The zip line and the adventure facilities are not the only attractions at Camp Alfredo in Guimaras. As one communes with nature - the lush greens, the fresh air, the sound of the stream, the natural flora and fauna, during a visit, gastronomy also becomes an attraction itself.
And I have proven it once more, a few days before 2011 came to an end during Camp Alfredo's first ever Christmas Lunch Party. With guests coming mostly from Manila and the US, it was also a reunion of sorts for the families who were there. As always food becomes an integral part of any family gathering and this was among them.
With the luncheon catered by Barrio Inasal, which also serves the fares at the Camp during regular days, it was a galore of grilled specialties heralded by the specialty of the house - chicken inasal. Among the best chicken inasals, Barrio Inasal prides itself of having the authentic kind and taste plus it is grilled upon order so it may take a while. Though these ones were prepared ahead but they still tasted as if they were right of the grill.
Just by looking at this photo (with one hand holding the stick and the other the camera), the taste memories of this chicken inasal comes back vividly to the senses. The crips and golden brown chicken meat, the aroma of the spices and ofcourse that first bite into the juicy meat oozing with flavour that I didn't care whether the sides of my mouth became orange too - I just savoured every bite then.
Now there's isol or iwi - the chicken's butt. A delicacy on its own and it almost always comes as barbecued. For an occasional isol eater like me, I couldn't help but get a stick and devoured it even with no sawsawan - not my usual thing. And it's as juicy and tender as my memory recalls.
And then there's the grilled managat and it's whole! usually it's the lower portion that comes in grilled in most restaurants I've been to, for the head becomes the soup part. This is among the best grilled managat I've tasted - perfect grilled, juicy, well seasoned - believe no need for sawsawan, for it seems the sawsawan is already part of the seasoning basted into the fish while being grilled.
The grilled squid was also good though nothing over spectacular, just the right toughness to go with the flavour. I even went back for another whole squid a few minutes after finishing my first. There was also a plate of shrimps, cooked like in anybody's home - just with salt and placed in frying pan.
Odd man out was the side dish - kimchi. Not part of the Barrio Inasal menu though, just an on the spot addition as there were Koreans in the group then. But I also enjoyed this myself going back for more to go with the grilled specialties on my plate. Java rice was our staple that time and there also was a lechon which was very good. It a local lechonero in Guimaras who made it - the skin was thin and crisp and the insides were very flavourful especially the ribs part. I still don't remember why I forgot to take photos ...
Maybe, I was just saving battery to use when I start my photowalk around the lush greens and the new man made structures that I wasn't able to see the last time I visited there (which was just 15 days before that). And yes, this "bridge over troubled waters" instantly became my favorite subject as I started my journey around the camp ...
And it will have a separate blog post very soon ...