One of the simplest dishes in the plethora of Ilonggo cuisine is laswa. This dish is one of the most versatile vegetable dish for it can include any vegetable you can find. Most of the ingredients can be easily found in the market or even just in your backyard garden.
The most common ingredients are kalabasa, sitaw, talong, saluyot and takway. Other veggies can be added to or me made "in lieu" of like malunggay for saluyot. Also good for laswa are patola, puso ng saging, sgarilyas and a lot more. Just mix and match, add salt to taste or use dried fish to flavour if shrimps aren't around.
A stones throw away from the plaza of La Villa de Arevalo is an ancestral house where one can find not only good pasalubong items but also a look into the past of the district. Known as the Sinamay House , this well preserved ancestral house is an attraction not only in the outside but also what it houses inside. A collection of what the past like is housed in the two storey edifice which also acts like a museum of sorts. Sinamay is simply known as abaca by most and, here, a variety of products made from this fiber can be found. I remember watching a feature on tv wherein the owner proudly showed a framed letter signed by the late Princess of Wales, Diana, showing her appreciation of the handkerchief she was given as a gift coming from this very shop. But the attraction I am most familiar with are the chewies and crunchies made by Mama's Kitchen. Attractively packed in boxes showing their current flavours and variety, this is among the better...