Pasta selections at Bluejay Coffee and Deli

Bluejay is more than just a coffee shop as one might expect it to be. They serve "All-day" breakfast and "Power Lunch" to gourmet steaks and mouth watering cakes and pastries. They have imported deli items and wines to go with it. They have a very extensive menu ranging from soups and salads to sandwiches and pasta. Indeed, Bluejay is more than coffee. Anyway, here are three of Bluejay's pasta best sellers.

Seafood Marinara
Fresh seafoods (shrimps, squid and clams) in tomato concasse

Seafood lovers will surely be all smiles with this marinara. Fresh tomatoes roughly chopped (concasse) and seasoned, instead of the regular tomato sauce, makes this pasta dish is very light on the stomach. Perfectly cooked shrimps, squid and clams provide instant gratification for anyone who loves marinara or any other tomato based pasta dish. No wonder it is among their best sellers.

Mushroom Aglio y Olio
Mushrooms delicately sautéed in garlic and olive oil with pesto.

Easily the crowd favorite, this pasta is a vegetarian delight for it mainly consists of button mushrooms in aglio y olio (garlic and olive oil) mixed with pesto sauce. From its aroma to how it actually tasted, it seemed everyone's other pasta favorites seemed to have vanished upon tasting this pasta dish. I am mainly an olive oil based pasta person and having this dish with pesto seemed a new and gratifying experience for me.

Miner’s Carbonara
A combination of bacon, chorizo and parmesan in rich carbonara sauce.

My personal choice among the three past dishes mainly because it stood out among the carbonaras I have tasted so far. Thick and creamy sauce, the way carbonara should be - not watery that the pasta literally swims in it. Plus the bacon and chorizo combination proved a good match. We forgot to ask though why it is named as such - thinking gold miners having this hearty lunch miles underground.

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

Search This Blog