Filipinos love to eat. Most say that the world eats 3 square meals a day, that is breakfast, lunch and dinner. We, Filipinos, eat 6 square meals a day. It is broken down into breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack, dinner and midnight snack. It is already written in the society’s psyche. What am I trying to point at? We love food and we love to eat. As long as there is something on the table or inside the fridge, we would tend to finish it.
This is the banana cue. The name banana cue comes from the combination of the words banana and barbecue. It is deep fried with coats of caramelised sugar and placed on a barbecue stick. It also goes by the name, maruya in the southern parts of the Philippines. Anybody can see it being peddled by children of the owners or just being sold at the side of the street at any Philippine afternoon. It’s price ranges from 5 pesos (USD0.10) to 8 pesos (USD 0.17) per stick or per order. It is always best eaten piping hot so the banana does not become hard to chew. It is stimulating to the taste bud and to the senses. The aroma is sweet and so is the taste. It is crunchy and at the same time chewy because of the sugar and the banana. The snack is heavy and fulfilling on the stomach. One can indulge in coffee, tea, soft drinks or the famous “sa-malamig” gulaman and sago drink when eating this snack. There is also the famous special cut maruya which is the favorite among the locals. It is special cut because the banana is cut into smaller pieces and is coated with the caramelized sugar. Every bite is pure bliss.
Banana cue is going to bring in energy during the sleepy afternoon. Look for it near schools, offices and streets with high foot traffic. Try it and tell me what you think.