Coming soon: ILOILO'S FINEST

An online article caught my attention weeks ago. Though, it wasn't mainly about food, it will have an impact in the gastronomical scene of Iloilo City most especially in the pasalubong items. Here's a snippet from the said article:

Speaking at the SME Otop Fair last July 13, 2009, de Vera also witnessed the launching of Iloilo Brand that depicts the Arroyo Fountain fronting the provincial Capitol here with words "Iloilo's Finest" to be incorporated in packaging of local products and stickers showing the best of Iloilo products and services. >>> Read complete article

It reminded me of an other article which speaks of the same thing.

For the Philippines, Mr. Cristobal said, registering the products as GIs will help prevent their misuse and misrepresentation. Using the indicator for branding will help a product increase its market share in the country and abroad, Cristobal said.
He cited Saranggani province for having registered two marks: the “Saranggani Golden Mango” and “Sarap Saranggani.” Bulacan branded its famous sweets “Tatak Bulacan.” Tarlac has registered “Natural Tarlac,” positioning the province as a source of natural and organic products, while Pampanga has “Vida Pampanga” for its delicacies. >>> Read Complete article

It's laudable effort for Iloilo businesses through the help of the local government to finally make an important addition to their products; that is recognize and be proud of Iloilo. But come to think of it, even before this stint was made "public", a few businesses have already done this.

JD Bakeshop has this Proudly Made in Iloilo seal in almost all of their packages. The first time I saw them, I was really thankful for the bakeshop for being proud of its roots. Though I have some skepticism over some of their products, I am very proud of this small effort.

Another one is Rgies Delicacies which is synonymous to great tasting butterscotch. Though not really as conspicuous, it had this Iloilo's Pride written over it's "neat" packaging. They really chose a fitting tagline since they really are makers of great butterscotch, which is in my opinion really the pride of Iloilo.

Going back to the topic, my only concern and question is that, will this Iloilo's Finest tagline be obligatory to all products and brands or just limited to really the real FINEST brands and products. I hope it's the latter but then who will choose/decide if it is really fitting to be "tagged" as one? I mean, there could be products that are not really Iloilo's finest but backed by very influential people or politicians and on the other hand some really good products but coming from a small business. The list continues but and only time will tell if this thrust will really push through.

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

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 (

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the usu

A native delicacy called Inday-inday

Now you may ask, what is Inday-Inday ? It's another repetitive-feminine named native delicacy that is made from rice like its more popular sister - baye-baye . While the latter is has its own original flavor and make, inday-inday is actually a combination of two well loved native delicacies - muasi ( palitaw ) and bukayo . But the muasi portion is not the the usual palitaw recipe for the it's more firm and gummy (I don't know the English term for kid-ol ). Actually its more like a hardened kutsinta and this makes it more to my liking since I'm not really fond of muasi in the first place. And its not quite easy to find inday-inday in the market today, though I've seen and tried it in Sabor Ilonggo stalls but their's is more like suman latik for the based is ibos -like. Ibos is malagkit rice boiled in gata which is called suman in Tagalog. Despite the uncertainty for its nomenclature (I've read that inday-inday is just plain pal

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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