For as long as I have summered in Cebu (going back a good 35+ years), I recall munching on Titay’s of Liloan rosquillos. As a child, I always thought they could be sweeter, and while I liked them, if there were broas or consilva in the house at the same time, rosquillos would be a distant third snacking choice. But as an adult, I have found myself drawn more and more to their crisp texture, slightly dry mouth feel and just slightly sweet taste. Actually, I now like them very much indeed. I was just munching on a few of them with a nice hot cup of tea (diet treat, sillies!) and noticed that the packaging announced that these Liloan originals were celebrating their 100th birthday! Can you imagine that?! Not too many local food items have lasted that long, and branded ones at that! And this just jogged my memory that another of my favorite sweets also turned 100 this year, but more on that below…
Titay’s Liloan rosquillos are made with flour, eggs, shortening, sugar and baking powder, according to their packaging. That’s it. No preservatives, no artificial flavorings, color, etc. The delicacy was invented by Margarita “Titay” Frasco in 1907, and it continues to be manfactured by her descendants in the town of Liloan, Cebu. I always like to scrutinize a package (plastic these days), because it always amazes me that each cookie seems to be a slightly different shade, a sign of more home-made style cookies than those of a factory mass-producing thousands of these discs a day! In the old days, these came in nice circular tins, and those were better for keeping the cookies crisp longer. As with all things without a center, I always wondered what they did with the little circles of dough from the middle of the cookie…think they sell those separately???
A few months ago in New York, we visited the Hershey’s store near Times Square, and I was stunned by the volume of people coursing through this relatively small shop (a huge M&M’s shop was across the street, we visited that, too!). Of course The Kid had to get a t-shirt but as we were wandering through, we noticed there was a whole big hullabaloo about the Herhey’s Kiss or Kisses, which also turned 100 years old this year! I don’t know about you guys, but when I was a kid, Hershey’s ksses were like IT. There wasn’t much chocolate around, and if you had Hershey’s, it was a MAJOR BIG DEAL.
If I was really sick and home from school, dying with fever and a cough, our cook always made me pospas or arroz caldo. And if the fever was high enough to practically hallucinate, my mother, if she could manage to, would sneak off to some illegal PX dealer and buy a small package of Hershey’s kisses and present these to me as though they were more effective than aspirin at alleviating my pain. So oddly, my first immediate association whenever I see a silver foil wrapped chocolate kiss, is that I must be sick…hahaha. But seriously, these were my all time favorite chocolate as a kid, and despite graduating to La Maison du Chocolat as an adult, I can STILL happily scarf down an entire package of Hershey’s milk chocolate kisses with glee! So, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to two Marketman favorites, rosquillos and chocolate kisses!!! :)
At the Hershey’s shop, I got this commemorative tin truck for me; it was filled with chocolate kisses which are long gone. As a kid, I also used to search through packages of Hershey’s kisses, seeing if any “naked” kisses made it past quality control… I guess the same way a slightly more morena rosquillo gets included in a package of cookies, and at least once a year I would find a naked kiss. So when I opened a new package of chocolates just minutes ago for these photos, and a single naked kiss fell out (that still happens with all sorts of quality controls???), I took that as a sign from elsewhere that I should eat it. And many of its companions. Like right now. :) Isn’t it amazing that about the same time as Titay’s was inventing her rosquillos in Liloan, Cebu, that have since become such a favorite in this part of the world, the Hershey company was coming up with milk chocolate kisses halfway around the world in Pennsylvania? I think it is really cool. What I don’t understand is how and when the Spaniards somehow figured these two favorites out and melted the chocolate and coated the biscuit and decided to name them Filipinos… Hahaha.
34 Responses
“So when I opened a new package of chocolates just minutes ago for these photos, and a single naked kiss fell out (that still happens with all sorts of quality controls???), I took that as a sign from elsewhere that I should eat it. And many of its companions. Like right now. :)”
Marketman, this is just too funny..
