Memories, memories ..... Love and Kisses

This is one restaurant that most Ilonggos have fond memories of. Love and Kisses is a homegrown foodie stop for pizza and pasta. The "more recent" original store was located along Gen. Luna street fronting University of San Agustin to which I also had fond memories of “just passing by” when I was a kid. Living and schooling far away from the area served as one of the reasons for me to discover what others had been raving about for years.

It was a delight to have seen a Love and Kisses stall during the Dinagyang 2009 Food Festival. It was my first time actively participating in the said festivities that I got to go ‘round the city. Finally I can blog about and taste (yup in that order-lol) this well loved pizza. Without much thought I got slices of all the available pizza varieties that time and enthusiastically blogged about that gastronomic experience.

Now Love and Kisses have put up a second branch in front of an Iloilo landmark – Nelly Garden mansion. And it was the first time I actually ate inside a branch. It was a pizza and pasta galore as we had 3 different pizzas and pastas as well.

Actually just slices of it and a personal pizza. Personally these pizzas tasted very home made but with some weird ingredients for me. Like those white shreds that turned out to be boiled egg whites. Priced around 30 pesos per slice and with names like Happy, Tenderness, Simone, Love and Kisses, one will surely have hard time choosing which one fits his taste and personality.

Pastas cost around an average of PhP45 with the pasta marinara costing PhP58. Seafood like clams makes this tomato based pasta among the least expensive marinaras I've known in the city. But ofcourse served unpretentious and looks like been prepared beforehand and just heated and served.

Pasta alfredo appeals more to meatlovers as ham and bacon makes a perfect combo with the cheese and sauce. Without the pasta, it can even pass as pizza toppings.

And finally my order, pasta tetrazzini or something like that. Basically its like pasta alfredo with with olives, mushroom and tuna. The olives and the tuna provided more flavour then than the bacon can give. Not that spectacular but a good but for only PhP40. Actually almost everything is a good buy since what they have is more than the ordinary and priced just right.

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 cooking weed called Lupo

Lupo is a weed that is commonly found in ricefields and roadside in provinces. It is most prevalent in Ilonggo cooking compared to others as it is mostly the Ilonggos who can recognize lupo , though maybe called differently in other places. Most commonly used in laswa or monggo dishes to add greens like kamote tops, it also makes a good partner in sinabawan na isda recipes. It has hints of bitterness but don't expect it to be ampalaya-bitter like. It is mostly sold in wet local wet markets by the tumpok .

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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