FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

With these mouthwatering cakes on display at Tinapayan bakeshop at The Atrium mall, one can surely be caught in the middle of the mad holidays rush. But it surprisingly, it wasn't the scenario that greeted me when I dropped by the Atrium during Christmas and New Year's Eves.    Instead, there was a special line set up for those who were just there to buy the cakes for their respective Noche Buenas and Media Noches. Snaking through a portion of the bakery was an organized set up that even with all the Ilonggos reaching up to main mall of The Atrium as what my fellow food blogger, Greg of Cafe Ilonggo witnessed, it didn't took more than 20 minutes for the line to move from start to end. This is in line with Tinapayan's policy of no reservations during the holiday rush as these would take up much space in their coolers so cakes and other desserts come and go from the actually baking facility in the mall to the bakeshop and into the customer's hands.  As

Ilonggos love laswa  for it is among the simplest local dishes to prepare. Just take the freshest local vegetables like okra, saluyot, kalabasa, takway ,patola  and a host of other veggies then stew them with crabs or shrimps and seasoned with a little salt. You'll get one of the most nutritious, most visually appealing (depends on the play of colors) and the easiet to prepare Ilonggo specialties around. You can even re-invent this using the available vegetables in your place and enjoy the simple pleasures laswa .

 Why indulgent? Take this Speculoos Cookie Butter Cupcake for example. It's not only that the frosting infused with one of the crazes of 2013, it is also filled with yummy cookie butter that will surely make you have another bite or even another cupcake. But you'll have to go to Iloilo Supermart for a jar of Speculoos Cookie Butter. How about some Almond Cupcake and Belgian Chocolate Cupcake ? Their frosting also have the taste and flair of their namesake plus some indulgent filling too!  And finally some Hazelnut Cupcake made with Nutella Hazelnut spread. You'll enjoy the spread you love to love on the frosting and in the filling! Each indulgent cupcake sells for PhP 95 at Nothing But Desserts at The Avenue Complex in Smallville.

Can't believe that a Paella looking this good (and eventually tasting awesome) would come out from the kitchen of a videoke bar. Club 21 KTV in Smallville is among the most popular videokes in town but it was my first time to be there a few weeks ago with the members of the Iloilo Bloggers. It was a fun night of songs, songs and songs but all I remember is this one appetizing plate of Seafood Paella . If I'm not mistaken, this paella is just around PhP370 and serves a lot of hungry videokers. Club 21 KTV Lounge Smallville Complex, Mandurriao, Iloilo City Tel. No. 329-2121

Fruitcakes are often associated with the Christmas season and it has this "infamy" of lasting months after the Yuletide season has "come and go". Indeed it's true as we still have half a loaf of it in the fridge - lol. Usually I just slice and toast it to make it more appealing but I don't know what came over me that I suddenly got an idea of making a smoothie out of it. I just crumbled some of the fruitcake over my usual smoothie combo of milk, sugar and crushed ice. It was surprisingly good for it has the usual freshness of any smoothie and the essence of the fruitcake. Of course, there was the tinge of wine that makes it more than the usual ice cold quencher not only on a hot summer afternoon but in times when you crave for something out of the box!

Had this cupcake at Nothing But Desserts at The Avenue a few days ago and it's my first time to see a cupcake so reflective of the Christmas holiday. So creatively done, its almost as if I wouldn't eat it and would just stare at it until it disappears. But a forkful confirms that this is as good as it looks. Merry Christmas!

Here's something different that would look good at the same time appetizing on our table this Holiday season. Now that Christmas is over so is Noche Buena but there's still the New Year and this chicken ham from Iloilo Supermart is perfect for the Media Noche on the 31st. Sold only during the holiday season -  around December 15 onwards, this ham has the same seasoning (I'm just assuming though) as their Piña Ham sold under the Right Choice brand.  It is perfect to be eaten as is, I nicked the slices above after my photo, I just can't resist. And they indeed taste like the pork ham which are good even without the sauce. But this time I like the sauce for every bite of this chicken ham for it enhances the flavour more.    Right Choice Chicken Ham is available in all Iloilo Supermart branches  (The Atrium, Molo, Villa, Mandurriao, Jaro and Marymart Center) 

What more can describe this piece of gastronomic art than indulgent? Surely Tinapayan Bakeshop had that in mind as it garbs one of their original creations for the Holidays - Banoffee Pie . An English pastry-based dessert, it is made with cream, bananas and toffee or caramel made from condensed milk (dulce de leche). Luscious inside out Tinapayan's version is Graham-based which serves as the shell for the bananas smothered with toffee. It is then topped with crushed Graham then intricately designed with cream making it a visually appealing dessert. A snowman, cherry and tiny chocolate kisses, among others complete the delicious presentation of this lovely banoffee pie for the Holidays! Check this delicious dessert at Tinapayan Bakeshops located at Iloilo Supermart at The Atrium, Mary Mart Mall, Villa-Arevalo, Molo, Mandurriao and Tabuc Suba Jaro.