Hah! And I just wrote something under your Aspiras Rant. And there, I was inquiring about a new post. This post makes me crave even more for my favorite dark chocolates. But the Hershey’s commemorative tin is really, really nice. It also reminds me of my son’s jeepney alkansiya. Anyway, I suppose there isn’t anymore like it?
wow, a hundred years of making comfort food and ruining people’s diets. hehehe.
yes, i remember we could only eat Hershey’s kisses then when a balikbayan relative brought some. along with Nestlé Quik =)
MM,
Is the naked Kiss and its many companions still part of the diet treat? :D
I’m sure the Liloan rosquillos will be a great partner to sikwate!
I love rosquillos with Magnolia’s Mango Peach Melba ice cream. Ang saraaaap!!! I spread the ice cream on top of the rosquillos and eat it all in two big bites. So worth the sinful calories.
my grandma used to call kisses ‘chocolate nipples’ :)
ah, rosquillos, haven’t had them for ages, if you happen to have a recipe, pls share, thanks :))))
Now I crave for rosquillos. My kids use to thread their cute little fingers with these cookies.
I’ve always eaten Titay’s rosquillos as far as I can remember. MM, arent’ silvanas also from Cebu? I love them as well. Rosquillos are available in Chinatown here in New York.
Hi MM, your post made me revisit the Filipinos post and why they named the cookies after us. My guess is, like the Filipinos, they want the cookies to found any place in the world.
Parents all around the globe do that, present you with the sweetest and juiciest fruits when you are sickest and hurting to swallow or even unable to smell the rare aroma. May be it is to attract siblings to your bedside to keep you company and be more solicitous of your needs.
Hi Marketman! My colleagues and I from Hershey Philippines were amused at your post on Hershey’s Kisses! Thank you for the glowing review on our famous product. We would like to send you some Kisses packs as a token of our appreciation. Where should we send it to?
thanks for this feature, MM. i’ve always loved rosquillos (even more than i do hojaldres and otap), and am so happy that we can get them here in davao.
and you’re so right about getting the royal treatment at home when sick. i always got a whole pint of ice cream and a pack of hershey’s kisses to myself whenever i had tonsillitis!
millet, when I was a kid, I probably WISHED I would get sick more often! nutcase, hahaha, thank you, and despite my daughter’s plea to grant an exception, Marketman does not accept gifts of products mentioned on the site; it keeps us more honest, even if the gifts come after the post :) But if you still want to, you may want to give the Kisses to the traffic policeman at the corner or McKinley and 5th Avenue at Fort Bonifacio, the guy who is so “bigay na bigay” dancing away while he directs traffic… I think he deserves a sweet more than I do, and last year we did just that, stopped our car and rolled down our window to give him a pack of chocolates, he was thrilled… Apicio, once it attracted ants onto the sickbed that caused all other manner of havoc and panic… Risa, good one! Mangaranon, not sure if silvanas are originally from Cebu…but you can get them there… noemi, that’s right, now that you mention it, little kids used to gum these cookies, though today one might worry about choking… dee bee, never thought to attempt to replicate a rosquillo. They are so good and reasonably priced as it is, I think I won’t even try… Trish, that sounds delish! Sonny sj, you got it, the kisses and the rosquillos were the goodies of the day… imagine if I weren’t on a diet??? Dizzy, I remember that Nestle Quik… Blaise, don’t you just love how my signs from afar are almost always food related?!
MM, we live right next to Hershey! Please give me the pleasure of taking you on a tour next time you’re here! You’ll get a kick out of the street lights shaped like Kisses along Chocolate Ave.
My husband remembers that when they were kids, whenever someone got sick, they were sure to get a “treat” of Fanta orange soda.
