I had a college roommate who lived on an unvarying diet of Pop-Tarts, cigarettes, Diet Coke, and beer. Occasionally - OK, rather more often than occasionally - I joined her in consumption of the latter three. But I never really got the Pop-Tarts. Until now. You see, in the Philippine piaya I've found the ultimate Pop-Tart. And it's a beautiful thing. Piaya are flat, round biscuits filled with muscovado sugar. Their unsweetened wheat flour dough is rolled super thin and the whole is griddled. I can't be sure, but the flakiness of piaya dough suggests the presence of lard. What really makes piaya irresistible, though, is the filling. Philippine muscovado sugar is fragrant and ... read more

Tags: chocolate, lunch