Among the first and more popular chicken inasal brands in Iloilo is " Fort San Pedro ". It was almost 50 years ago, when the recipe of this Ilonggo-style chicken barbecue was concocted and made at popular at the Fort San Pedro drive in - a food joint located at the old fortress Fort San Pedro . Now, the recipe (and foodshop) still survives to give Ilonggos an inasal apt for their discriminating palate. Fort San Pedro Chicken inasal is also served at Esca's Garden Restaurant where for only Php95 , one can have this chicken barbecue with soup and unlimited rice.

This 2014 calendar from Mercury Drug is appetizing and yummy to look at! But upon closer inspection there's an odd-man-out to this list of authentic regional cuisine and sadly it's in the Western Visayas region specifically Iloilo.  It's a big HUH ! While other regions/provinces highlighted the vernacular cuisine that are easily identifiable to their culture, "Iloilo" opted for a Spanish dish that 99% of Ilonggos don't have an idea in the first place! Ask every Ilonggo you may know about this dish to prove it. And how the hell that dish ended up in the calendar? It's self interest ... and it's not Mercury Drug.

Can you say no to a slice of cheesecake? Ofcourse not! What more if it's a galore of this yummy dessert that comes in a variety of flavors - now that's heavenly! Really, it's at Heavenly Cafe and Pastries at GT Mall in Molo.  I still can't get over that one afternoon when we had this lot of cheesecake to indulge in. The very amiable owner, Christy, gave this treat of cheesecake galore and more that made that Wednesday afternoon one gastronomic adventure. Why Heavenly ? We asked. And she answered " It's how we want our customers to feel when they taste what we offer especially our cheesecakes. " And without wasting time, we had the cafe's non dessert best-sellers for starters like the beef tacos (loved the crunch and the beef-cheese filling) and the Tuna-Pesto Pasta which had me craving and raving on the first bite.  TACO You'll definitely crave for more TUNA PESTO PASTA I'll definitely have more of this pasta. Then the des

Early morning mass goers are in for a special gastronomic delight as The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo brings back MISA DE GALLO Breakfast Buffet . Ilonggos will surely delight in the best breakfast buffet in town featuring a wide array of dishes and within this Christmas season, it will feature an assortment of native delicacies that will make breakfast have a taste of home.  A few days ago, we had a preview of this breakfast buffet and we surely found ourselves flooded with the goodness of native delicacies on top of their usual and already very satisfying line up of breakfast specialties. Here are just of the native food finds if you happen to drop at Days Hotel Iloilo. Ibos with muscovado sugar Kutsinta with cheese Suman Cassava Cake Suman Latik Alupe Native delicacies on display Misa de Gallo Breakfast Buffet starts on Dec. 16 until Dec. Dec 24, 2013 from 5am to 10am at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo. PhP 325++.

Seeing boxes of Krispy Kreme as pasalubong from other parts of the country will soon be just a memory. The doughnut chain is set to open this coming MAY 2014 at SM City Iloilo, taking the space vacated by Red Ribbon which recently transferred to the area that was Dulcinea before at the Upper Ground Floor . So just be patient to wait a little longer and be sure to line up on it's opening day as the first one in line gets a year's supply of doughnuts!

Dulgies fanatics would surely love these two new flavours to Amae's cupcake collection. Introducing the Cookie Butter Kahlua cupcake (left) and the Hummingbird Choco Swirl. The former combines the goodness of (my new found favorite) cookie butter and rum based coffee liquer - kahlua, in a just one bite. The latter is is a banana-carrot cupcake with nuts and raisin with a choco swirl frosting. So what are you waiting for? Grab these and more cupcakes only at Dulgies!

The tradition continues as Auntie Anne's Iloilo gave Ilonggos another reason to smile last Nov. 22 for its annual FREE PRETZEL Day. For two hours, a long queue snaked around Auntie Anne's hoping to get a sampler of their world famous pretzels. These pretzels were freshly made and came in batches. I had a sour cream one with their equally famous lemonade. The occasion was was a relaunch of their branch at SM City Iloilo as now the place is much bigger and better. The Betitas with the AA mascot Lotsa people Roy Betita thanking the pretzel-crazed Ilonggos Councilor Jay Treñas The traditional pretzel breaking ceremony