A new menu selection for Bacolod’s O Hotel

I was in Bacolod City few months back for a very quick trip – maybe just around 6 hours. Too short to enjoy the gastronomic flavours of Iloilo City’s twin but just enough time to savour the new menu selection from one of the city’s hippest and good value accommodations – O Hotel.

On the invitation of its food consultant, Chef Miner Del Mundo, I was able to have a taste of the newest menu selection for the hotel’s Master’s Coffee Shop. But this is just not just a “coffee shop” for it serves delectable food that’s appetizing both to the eyes and the palate!

For starters, the Apple, Turnip and Cucumber Slaw had a sour cream dressing with mangoes and salmon roe resting on a bed of lettuce. The strips of fruits and vegetable provide complementing flavours and texture s that are refreshingly crunchy. The sour cream blend harmonized them with a tinge of sourness that balanced off the sweetness of the mangoes. (PhP 235)

You don’t have to be a millionaire or got tons of cash, just PhP250, to enjoy the Millionaire’s Salad. A mix of prawns, smoked salmon and artichokes in balsamic dressing with fried capers adding an extra crunch and taste to the solid concoction. Resting on a bed of crisp lettuce, a shower of parmesan topped the salad that even Bruno Mars would so freakingly love.

I prefer olive oil-based pasta so this one was an automatic “like”. Despite the many variations of Seafood Aglio y Olio one can create (by the way it means seafood in garlic and oil), the one we had was a subtle looking one. Not overly screaming with contrasting colours, it was a blend pleasing to the eye. The shrimp provided the orange hue dotted by green parsley and red chilies – all complementing not confusing for one’s attention. A squeeze of lemon juice provided another contrast, this time with the taste making it more appetizing. (PhP220)

Pleasing to the sense of smell when it arrived was the Sisig Tuna (PhP235) - cubes of tuna on a sizzling plate with chilies and chives. I was really craving to taste this one while taking some photos – lol. And when I did, it burst with flavour and texture! Being a calamansi fan, I squeeze it on almost anything, the sourness matched the tuna flavouring (marinated, I assume) whet my appetite more. And the spiciness even doubled it that I ended up eating almost half of it – lol.

Another sisig came next - the Crabmeat Sisig (PhP 265). Unlike most crabmeats I had this one had a lot of spice to it. It could do very well as a pulutan to most, but for someone who loves spicy foods, it was quickly paired with rice. With the calamansi and mayo mixed into it, this crabmeat sisig is perfect appetizer or “main dish”, whichever you want it. Extra rice, please!

A best seller and an all time favorite is Osso Buco thus it remained on the menu after its revision. This dish is almost a staple in most Bacolod restaurants according to Chef Miner. His version consist of a slice of beef shank in a savoury tomato sauce with garlic and mushroom served on a high heeled bowl (PhP235).

And finally the Pan Seared Norwegian Salmon. A subtly crisp fish with juicy and soft inside with a subtle sauce made with mustard and tarragon beurre blanc ( a hot emulsified butter sauce made with a reduction of vinegar and/or white wine and shallots into which cold, whole butter is blended off the heat to prevent separation - from Wikipedia). It was a refreshing break to the burst of flavours I had that day. Yet in some way the recipe had a flavour on its own yet tricky to comprehend for my simple palate.

Finishing off the delectable lunch were two cheesecake reinventions. The Lemon Curd Cheesecake consists of alternative layers of light chiffon cake and lemon cheesecake. Served cold, I love the iciness the cake brought plus the contrasting yet in some ways complementing flavours and texture of the chiffon and cheesecake. The chiffon being light in both texture and flavour compared to the lemon cheesecake’s dense make and tanginess. (Php115)

A tiramisu and a cheesecake both are mouth watering on their own but combining them both makes one even delectable dessert of new dimension. The Italian Tiramisu Cheesecake (PhP 125) consists of a coffee kahlua flavoured sponge cake that is then alternately layered with cream cheese. Finally giving it a Tiramisu signature look, coffee powder is sprinkled as toppings.

A literal food trip, this “O”some lunch is just a preview of the many delectable offerings Chef Miner has created for the hotel. With almost a hundred choices for appetizers, soups salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, fish, meat and seafood dishes plus desserts, there is a whole lot to choose from. Discover them for yourselves the next time you are in the City of Smiles, only at the O Hotel.

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Master’s Coffee Shop
O Hotel
52 San Sebastian Street, Bacolod City
Tel. Nos. (034) 433-7401 to 04
Mobile No. 0197-300-8001
www.ohotel.com.ph

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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