The peanutty pride of the Philippines Meycauayan City.
When my Filipina pal Stella sang the praises of Lily’s Peanut Butter to me a year or so ago I remember thinking, “Wow, it’s just peanut butter, how good can it be?” Recently while checking out Phil-Am Market in Woodside’s Little Manila, I found myself in the spread aisle. There next to the Kraft Cheese Spread and Star Chocolate margarine were rows upon row of green and white labeled Lily’s. One word on the label struck me, “Natural.” It conjured up images of oil slicks and sand, or at the very least grittiness.
When it comes to food—Filipino or otherwise—I trust Stella so I decided to lay aside my prejudice against hippy peanut butter and handed over six bucks to the clerk. And I am glad I did. It’s nothing at all like any natural peanut butter I’ve ever had. Yes some oil still floats to the top, but given a stir it’s sweet and creamy and packed with roasted peanut flavor. I eat it on bread, with a banana, or just straight out of the jar.
I just finished my 364-gram jar and decided to give the Lily’s web site a quick perusal. There I learned two things: It’s been made since 1950, and, in the Philippines it is available in a 2-kilo container. Overkill you say? Then you obviously have never tasted Lily’s.
I don’t know why Filipino peanut butters are tastier. So I guess I’m not just biased (because I am Filipino), since other nationalities appreciate our peanut butter.
I grew up in a town where they make peanut butter fresh. We used to get our plastic jars warm because the peanut butter was freshly churned. I’d eat the peanut butter right out of the jar. Overriped / bruised bananas or pandesal or processed cheese optional 🙂
I wasn’t a picky eater as a kid, but I didn’t eat a lot and was quite scrawny. One exception was when there was Lily’s or Ludy’s peanut butter in the house, or even the generic freshly churned peanut butter that Didi mentioned. I used to eat half the jar before remembering to share with my siblings!
Man, I believe you. I’ve tried a lot of PB’s but Lily’s is top for me. If I could purchase one of those XL jugs you mentioned from their website here in the US, I would. I normally buy the smaller jars (365g) available for us here in the States every other week and they are great on toasts in the morning at the office.