There’s something about ube. A longtime mute player in the Toronto food scene, this perfectly purple yam is finally finding its voice. Tito Ron’s, located in Kensington Market’s El Gordo food court, is the leader of the ube pack, drawing crowds thanks to one rather inspired sundae.
Purple thrills
In the Philippines, the violet-hued root veg is used all over the culinary sweetscape, finding a home in ube cake, icy halo-halo, pastries and more. However, in T.O., no trend hunters cottoned on to the tuber until now.
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After meeting two years ago on Tinder, Tristen Petate and Michael McFarlane clicked after realizing they were both serious foodies. “We noticed that there wasn’t a lot of Filipino food in the city at all — which is weird because there are a lot of Filipinos!” says Petate, who comes from a Filipino background herself.
Tropical relations
At family events over the years, Petate was privy to the harmonious relationship between Filipino and Caribbean cuisines (her uncle hails from Trinidad), with both frequently using ingredients like plantain, coconut and pineapple.
Before they knew it, Petate and McFarland had a stall and were on the local festival route, discovering that they were filling a void in the food scene. Fast-forward and Tito Ron’s, named after Petate’s dad, has been a Kensington resident for a few months now.
The sundae
Though Tito’s made a name for itself with savoury food, like Caribbean lumpia (aka spring rolls) it’s the sweet that’s causing quite the stir. “The sundae has really blown up,” says McFarlane.
It came about due to the pair’s love of Magnolia brand ice cream, the Häagen-Dazs of the Philippines. “It’s a nostalgia thing,” Petate says. “Filipino people go crazy for it!”
Patrons choose two flavours (such as ube, jackfruit, corn and cheese and more), which are joined by ube turon: a spring roll wrapper filled with ube halaya, which sees ube cooked down with condensed and coconut milks. Plantain chip crumble, imported ube milk cookies and a condensed milk–mango sauce provide the finishing touches on this summer’s hottest dessert.
Tito Ron’s, 214 Augusta Ave., 416-435-7888
