What's the best pasalubong?

When members of my family come to visit Manila, they almost invariably bring with them stacks of Teano milk candy from Alcala. This is the milk candy that I grew up with – soft, white, flat rectangles of candy that are simply hard to put down. They are two-millimeters thin but dense, with a richness that can come only from carabao’s milk. I’ve seen copycats trying to pass themselves off as the original. In fact, I’ve made the mistake of buying once and found the candy to be wafer-thin, hardly anything but air, and tasting more of flour than milk. When I get the chance, I’ll take a picture of the milk candy that I’m talking about and post it here so you’d know, in case you or a friend finds himself in Cagayan Valley looking for a pasalubong to bring home. In my frequent trips to various Philippine locales during my stint as Executive Editor of a travel magazine, one of the pleasures I looked forward to was searching for the best pasalubong. Naturally, I am partial to comestible gifts. Here are the best ones in my opinion: 1. Bohol’s broas 2. Cagayan de Oro’s pastel 3. Bacolod’s napoleones 4. Laoag’s (actually Pasuquin’s) soft biscocho 5. Baguio’s ube halaya (my preferred brand is Tantamco’s) 6. Cebu’s masareal 7. Mangoes from Guimaras (the fresh fruits, not the dried ones) 8. Cagayan’s longganiza 9. Alcala milk candy 10. Ilocos chichacorn (I think the best ones come from Paoay but I could be wrong) Of course there are others, like Vigan longganiza (although I feel that Cagayan’s crisp, garlicky version is superior) and the food for the gods from Bacolod that I often see on stock at Breakfast at Antonio’s. Perhaps you have pasalubong favorites you’d like to share? I’m constantly on the lookout for thin, crisp lengua de gato, treacly yema, and fleshy dried mangoes. And oh, don’t forget cuchinta and pastillas.