Skip to main content

A swanky new pasalubong shop for Deocampo Barquillos

A landmark in the heritage district of Jaro is the iconic Deocampo Barquillos. Makers of fine products since 1898 with barquillos at the forefront, it has maintained quality and the tradition of Ilonggo since then.Around five months ago, the lure of a popular sio pao brought me to Deocampo Barquillos and it surprised me to see their new pasalubong shop slowly taking shape inside out. But it wasn’t all that finished and given the popularity of the meat filled bun, there wasn’t any left when I got there. With few more attempts in vain, I almost gave up but just like hitting two birds with one stone, my visit a few days ago, proved to be both a nostalgic and gastronomic experience.
From the outside, the façade of the new pasalubong shop commands attention to every passersby whether on foot or taking any mode of transport. But the interiors make the patrons feel at home for it makes them feel to be inside the living room of a modern yet in some ways traditional villa. The most notable feature, aside from gastronomy, is a large painting showcasing the more than a century long tradition of making fine quality baked goodies Deocampo Barquillos is famous for.

A galore pasalubong food items greets the patrons upon entry as packs of barquillos, piaya, pinasugbo, banadas, toasted mamon, butterscotch, ugoy-ugoy, polvoron, pulceras, pasencia, yemas, buttered toasts, egg crackers and a whole lot more are on display. They also have the dried seafoods like dried danggit, dried posit and guma-a, a dried local fish. They also sell another Iloilo pancit – not Molo nor batchoy, but pancit Efuven, though labeled as Ifoben on the display. If one can’t decide which to take, just but their pre boxed assorted goodies and make your own discoveries.The eventual plan, I assume, is to have more than just baked goodies as pasalubong as there is a display of souvenir shirts in one corner. Hoping to see more trinkets soon from the usual key chains, ref magnets and post cards to some things I envision like mini sculpture replicas of Iloilo landmarks like the Jaro Cathedral and Belfry, Molo, Church, old mansions, the Arroyo fountains, Aduana and the likes. But some wooden stuff too showcasing the same would almost be a good buy too.

An al fresco dining area is attached to the pasalubong shop and one can relax on the rattans chairs enjoying an almost unperturbed atmosphere. A quick fix would do as of now since the only thing one can enjoy is an order of their popular sio pao and assorted sodas. But I didn’t mind then as long as I enjoyed both the setting and what I was eating that time – in style.

Yes, with all those beautiful things I saw, they didn’t distract me from what I really came for – another taste of their sio pao. And I had a first hand look of its popularity that time and it’s gonna be another story and another blog post. Just taking it slowly but surely as my blog is going the Deocampo way, Flavours of Iloilo – “almost” famous since 2008. lol

Popular posts from this blog

Ready-to-cook Pancit Molo balls

It was only today that I remembered buying a pack of ready-to-cook pancit Molo. Locals are fortunate to buy them at groceries here saving them time, money and effort in the tedious preparation of pancit Molo. Anyway every pack of the RTC pancit Molo has the balls and the lang-lang . Its the balls that entice the buyers and the lang lang that "dictates" the price and weight. For this blog entry, I opted for the AR brand (150 grams for PhP 21) since they had the more photogenic combination at that time though I'm more partial to the Cares brand. Separating the contents makes you realize that what you actually bought but for that price, it's already a bargain, can be cooked in many ways and can serve 2-3 people. It is then up to you what you can make out from a pack or more. For this preparation, I used 2 chicken broth cubes and just estimated the amount of water. Upon taste test I added a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper and few drops of soy sauce. I boiled the lang

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 (

A new flavour for the Dinagyang 2011 Food Festival

Aside from the dances, drums and colorful costumes, Dinagyang also means food and Iloilo City has a lot to offer during this 3-day event. The festival brings them to the streets with the much awaited Dinagyang Food Festiva l . For four days, major streets in the city are lined with food stalls and kiosks that everywhere one turns it all about food. As this article states, major streets in Iloilo City will have a food festival there will be plenty of places to indulge in during D inagyang 2011 . ILOILO City's world-famous Dinagyang Festival will turn the spotlight on Ilonggo cuisine this year. Tourists are encouraged to try chicken barbecue the Ilonggo way and other tasty local dishes during the festival. There are also the world-famous Ilonggo delicacies and other concoctions to bring home after enjoying the Dinagyang ati-atihan and Kasadyahan competitions. Not only that. The 1s t Iloilo Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) International Food Festival 2011 will attempt t

Valenciana

A close relative of paella, this dish originated in Valencia, Spain and probably brought by the Spaniards when they colonized the country. Always a staple in family gatherings, this yellow rice is a complete meal in itself, with pork, chicken, liver, chorizo, shrimps, bellpeppers, peas and raisins to name its basic ingredients. RECIPE Saute your choice meats and vegetables. Cook malagkit rice with turmeric and broth cubes then mix sauted meat and vegetables when almost done. Garnish with hardboiled eggs and onion leaves.

SIDRO: Iloilo's very own gourmet doughnuts

Just listening to Isidro Panizales Jr. animatedly talking about his life before and after being a “doughnut-preneur”, is like the different flavors of Sidro Doughnuts . Each variant seems to reflect different aspects of his almost three decades of living in America. From his work in corporate America for more than 10 years to that one little spark of deciding leaving work to pursue his delicious passion – life is like a box of doughnuts! IN A DOUGHNUT HOLE Sidro is an offshoot from the name Isidro but as Sid says, it’s a tribute to his father.  The first Sidro Doughnuts came out of the kitchen and delivered to one lucky doughnut-phile on Dec. 18 last year.  It comes in two sizes – Junior Doughnuts which at 30 grams each are perfect for parties and occasions. But if you can’t enough, there are the Regular Doughnuts which is more than 3x at  100 grams and comes with more toppings and flavours.  Choose among nine specially concocted creations - Bugnay Berry, Calamansi, Dulce