GK Enchanted Farm's Honey-Sweetened Peanut Spread

Peanut Butter drives me crazy. But unlike your typical romantic stories, it was not a love at first sight/bite. In fact, I despised peanut butter during my childhood days (perhaps even extending to my teenage years). It was just too drying for my mouth, and I couldn’t bear its greasiness. I felt like I was munching oily dirt.

Finding love in peanut butter
As I matured, my taste buds also started to develop. I encountered “Kare-Kare”, and instantly I fell in love. I was captivated by the richness of the taste. It was full of action and adventure. When I found out that there was peanut butter (or peanut in general), my jaw dropped in disbelief. I could not put them together in a single equation. How can be something “disgusting” produce a dish so lovable?

Little by little I became more open-minded. I’d try peanut butter on toast. It became bearable. Slowly, as I further aged, my impression on peanut butter changed. I found myself actually craving for it. Without me consciously knowing, I learned to love peanut butter. This also meant that slowly, I became “selective” when it comes to peanut butter.

So this is where the story goes. My mom came home with a bottle of new peanut butter. It came from Gawad Kalinga’s (GK) Enchanted Farm. She bought it from a Human Nature store, which is also under the GK umbrella. I also had that weird look on my face, but yeah it’s true. You can buy it in there.

Anyway, when I saw the bottle, I got excited. I hurriedly took photos, then opened the bottle.

My excitement faded when I saw the oil flooding on top. “Oh no, not this kind of peanut butter” this was what came into my head. Though at the back of my head, I knew it smelled great, delicious even!

I needed to stir the peanut butter for about 5 minutes just to unite the oil with the spread. I thought all was well after stirring it, but I came across a peanut butter that was “unrefined”. You can still see the grains of the peanut. I remained positive, so I grabbed a slice of loaf, smothered some peanut butter and ate it.

Taste-wise, it was beautiful. There was richness in the taste. However, the texture was killing the moment. It was rough and greasy – too sloppy for the mouth.

Personal take on GK's peanut butter
As I try savoring the moment, I suddenly realized that this kind of peanut butter, though may not be ideal for a spread, is definitely perfect for either baking or cooking. I imagined kare-kare using this peanut butter, I could almost taste the goodness. Plus, the “roughness” may work in the dish’s advantage.

Hence, this is my opinion, GK’s peanut butter can be marketed as a baking/culinary partner. However, should they still want to be known as a “spread”, I’d think it will be great if they can have a variant which would be more refined and uniform.

I still give my support to GK because they serve a very noble goal of helping rebuild communities and providing opportunities for those who seek livelihood. This is why I still personally want to “promote” this peanut butter.