20 years ago, when the word chef and gourmet were not yet popular in our country, every time Edmund and I would go to a class (that’s how more formal restaurants were called before, not fine dining) there’s always a choice of Batangas beef or imported beef in the menu. Since money did not flow from the faucet, we would order Batangas beef because that’s what we could afford. It’s a lot cheaper than the imported one.
Although the meat that we buy from the markets and groceries are most likely coming from Batangas, I still am curious about how Batangas beef really taste like. Batangas beef- meaning yung binili ko talaga sa Batangas.
Every time I would see the meat stall located alongside the Aguinaldo Hway in front of the Alfonso, Cavite arch past Tagaytay City, I always thought of buying. We never stopped because we’re always in a hurry. Until finally, two weeks ago, I stopped and bought ten kilos of Batangas beef. Three kilos of sirloin, 2 kilos of T-bone steak na super lambot, etc. I was so excited to go home thinking that our maids would be pleased, magdi-dildil sila sa karne.
It took a while for the meat vendor to slice two kilos of sirloin. Ang dami. That means their weighing scale is accurate, walang daya. I also bought several slices of T-bone steak.
Our driver bought a kilo and he too was surprised by the quantity. Sa Maynila, ang konti lang ng isang kilo.
Before the driver started the engine, I asked both of them if they have loaded all our stuff, they answered in affirmative. “Ikinarga ba lahat?” “yes mam”.
When I got home, I told Edmund that beef in Batangas is cheaper and their weighing scale has no daya, and that I bought 10 kilos.
The next morning, before I went to the office I told Antonia to cook beef caldereta for dinner. She did, that was our dinner.
After three days, she told me they have no more meat. I said, I bought a lot of beef, ubos na? She said puro buto daw. Ha? The caldereta she cooked came from the meat I bought from the grocery, not from Batangas.
To this day, no one knew what happened to the 10 kilos of T-bone steaks, sirloin steaks, etc.
We went back to Tagaytay after a week but the vendor said they didn’t find any plastic bag with sliced beef. Otherwise they would have kept them in the freezer.
I bought a few kilos again and I made sure we loaded them in our vehicle. My driver offered to pay me P500 for the lost meat. I accepted it but I am lugi, I paid P1,970 in total. I also gave him P100 for merienda.
Batangas Beat is a classification. It is not where the meat came from.