Hallo there, Iskrambol

This is my Eng 10 paper. wala lang! haha!

Iskrambol

The Philippines is well known for its variety of sweets and desserts that can be seen anytime and anywhere. In vacation spots such as Laguna, Tagaytay, and Baguio, tourists would not leave the place without buying a box or two of buko pie that has never failed to make one crave for more. Laguna is also famous for its espasol; Cebu for its otap and dried mangoes; Rizal for its Filipino rice cakes usually topped with latik; every region has its own sweet specialty. During fiestas, stands of kalamay, puto, yema, pichi-pichi, sapin-sapin, and other treats would flood the streets. There would not be a minute that one won’t see food. Noche Buena wouldn’t be complete without Fruit salad, ube, leche flan, bibingka, or puto bumbong. Along the streets, I believe one shouldn’t have missed the banana cue, ice candy, mais con yelo, and the very famous dirty ice cream served in wafer cones, sugar cones, plastic cups, and even in monay buns. And who could not have tasted the halo-halo? The list of mouth watering sweets goes on. Filipinos just can’t get enough of sweetness.

Among the treats that Filipinos love is the ice scramble or more popularly known as “iskrambol”. This sweetened ice-based snack, flavored with a combination of artificial flavorings and usually topped with milk powder and chocolate syrup, originated in Iloilo way back in the 80’s. Way back in Iloilo, it is spelled as “ice crumble,” but pronounced as ice scramble. But as ice crumble became known in different parts of the country, more people would label it as scramble. Scramble preparation is very simple; traditionally, the only equipment needed is a giant egg beater and a tin pail. One would just have to mix crushed ice with syrup made of sugar, evaporated milk, and pink food coloring or phenolphthalein, a chemical compound that turns pink in basic solutions. After doing so, the ice scramble is served in a plastic cup; topped with Klim, a brand of powdered milk, and Browncow (usually pronounced as “brangkaw”) chocolate syrup and anything goes. It is eaten by mixing or “scrambling” the contents using a wooden spoon or a plastic one in different colors or drinking with a straw. As scrambles became famous, alongside dirty ice cream, vendors on cart bikes with coolers and other containers sell these on the streets in barangays for an average of four to seven pesos a cup. Every afternoon Manong would roam around streets and children playing patintero and habulan would rush to them to buy a cup or two of this pink slush. Even in corners outside school campuses, though mom would forbid, elementary students would gladly spend their baon on the sweet experience scrambles offer.

As the early 2000’s came, the scramble craze slowly faded due to cases of people having food borne diseases such as Hepatitis B, a disease famous among street food consumers. Street food always had their bad reputation surrounded by concerns about poor hygiene and the spread of disease. Food that is simply not sold within the bounds of a mall is considered dirty. Commercial food products such as sundaes, pearl shakes, brownies, and other sweets has then been booming all over the country from then on that people would rather eat something they know that is clean than something from the streets that the origin is uncertain. The vendors who once roamed around the streets selling ice scramble had fewer buyers. As gadgets and the internet had more accessibility, most kids would rather play Tekken 6 on their PS 3 or chat with someone they don’t know or just go Facebooking than go outside in the intense heat and play street games. There wouldn’t be anyone in the streets for these vendors to sell the scrambles to.




In 2007, Icebreaker Company thought of commercializing ice scrambles by putting up booths and stands of ice scrambles in malls. Then came the first commercialized ice scramble food cart, Icebreaker Scrambles. The brand’s invitation says it all, “Join us as we embark on this fantastic journey with a heart full of hope, a bag full of optimism, and a pink, fragrant cup full of memories!” Every cup of its ice scramble sells nostalgia to Filipinos. The Icebreaker Scramble would be accessible enough in malls and commercial establishments so people would no longer have to worry about food borne diseases when eating scrambles. The company’s concept was to sell scrambles in 3 cups with different sizes at a 7-10-17 price point. Besides the tower type cart layout that houses the usual containers, there are also Coleman buckets that are situated in front of the carts wherein the personnel would serve the scramble in front of the customers. This gimmick was aimed at maintaining the sentiment of what was done in the streets. Extra toppings such as rice crispies, marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles, M&M’s, and others were put up to add an extra twist to the product. The company made sure that everything is sanitized and of good quality thus marking the product as “ice scramble without the Hepatitis B”. Icebreaker Scrambles had their first branch at Malabon CitiSquare. It wasn’t until 2009 when the company made its debut at SM malls that the commercialized ice scrambles became extremely popular. The overall cart layout had itself in a series of transformation, thus leading to its 7th edition this 2010 as one may see in all Icebreaker Scrambles carts. Icebreaker quotes itself as a brand serving “modern yummy scrambles” in cheap prices. Icebreaker now has 33 branches nationwide.

This 2010, ice scramble stalls continue to emerge in malls, food courts, LRT stations, in other words, everywhere. Competing with Icebreaker Scrambles are other brands such as BuzzBox Ice Scrambles, The Original Manila Scrambles, Scramble King, ScrambleMania, Chill Factor, Iskrambol, Iskrambolandia, Ayoskrambol, Ice Toppings, Ice Crush Scramble, Pink Frost Ice Scramble, Pinoy Ice Scramble, Scramble Wiz, Scramble House, Scrambles 007, I Love Ice Scramble, Ice Thrill, MFB Ice Cramble, and a lot more. Entrepreneurs started putting up branches of such brands for doing so is easily accessible with a cheap franchising fee averaging from P25,000 to P35,000. The scramble business then becomes a trend in every commercial establishment.



Though skeptics say that these ice scramble businesses blatantly copied Icebreaker Scrambles, they all create long queues of customers with their variation of concepts and still, cheap prices. Icebreaker though claims itself as the original and the pioneer for commercializing ice scrambles. The issue on if the ice scramble business as an upscale version of the popular street food will just be another fad, like Zagu, Shawarma, Buy 1 Tale 1 Burgers, and Hongkong Style Noodles, doesn’t really bother Icebreaker: “As long as there is Peter Pan’s dreams in us, Icebreaker will always be here.”



With the rise of the commercialized street food selling nostalgia to every customer, the “original ones” now seem left behind. Even fish balls, kwek kwek, ice cream, and other street food are now sold in malls in the first place anyway. Would then the rise of these commercial street food carts overtake the traditional street food? Most Filipinos would not say so. The average Filipino would still choose the traditional street food than those in malls. Consumers would say that the feeling of eating scrambles in malls is far different from the scramble served outside with dust and busy streets. Though one may suggest so, no one can escape the fact that it has been a lot of years now that one last saw a cart bike of ice scramble in the streets. So, where are they now?


photos:
http://myfadedwish.tumblr.com/
http://damdam.tumblr.com/
http://nikkaraymundo.tumblr.com/
http://fruitmachine.tumblr.com/

Almost everything in my essay is based on internet research through blogs, forums, etc. [ Bunga kasi ng cramming pa din. lol. ]