Inside: The original Tibiao Bakery in Antique

For most Ilonggos, Tibiao, despite being a name of a town in Antique, is often associated with a bakery making good breads and treats thus earning its tagline “Symbol of all Foods”. It has numerous products to boast ranging from biscuits and cookies to breads and cakes. In Iloilo City it has even spawned numerous branches having short orders like pancit Molo, spaghetti, hamburgers and more.

It was a big surprise during our trip to Tibiao in Antique a few weekends ago that we got a chance to tour inside the factory of one of the biggest and popular bakeries on the island of Panay – Tibiao Bakery.

Owned by the family of Mayor Walden Lim, Tibiao Bakery has been baking a lot of goodies since 1953. Eventually, it became big, expanded and became even more popular outside the town especially in Iloilo City where it has around 10 branches.

Our trip started after a sumptuous breakfast our host provided but seeing all the goodies inside the factory made me hungry all of a sudden. It was the start busy day and everyone was at their respective areas.

And it starts with the dough – mixed and machine-kneaded before it is shaped and flavoured into the bread of the moment. Cookies were also made during that day and after being shaped- all goes into the original pugon (brick oven) that dates back to 1955.

A casual talk with Mayor Lim and his wife reveals that unlike their Iloilo-main branch which uses modern ovens, this branch uses the same methods and equipment in baking bread eversince. And gives a more different flavour and aroma to the breads compared to its modern counterparts. This bakeshop supplies all its other branches in Antique, Aklan and Capiz while the Avancena branch in Molo, Iloilo caters to all branches in Iloilo City.

We were just in time to see how biscochos are made. Before it was just left over breads made into such but seeing the popularity, breads are baked and then made into biscocho. See the stacks of bread? They are quartered and each cut side is smothered with a mixture of butter/margarine and sugar. Then it is off to the oven once again as the name biscocho means twice baked bread.

After some time, cooked biscocho are ready to be packed by hands. Each piece is chosen carefully so that only the good quality biscocho are packed and goes out o the factory.

This was also an opportunity for us then to savor biscocho almost right of the oven and they were right – it had that rather smoky taste and aroma. The crunch was there and the taste – so tempting, that I stayed in the area for such a long while that I think I almost ate a whole pack of biscocho (lol)

And did I mention that they were also packing some otap that time? It was just a few steps to the otap side that I find my way in a few seconds and changed my menu that time.

I love doing some behind the scenes write ups since it is always a one of a kind experience. And it's just gets better when it's actually one of your personal favorites. You get to know more about the shop - its history, ways of preparation of your favorite goodies, the people behind and not to mention some unlimited treats that all you can eat!

Tibiao Bakery in Tibiao, Antique, now that's really a treat!

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Video courtesy of GMA TV 6 Iloilo's Arangkada

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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