Oh wow MM, that traffic cop is the best! He is so fun to watch and i noticed a lot of heavy traffic happens when he’s manning the street because the motorists really stop to watch him. Super nice guy and a refreshing sight from the usual sour faced MMDA we see on the road (i don’t blame them though, the heat is just unbearable). do give him the traffic cop the kisses, nutcase! =)
Congratulations and more power to Titay’s of Liloan on their centennial years of baking rosquillos. That’s quite an accomplishment and blesses her descendants’ heart for keeping the tradition of baking. They withstand the test of time, war, inflation, change of form of government and administration they are indeed an icon and institution!
your post about hershey’s kisses now makes me want to open my bag of kisses with peanut butter… (running to get the bag…)
Rosquillos and Barquillos are definite must haves from Cebu! You may not realize but your blog brings nostalgia and joy daily.
i always keep a jar full of these yummies! its perfect when you’re bonding with a friend, or curling up with a book, or crying away with a soap or just being catatonic on sunday mornings when everybody has ran away from home! its best with milk, or creamed barako or swissmiss! btw, luv your blog!
Hi! Just a question: are the rosquillos of Titay’s better than Conching’s? I’m kinda addicted to requillos (harhar), but I only see Conching’s around the groceries. Can Titay’s be sourced here in Manila?
few many times when i read your post that I just want to go back to Cebu…i love rosquillos and when I was young it was kinda a treat really.
as for kisses… when I was in the States last time our bags were full of it.. ;-)
Jacob’s Mom, The Kid did want to tour the town of Hershey…but we just couldn’t fit it into the trip… The Steak Lady, yes, that cop is tops! We also had a suki, short rotund MMDA traffic enforcer on McKinley for years that we also gave goodies too so he could get through his day a little easier… I ran into the guy at the grocery and complimented him for a job well done and it is amazing how a few words can really pump someone up, if only for an instant! Maria Clara, yes, family still controls the business and are in the original town as well… Mandy, why not, eat a dozen or so… :) eej, heehee, we brought back some barquillos too… razazoo, I suspect if I keep jars of rosquillos in our kitchen I will eating two dozen every day… Andrei, I would be partial to the original, though I have to admit I have never tried Conching’s… not sure if Titay’s is available in Manila. Shalimar, yes, there are certain things that just scream Cebu, don’t they?
Thanks MM! I think that is a very good suggestion. Actually, I always keep some chocolates in my bag and hand these out to the village guards in our area and our building guards as well. You are right, they deserve some treats more than we do (doesn’t hurt to spread the calories too! Hahaha).
I thoroughly enjoy your posts and look forward to reading them each morning. Keep ’em coming and God bless!
Hershey’s Kisses!! Love it.. esp. the dark ones (in purple foil wrapper)… yummy!! :D
Hershey’s Kisses is definitely on of our faves, i love the ones with almonds, and for my 5 yrd old daughter, she likes the plain ones!
Oh MM, Titay’s rosquillos is a staple in my lola’s house. We would get tons of free Titay’s rosquillos, galletas, and otap because my Lolo’s bus uses Titay’s as a pit stop for all of his buses, so in exchange we get freebies.:) I never knew there were other people in love with Titay’s rosquillos; but unlike most I like my rosquillos soft – soft after I leave the package open and let the biscuits breath some air. Hehehe.
“Hershey’s Kisses!! Love it.. esp. the dark ones (in purple foil wrapper)… yummy!! :D ”
Oh man, gotta have that!!! Thanks, chick!
top a rosquillo with a naked chocolate kiss for a double centennial commemorative treat.
OMG. I looooooooove Rosquillos! ;-) I can consume a bugs pack by myself… ;-) Yummy!!!
Oooops. It’s supposed to say HUGE pack, not bugs. ;-) Hehehe.
shame on me… I live in Lilo-an and would pass by Titay’s but never had the chance to visit the place. I’m not really fond of rosquillos, that’s why but maybe one of these days I’ll go visit the place.
I do LOVE Hershey’s kisses, especially the plain chocolate.
“These are a few of my favorite things!” Mga nakaka-addict na comfort food! One or two or twenty is not enough! Kaya the whole pack! Hahaha! I like my Kisses cold so when I bite into them, there’s a “tok” sound pa in my mouth!
Where can you purchase barquillos in the U.S. preferably New York or Tennessee.
Salamat
Phillip, sorry, I have no idea if anyone sells barquillos in either of those states.