Teaño Milk Candy - Delicious Discovery from Alcala, Cagayan

On the second day of our Northern Road Trip, I mention to Jay how thankful I am that I married a man
who loves driving long distances.
In that case, you should have married a truck driver, he retorts.
While we do enjoy the annual road trip, let me say for those who don't know me, that Jay has to do
all the driving himself since I am a non-driver.
What I do is I ride shotgun, navigate as best as I can, point out items of interest and ply him with food, drink
and conversation to keep him awake the whole time.
We have different styles though -- Jay has a
tendency
to hurtle through villages and towns --
specially when traffic
is light.
I like meandering and discovering interesting places, specially when the interesting places have something to
do with discovering something delicious.
This is how we found the best carabao milk pastillas in the whole wide world --
it's called Teaño Milk Candy and it's sold from a house in Alcala, Cagayan.
We came upon this utterly addictive and creamy delicacy many years ago while driving through Alcala.
We wanted to stop by the church, which is a very pretty and well preserved sample of
Spanish architecture so Jay was not in full hurtle mode.
Right before we reached the center of town, we espied this small sign
by the highway that said Alcala Milk Candy.
Now carabao milk pastillas is one of Jay's favorite things in life
so it was easy enough to get him to stop and park.
The candy is sold out of the window of the owner's house. You ring a bell and the owner comes out to attend to you.
A pack contains about 12 thin bars of milk candy -- it's not too sweet and you can really taste the goodness
of the fresh and pure carabao milk that it's made from.
The label says this milk candy has been around since 1930. It keeps for a few days, unrefrigerated but according
to the proprietor (Ms.Teaño, I presume) it can last for months if stored in the freezer.
Teaño Milk Candy has found its way beyond Alcala, Cagayan. They say it is a staple pasalubong for homesick Cagayenos all over the world.