Farm-to-Plate Lunch Buffet at Camiña Balay nga Kawayan in Guimaras

Camiña Balay nga Kawayan in Guimaras was among the featured food stops during the Blog The City of Love campaign of Injap Tower Hotel. To promote Iloilo was the main focus of the 3-day and 2-night event with bloggers and writers from around the Philippines experiencing the heritage, cultural, historical and gastronomic offerings of the City of Love and Guimaras.

An enjoyable island adventure started our day trip in Guimaras. An eco-tour around a mangrove forest in Brgy. San Roque commenced our trip. It is the village's community-based local tourism program that draws tourists to this part of this island. Island hopping to the many islets around the area proved to be one filled with rock formations and lots of beaches. But the place where we all frolicked was not a beach but a naked island "drowned" in 2-3 feet of water. (More on Suba Malawig Eco-Tour )

Lunch was next on the agenda and its was a Farm-to-Plate culinary experience at this family rest house and farm turned into a semi private function place mostly to host a buffet lunches for tours. Overlooking Lawi Bay is the The Terraza - the al fresco portion socials room of the house used for entertaining guests and this time, our lunch.

Hungry as we all were, it had to be held for a little longer as series of clicks and flashes immortalized our lunch set-up that consisted of galore seafood, vernacular vegetable recipes, fusion dishes reflecting the best of Guimaras, meat cooked native style and many others. As explained, most of what we had we produce of the farm (Springbloom Farm surrounds the entire house) and/or products or nearby baranggays and towns like chicken, fish,shrimps, crabs and more. So feast yourselves with this galore of appetizer food and delicious chows...

Guisado na Balagay or sigarilyas

Blanched Kolitis with vinegar dressing

Mango Salsa

Ensalada nga Buwa / Boa sang Niyog (Coconut Apple)

Adobo nga Takway

"Lindikap" (Gin)Linuran sang Kapayas kag manok

Guimaras Mango Pasta

Kasag

Sinugba nga Bangrus

Grilled stuffed squid

Pasayan!

Specialty of the house - Binu-og nga Baboy

Red lady papaya grown in the farm.

No softdrinks please. Calamansi-Cucumber-Mint cooler

And of course, the sweetest Guimaras mangoes!

With great food and breathtaking view, it was lunch in a relaxing manner.Just like what Iloilo and Guimaras offers - conveniences of a modernity with minimal hustle and bustle of city life. Indeed, this [part of our Guimaras tour and Blog the City of Love event is sure to be cherished!

BLOG THE CITY OF LOVE

is an InjapTowerHotel event that aims to promote Iloilo City.

Bloggers from all over the Philippines toured Iloilo - the city and province plus Guimaras

last Aug 16-18, 2014.

Check out more of Blog the City of Love through Facebook page of Injap Tower Hotel

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

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.

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?"

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.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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