A taste of what's to come from Tinapayan

Halfway through its annual Chocolate Festival, Tinapayan Bakeshop invited members of the Iloilo Bloggers Inc. for another afternoon of chocolates that again fulfilled our “Sinful Desires”. It was another exclusive event hosted at The Promenade Restaurant of Days Hotel Iloilo and it was literally “a taste of what’s to come”.

Tinapayan presented its chocolate creations and offerings that would make up the third and fourth weeks of its Chocolate Festival. With two chocolate cake creations, four chocolate dessert bars and two choco breads, it was one afternoon

Choco Strawberry bar

I got to taste this first and I easily liked it. The combination of gooey chocolate and rich strawberry “filling” with a crumbly top just had the right balance – not too chocolaty or too fruity. The crumble top provided contrasting texture that made a crunch out of every bite.

Choco Caramel Seduction

I had to control myself to easily give in to this aptly named cake. Very seducing from every angle, my guess right that this cake I saw on display earlier at the bakeshop would be part of the chocolate festival. It’s made with layers of butter pound cake and moist chocolate cake with generous caramel filling and icing. Artfully covered in chocolate and topped with chocolate and cream creations and cherry. How is that for a seduction!

Chocolate croissant

I then opted for something simple but turned out to be my favorite. The croissant was crisp-flaky with just the right amount of chocolate filling. Perfectly golden – it’s looks good but definitely tastes better.

Banoffee Bar

Not actually like those Banoffee tarts or cakes – just a name. It has a banana cake base with fresh tasting bananas and a rich chocolate mousse top layer. Filled with caramel and walnuts, this was among the most luscious bar in the selection.

Coco Heaven

Another chocolate and coconut combination, it was unidentifiable at first since the coconut topping looks more like walnuts. It turned out to be big “chunks” of “desiccated” coconut. A chocolate cake base with a simple butter cake top plus, of course, those super sized desiccations.

Choco Espresso Torte

Layers of chocolate and coffee cakes with caramel and walnut filling and more chocolate icing – this one will surely perk you up. Twice the goodness of these well loved beans in cake, every bite will wake you up even for more. From the way it looked to how it tasted, it was indeed a sure winner.

Choco Mango Crème Brulee

Using fresh mangoes infused in the crème brulee, the sudden disappearance of fresh mangoes in the markets concerned Tinapayan. They just couldn’t sacrifice the quality and taste of the natural sweet taste of mangoes by using preserves. Indeed we were lucky to have this one made from fresh mangoes and it really reflected on how it tasted – naturally sweet, and combined well with chocolate

Chocolate swirl

I just passed on this one since this is almost a staple at home, together with its cousins – ube and cheese swirls. It’s basically a loaf bread with “built in” filling and taste reflective of its name. Just something usual made special by Tinapayan.

And as if the whole lot wasn’t enough, I was again able to bring and shared some of these goodies at home.

(Acknowledgments: Very special thanks to our gracious hosts; Ms. Evelyn Que, Owner of Tinapayan Bakeshop, J. Scott Sarria, General Manager of Days Hotel Iloilo and to the two Marketing gals of Iloilo Supermart - sorry forgot your names as of now)

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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