towns are the only place you can find fresh Strawberries being sold. It is only here in the Baguio City - La Trinidad region where these cute little sweethearts grow and propagate due to it's cool climate all year round, which is very rare to a Tropical Country like the Philippines. Addition to that is the rich soil that wanders around the mountains of the Cordillera.
Sagada Oranges
Another emerging Product of the Cordillera are the Sagada Oranges. Oranges, just like Strawberries, are not endemic to Tropical countries like the Philippines. But growing them in such cool climate all year round in the Mountainous Region of the Cordillera, growing these fruits are never impossible. Grown from the nearby province of Mountain Province just north of Benguet, these Sagada Oranges are just as good as Florida Oranges, that I tell you!
Mountain Cooking Oil
One thing that really really shocked my the most during my latest visit at Baguio City as a Child is seeing these Blocks of White Butterish things. I suddenly stopped when I saw this for the very first time and stared at this for about 10 Seconds. The Salesperson at the store was smiling at me as she was known of my shock and amusement of this food item. She then told me "Oh Sir! Ngayon ka lang nakakita nyan noh! Mantika yan!" And I was like Whoaaaa! In Filipino, she said "Sir! This is your first time to see such eh? That is our cooking oil!" Then we, including other locals around us, suddenly burst into laughs and I suddenly grabbed my camera to take a shot. Ok whoever knows what this thing is even before reading, please forgive my ignorance, I have always known that Cooking oil is on it's Clear, liquid form :)
Baguio City really boasts of it's freshest Produce which is absolutely the reason why dining at the Summer Capital is truly a delight since all their ingredients are from the freshest produce that are grown locally and less traveled from the soil plots into their stoves. So for a great dining (and shopping) experience, Baguio is just around waiting for you :)
WOW! really nice post. I grew up in Baguio and we used to have a fresh veggie stall there. I love the sight of those strawberries, always arranged very neatly. I also used to help my parents pack these cooking oil. I was the reverse. I was surprised to see cooking oil that does not harden, hehehe... Dito pala sa abroad, that kind of na puts at matigas is lard. The things we learn... Eh? (That's very canadian expression...) Ang Sami mo nang narating, I'm happy that you could travel like this and I'm even happier to read your experiences.. :-)
ReplyDeleteMaya from Pretty Nails And Tea
Thank you so much Miss Maya! Wow! Alam nyo po Maam, kahit madami na ako napuntahan, hindi nawawala sa favorites list ko po ang Baguio! Kaya every year po talagang pumupunta kami doon kasi hindi nakakasawa lalo yung weather po at yung fresh na foods! It is so nice ot know you are from Baguio kasi all the people we meet there are just so nice! So much nicer than people here in the Metro :)
DeleteGrabe thank you so much po Miss Maya sana nga po madami pa po ako mapuntahan na lugar kasi passion ko po talaga magtravel, mula po 3 years old ako saulo ko na lahat ng bansa and nung 5 ako saulo ko na po lahat ng flags at capitals ng bawat bansa gawa ng tito ko kaya po siguro hanggang ngayon dala ko yung kagustuhan na marating lahat yun hehe Thank you so much po Maam and hope makapunta din po ako Canada someday! Dapat po sana makapunta ako last July nung nasa Seattle ako kaso po wala ako Canadian Visa baka di ako papasukin ng Vancouver sayang yung drive hehe :)
Steven