Sooo Pinoy in Davao City at Barbeque Boss

What’s in a name? Radley Barrientos, owner of Barbeque Boss explains that it all started with a catchphrase enticing passersby with their pork barbecue. “Our sellers would ask them … Barbecue, Boss?” And literally it caught on and gave birth to this local barbecue chain in Davao City.

I was part of Sooo Pinoy, Food Trip na Pilipinas! which is set to visit 300 restaurants in 10 key regions/areas in 10 months all over the Philippines. Davao is the 4th food stop after Iloilo, Boracay and Cebu that started last March. The goal of the Food Trip is to show that Filipino dishes per region have different identities based on the culture, lifestyle and history of the area. The Food Trip also aims to show that there are many Filipino recipes from different regions of the Philippines, each having its own specialty that has to be recognized for the unique flavor it adds to the Filipino Cuisine.

Radley Barrientos with the Sooo Pinoy foodie team

“Our major business back in 2002 was an internet cafe” explains Radley.”After seeing the possibility of serving food to our clientele, we opened up an 8 table restaurant adjacent to our cafe.” Both the techie and foodie business boomed then and in 2006 they opened a full service restaurant. ”We decided to bring the Boracay theme – al fresco, lamp-lit, casual dining - experience in Davao.”

As Davao City is known for really affordable places to eat, it still came as a big surprise to know that a full service restaurant sells pork barbecue for only 6 pesos each; yup that S-I-X pesos only but you’ll have to order a minimum of five. It looks like the typical chicken liver barbecue at first glance –flat, typical brown, petite; but it packs in a saucy and zesty flavor in every bite. No wonder this pork barbecue gave birth to this local chain now having more than 5 branches all around Davao City.

“One of our best sellers is the Grilled Bangus stuffed with salted egg” Radley says.”It started just as the usual stuffed milkfish but when big chunk of our customers requested salted egg stuffing we decided to incorporate that in our menu”. The brined egg gives the bangus a hint of saltiness aside from the typical tomato-onion flavour and it also gives a complementary texture. The bangus as Radley reveals are sourced Davao and Saranggani.

Boss Prime Steak

“Not all barbecue places offer steaks, so we decided to put them on the menu to see how they’d fare” he shares. And on our table came three of their best sellers – Boss Gravy Steak, Boss Prime Steak and Steak Supreme with mushroom.

Boss Gravy steak

While the gravy steak had the peppery taste, the prime steak packs-in more flavor and the mushrooms gave the steak supreme a harmonizing flavor and finish.

Steak Supreme with mushrooms

“Our clientele ranges from students and barkadas to yuppies and call center agents” says Radley. “The different branches cater to different types of crowd; al fresco branches accommodate the beer loving crowd, air-conditioned branches attract families for a hearty meal, and our bigger branches cater to special occasions and even team building activities”. They even had 24-hour branch near our hotel during the Sooo Pinoy food trip (Microtel Inn Davao).

Barbeque Boss definitely came out big from more than 5 years ago. An inspiring story of how a sideline became a big business and how a stick of pork barbecue changed it all. It really defined how it fit the Filipino taste and as well as their pockets. So, how about some Barbecue … Boss?

Filipinos are encouraged to join and support the Sooo Pinoy movement, a partnership between Unilever Food Solutions and the Department of Tourism, and go on a gastronomic adventure that both fills the stomach and enriches our awareness of our own identity. To know more about the campaign, food lovers are invited to like the Sooo Pinoy page on Facebook and follow @SoooPinoy on Twitter

Sooo Pinoy Epic DAVAO Food Trip: June 25-29, 2012

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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