Starting the new year with pizza, pasta and Lara

Dinner today was special for it was a (mini and on the spot) get together with some of my high school and college classmates. Afrique's restaurant in Smallville provided not only appetizing pizza and sumptuous pasta but also a great ambiance and setting for us to reminisce the past, discuss the present and delve into the future of ourselves (and others - lol).

Just a "light" dinner with three pizzas and three pastas (plus 2 pitchers of cucumber cooler) for the eight of us yet it was filling in some way for we punctuated every bite and every slice with stories of our student days and our present lives.

Afrique's Special pizza is among it's best sellers. It has a special sweet sauce complementing an assortment of toppings. Among the many times I had this pizza, tonight's Afrique's Special was the best. The crust was now thin and crisp, the toppings were plenty and was cooked & prepared perfectly - truly deserves to be called as such.

Pink salmon pizza is among their top of the line pizzas. With pink salmon flakes over cabbage leaves and an unlikely "pizza sauce" which I think made up of mayonnaise, mustard, honey?, etc or much likely a Caesar salad dressing. This gives the pizza a refreshing taste, look and aroma as opposed to expected "fishiness" of the pizza. This is now my favorite pizza from Afrique's.

Queen Isabelle? pizza is among their curiously named items that's why we ordered basing on it. It has anchovies, onions and olives as toppings over a buttery cheesy sauce. Compared to the other two pizzas, it never got to shine because of it's simplicity.

I have to search for the name of this pasta, something like "Atriciatta". Looks like a very simple combination of penne, tomato sauce and cheese but it was the fresh tomato halves that made me like this pasta though it was served in an unappetizing way.

Penne sausage pasta in cream sauce is another of their white sauce pasta. Very simple that it tasted bland for me. The sauce was watery and lacked "body" that I got to taste the pasta more than the sauce itself.

The last one to be served was their carbonara. The first thing I noticed is it's inconsistency. It always looked and was served very differently from the other branches I went to. I was surprised they used spagehetti instead of the usual linguine and the white sauce was again watery. But this one tasted much better than the penne above.

I was surprised that Afrique's also serve cucumber cooler - a mix of lemonade, cubed cucumber and mint leaves. I had my first taste of this drink at Esca's Garden Restaurant, sister restaurant of Afrique's and instantly loved it. They had singkamas that time at Esca's

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Despite some of my negativity - lol, everything was well worth it - from the food, the ambiance, the company. And I'm this won't be my last visit to Afrique's Smallville or any other branch. I have set my eyes on Osso Buco, Ox Tongue in Cream sauce and their Baby Backribs - lol.

Arrivederci!

P.S. Lara is not a new dish served at Afrique's but a classmate of mine since the 5th grade until college. She's on vacation right now and will be going back to Sweden in the next few days so we arranged a hurried meeting today. She was our guest of horror ... honour - lol.

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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