Christmas was just around the corner and I was in a bit of a panic over the weekend as we were WAY BEHIND our normally organized holiday schedule. Mrs. MM and The Teen are cheese fiends, so we try and make sure there is a wide selection of cheese in the fridge during the holidays. I spent an hour last Saturday morning at S & L Fine Foods on Yakal Street looking for cheese and ham… A reader recently emailed me to ask about the availability of good cheeses and I did answer that good cheeses are relatively hard to find in Manila, but after finding this loot, I would probably modify my answer a bit…
I had brought along a bottle of homemade Mangosteen Brandy Sauce as a holiday present for the owner of S&L, and he graciously accepted the gift and gave me a personal tour of the chillers where he selected some cheeses to add to my growing pile, his holiday gift to me. I have to say, it wasn’t a fair trade. :) My original objective was to purchase a whole wheel of aged Manchego (the Teen’s favorite served with MM’s guava jelly or Sister’s homemade membrillo), but after I located that, I proceeded to lose cheese control… livarot, camembert, chevre, reblochon, etc. I also got several buffalo mozzarellas, ricotta and mascarpone. Yikes. But YUM. Before leaving, I also successfully accomplished the other main objective of the visit — to pick out a jamon (complete with hoof) for this jamon holder that has remained unused for nearly three years…
So if you have a serious hankering for ham and cheese, and can buy wholesale quantities, remember S&L Fine Foods, Inc. And good news for folks looking to buy on a retail basis… in a few months S&L will be opening a retail store at their Yakal facility, and I will do a post then to give you any more relevant details!
S&L Fine Foods Inc.
135 B Yakal St., San Antonio Village, Makati City
843-2996 / 843-2997 / Fax 843-7480
22 Responses
I love that Boursin in your top photo with breadsticks.
good to know they will be opening retail store for home use :D
Thanks MM for sharing your find. BTW, i’m now settled in Manila and i’m enjoying the beautiful warm weather. And thanks to your tip, I did end up bringing a loot of french cheeses from Canada.
haha, sad to say, the only cheese that i have been exposed to would be EDEN, QUEZO, cream cheese (from cheesecake), quesong puti and your occasional mozarella from pizza places (if they really use mozarella). i was able to taste some “real cheese” at a chi-chi buffet (2000+ php per head my gulay!) in manila the likes of brie, camembert and roquefort to name a few but i must say their tastes do take a little of getting use to… my mom loves blue cheese though! nice to know that there are more food choices in manila! thanks for sharing MM! :)
this is off topic MM, but I chanced upon saveur’s website and they featured Philippine brioche on their christmas dinner recipes around the world.. thought you might like to check it out.
https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Philippine-Style-Brioche
Everytime I go to the market I always buy Boursin and those petite French square toasted bread thingies and find a bench somewhere (with my daughter)and start dipping and scooping the toasts into the boursin. Yum!
MM, other than this awesome sounding store, are there other places where I can get manchego cheese and spanish ham? I’m thinking of serving tapas for christmas eve dinner with my nuclear family – our extended family is not too keen on wine, and after surely stuffing ourselves with wonderful traditional Filipino food, I think we’d just like something easy to prepare and great with wine and conversation. Thank you!
how much did the tub of mascarpone cost?
polly, try Terry’s delicatessen on Pasong Tamo or Segundo Mano (also Terry’s) in the Podium Mall near Mega-Mall for pre-sliced serrano or iberico and smaller wedges of cheese, but at a significantly higher price… irene, sorry, I am away from my desk for several days and I don’t have access to the receipt and price…
I’ll have to wait for the retail store as I can’t buy wholesale quantities of anything (not enough mouths to feed or space to store)! So I’ll look out for updates on that :) I too love cheese!!!
Just by any chance, would you know up until what time is it open?
As newbie cheesemunchers , these places are heaven-sent for Ginny and myself. Since we plan to educate our palates beyond the usual processed cheese foods and the occasional bite or two from a cheese plate, retail stores are our study halls of choice. Buying in bulk will drain our measly funds, and the amount of food will split our cupboard doors at the seams. *lol*
Happy holidays, everyone.
a very timely post.. a cousin gifted us with a pound of aged cheddar and brie.. now i want to go to Terry’s to hoard some more :)
happy holidays to everyone… say “cheese!!!”
Look like mass-produced cheeses to me though…
Dr. Nick, yes, definitely mass produced and readily transportable and passable through myriads of clearances at customs and more. Definitely not artisanal raw milk cheeses or fabulous triple creams… but trust me, for the Philippines, this is a happy find indeed. :)
In that case…enjoy!
I’m so glad that they’ll open a retail store soon!!!
You read my vibes here, MM! I am reading a big book on cheeses!
Every now and then, despite the lactose intolerance, I indulge myself
in buying cheeses with names that I couldn’t even promounce. I love
the ones I could pair with a dry amontillado.
I remember buying the buffalo mozzarella from S&L a couple of months back and thought it was quite cheap but extremely bland. I read an article once that said that some manufacturers were substituting cow’s milk but still calling it buffalo. Galileo Enoteca’s mozzarella is much better.
I find that local cheeses like the Puentespina chevre quite delicious.
Mr. MM do you know where can i buy cheap mascarpone cheese? i find santis mascarpone too expensive. thanks
Nothing beats cheese, white wine and fruit like pears, blueberries and grapes to start a long weekend on a Friday night. Fine cheese is great, but any cheese will do just as well….artisinal crackers educate my palate, but lalaban din naman ang Skyflakes natin. I’ve adopted this eating habit when I moved here…but I think the reason behind it is because its a light, healthy snack. Minus the wine, kids are served the same snack in school.
Wow, I love cheese! I went ballistic when I visited a cheese factory in Ohio. Shame on me, I stuffed myself with their samples but I made up by buying quite a lot, too.