Farm-to-Plate Culinary Experience at Springbloom Farm in Guimaras

With the formal launching of The Terraza at Camiña Balay nga Bato in Guimaras, Springbloom Farms can now showcase its various produce through its Farm-to-Plate Culinary Experience. Inspired by the Farm-to-table (or farm-to-fork) movement, this kind of gastronomy refers to the stages of the production of food: harvesting, storage, processing, packaging, sales, and consumption.

It also refers to producing food locally and delivering that food to local consumers. Linked to the local food movement, the Farm-to-Table is promoted by some in the agriculture, food service, and restaurant communities. It may also be associated with organic farming initiatives, sustainable agriculture, and community-supported agriculture. (from Wikipedia)

Springbloom Farms in Sibunag, Guimaras commercially produce red lady papaya, bananas and pineapple, among others. On a smaller scale, they also have cashew, calamansi, rootcrops, native fruits and assorted vegetable produce. Combined with the produce of nearby farms, agriculture suppliers and cottage industries, it is now slowly but surely making its presence felt in the culinary map of the island of Guimaras.

So from the farm, here's my (1st) plate full of the dishes served during the launch. I had malunggay-spinach pesto pasta, steamed kolitis with onions and garlic, bino-ug nga baboy, chicken adobo rice, grilled squid, nori wrapper, mango and spicy laing shooters.

Here are more of the gastronomic offerings that one fine afternoon ...

Salad Mix

Spicy Laing shooters

Malunggay-Spinach pasta

Ginat-an nga Puso sang Saging

Amargoso, Carrot and Singkamas Pickles

"Lundikap"
Ginlunuran sang Kapayas

Bino-ug nga Baboy hot off the charcoal pit

Chopped bino-ug

Chicken Adobo with salted Egg

Pinamalhan nga Salmonite

Red Rice with kalkag

Steamed Kolitis with onions and Garlic

Sinugba nga Bangrus

Calamansi-Cucumber-Mint Coolers

Guimaras Mangoes
Ripe with subtle hints of sourness, my kind of mangoes!

Red Lady Papaya

Suman, Kutsinta and Sapin-sapin

Garangan or star fruit

Fruit preserves

Calamansi Bars

And after all this food binge, it is time to relax with a view! Won't you agree?

Camiña Balay nga Kawayan / Springbloom Farms can be reached via public transportation like multicab jeepneys from the Jordan Pier. Just coordnate with the Guimaras local tourism office in the area for a more secure transaction of transport to the place. Regular rate for a multicab good for a maximum of 10 pax if PhP300 for a one-way trip.

Rates are as follows:
PhP 150/pax min. of 5 for a farm tour and fresh fruit smoothies, 2-3 days advance notice (as of now)
PhP 500/pax min of 10 for lunch or dinner, farm tour, 2-3 days advance notice

Camiña Balay nga Kawayan / Springbloom Farms

KM 17, Brgy. Concordia, Sibunga, Guimaras

Tel. No. 033-336-3858 or 336-5075 or 0917-305-5355

Facebook Page: Camiña Balay nga Kawayan in Guimaras

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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