MANILA, Philippines?Have you had your cup of coffee?

If you haven?t and live close at 86 Loyola Heights, Esteban Abada St., you better drop by Manna Specialty Bakery now and get yourself a cinnamon foccacia.

My first experience with bread by Manna was when my student Caroline Padilla brought a Sugar-Free Olive Oil loaf to class.

So proud of her guiltless find, she made everyone try it. When it got to me, well, I said, sugar-free? Mmm. And firmly decided that I still like my bread with sugar, real sugar! Nice to know though, hope my sugar levels will never require me to stay stuck with these, sugar-frees!

Not having sugar on their bread is tantamount to me, having complete amnesia. So I forgot all about my Manna experience until two weeks ago.

Walking through the market by the Hills, the weekend market of Corinthian Hills I spotted a tray of bread, so skillfully and neatly executed. Swirls of feathery soft cinnamon bread perfectly drizzled with sugar glaze.

Manna?s Cinnamon Foccacia is so, so good! Melts in your mouth! It?s just the perfect thing to wake up to. Or snack on, morning, noon and night!

Their list of breads is quite interesting. Kamote, Walnut Wheat, the Sugar-Frees, Sourdoughs and other Foccacia variants!

Congratulations to the owners of Manna for bread well done! Call 4348033.

French beans

Imagine a constant supply of sweet, crunchy French beans? We finally have them, thanks to Gerard Jimenez who grows them organically.

These beans are nice, crunchy and delicious. If you don?t know how to cook them, well, it?s quite simple. If you don?t plan to eat them immediately, blanch them in hot water then shock them in ice-cold water. Dry the beans and keep them in your ref or even freezer. They will last forever.

Enjoy them lightly sauteed in olive oil or in butter with a bit of salt. I like mine with pepper and sometimes with garlic.

It is a wonderful addition to your staple vegetables served at home. A must try. A perfect accompaniment to the most sosyal of continental dishes to our most beloved adobo! Deliciously sweet and crunchy!

Gerard grows everything organically. He has herbs, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, Thai chilis, baby carrots, tatsoi, mizuna and a variety of lettuce. Call 0917-8108293.

Mapo Tofu

If you haven?t been to Xiantin Di, Crowne Plaza for their Szechuan promotion, then you have exactly three days to do so, before the festival ends on Aug. 30.

Love Mapo Tofu? I do and theirs is yummy! I have been four times since! Tell them though that you?re ordering the one from the Szechuan promotion to ensure that they don?t serve you the mapo from their regular menu. Call 6332824.

Questions

I would appreciate it very much if you could advise me where I can buy the following items:

1. Grill plate/griddle (Gourdo?s does not have it.)
2. Locally grown green coffee bean for home roasting

Any information will be highly appreciated.

PHILIP

For the grill plate/griddle, Gourdo?s has it! The brand is Lodge. It?s a nice square-ish one made of cast iron. Call the Gourdo?s at 812-3022. Just got one from them!

Now if you want an electric griddle, call Pfescorp at 5312131 or 5312810.

Now, for local coffee beans, call Vie and Basil Reyes at 0917-8124477. They have all sorts of local grown coffee, even the much coveted alamid. They are coffee roasters and source their beans from coffee farmers from all over the country.

I just read your article about vinegar and remembered that my father used to buy some commercial vinegar (I think it used to be at Ilonggo Grill when they first opened) with vinegar eels which made it tastier. I don?t know if you know of this but am hoping that you would because my father now is a chef based in New York and I would really like to send him some.

RED G. ROCES, MD

Am so happy, Red! I found someone who sells the vinegar you?ve been looking for with uod, my dear, not eel! Pinaganda mo pa, hahaha! Hope your dad enjoys it!

Nina Enriquez of Pamana ni Ka Mila Food Products makes sukang sasa, vinegar from nipa.

According to her, vinegar eel is a worm. It lives only when acidity is high and feeds on acetic bacteria. It dies a couple of days after the vinegar?s acidity had lowered. The eels have no distinct taste. They thrive in vinegar with high acidity ?pero di siya ang nagpapa-asim.? She bottles her vinegar without the eel, depending on the specs of her clients. Call Nina at 0922-4410520.

And for those requesting for the contact number of Lola Conching?s organic vinegar, call 4272227 or 930-9859. If you haven?t tried them, you must! My apologies to Linda Corsiga, Lola Conching is her mother, not her grandmother! And my thanks to her as well, for hooking me up with Nina Enriquez.

E-mail the author at raspiras@inquirer.com.ph