Kesong Puti

I love cheese! In the Philippines, my cheese-addiction has become an expensive vice. With virtually no cattle industry (as even my farmer friend from South Africa noticed during his 2 week visit!) most dairy products are imported.

Given the scarce local dairy industry, I'm happy to see any attempt of local cheese making! And, there is! Some cheeses are made from water buffalo (or Karabaw in local dialect) milk, some from goat milk, and yet others from cow milk (I hope it’s not imported milk from China!).

Some locally produced cheeses are wrapped in banana leaves which gives an unmistakable native look to it.

My latest very tasty find is Cebu made cow cheese! Wrapped in plastic it even provides 'handling tips'. That is, to refrigerate the product at six degrees Celsius or to not let it sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours. (I’d say room temperature is a rather vague concept in the tropics...).

The most important handling tip provides concrete action steps for the worst-case scenario: 'in case of brown-out consume immediately or store with ice!'

Truly, a local product with handling tips adjusted to the respective power shortage situation of the island!