Weird Dessert Combo

Like many other Filipinos, I prefer having dessert after a hearty meal.  Dessert may be as simple as a piece of candy or as grand as a large serving of Black Forest cake.  A few nights ago I tried a weird dessert combination that fortunately tasted just fine to me.  It comprises atis (sugar-apple or sweetsop) fruit, minatamis na kamoteng kahoy (boiled and sweetened cassava), and saging (banana).

Atis, scientifically known as Annona squamosa, is a small tree having a round fruit that looks resembles a pine cone. The sweet flesh of the fruit comes in segments, each having a black seed.

Kamoteng kahoy, scientifically known as Manihot esculenta, is a woody shrub widely propagated for its tuberous root. To make the minatamis, the tuberous roots are sliced and boiled with sugar until the water evaporates. The final product looks like this:

Saging (banana), needs no further explanation. Here is a ripe-and-unripe bunch of the señorita variety:

Enjoying "Bulalo" in Tagaytay City

Tagaytay City is known not just for its cool weather and tourist spots, but also for its claim of selling the tastiest bulalo, or beef shank, soup.  Earlier today, my friends and I visited the Mahogany Market, which is located beside a meat market.  With this in mind, we would be guaranteed to be offered soup made of the freshest ingredients.

Meat market beside Mahogany Market

Among the many in the market we chose Niezel's Eatery, which boasts of offering "Special Bulalo and Kambing (goat meat)."

Their pot of bulalo soup costs 350 pesos, while each cup of rice costs ten pesos. There were 11 of us who enjoyed the sumptuous pot: