Fiesta de Arevalo at Camiña Balay nga Bato

The district of La Villa Rica de Arevalo is home to the 3rd oldest image of Sto. Niño in the Philippines and celebrates its patronal fiesta every 3rd week of January. It's during the Ati-atihan and Sinulog Sunday that Villanhons "eat, drink and be merry" - a prelude to Iloilo City's biggest street party - Dinagyang, which happens the following Sunday.

Among the best tourist attractions in Iloilo City can be found in the district of Arevalo - the century-old Camiña Balay nga Bato. Considered a "living museum", the house hosts a curio shop where assorted Panayanon products are on display and for sale, a hablon weaving corner, a vast collection of antiques - furniture, vases and memorabilia of the Avanceña family, among others are on display.

And the house's antiquity also provides a great setting for gastronomy as it is very famous for its native tsokolate served with old world charm. But the fiesta of Arevalo makes house come alive likened to a scene in soem cliassic Filipino movies like "Oro, Plata, Mata" - as described by Mr Eugene Jamerlan, cultural worker and heritage conservationist plus designer and concept planner of the Camiña Balay nga Bato.

If we were late in last year's fiesta, this year, I made it a point to be early. In fact I was an hour early than the RSVP time but no regrets as I had the house "all to myself". I was excited of the fact that the extension of the house will be showcased after months of work (by Archt. Johnny Liwanag and Mr Eugene Jamerlan). Though it wasn't finished yet, but it was ready to take in guests and be part of the fiesta frenzy.

The transition from the old and original part of the house was seamless as the extension seemed to be part of the old house. From the old house's wooden flooring, the extension sport a machuca tile floor that depicts old world and colonial architecture. The whole room was ventilated with large capiz shell windows and grills on one side and a balcony like feel on the other (the windows just open up further giving it a veranda feel).

It was just the perfect setting for a fiesta - old world charm and lots of good food mostly of Ilonggo flavour. The appetizers (and desserts) were set on the original dining room (2nd photo from the top). Fresh greens and all the works for a make-your-own-salad with crab stick,s ham among other. Fresh fruits like pineapples and papaya from Camiña's farm in Giumaras serve as appetizer and dessert with fresh buko juice on the side.

And here's a round up of the gastronomic delights we all enjoyed during the Fiesta de Arevalo at Camiña Balay nga Bato.

Fresh Lumpia

Panara

Pangat

Chicken fingers

Pinaklay nga ubod aka hubad na lumpia

Lechon baboy

Valenciana

Black rice

Pininyahan nga pato

Chicken Galantina

Chily and garlicky chicken adobo

Uncle Tom's fried chicken

Pancit Sotanghon

Adobo Rice

Fresh fruits

Leche Flan and dinulce nga niyog

Bukayo

Champagne

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

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the usu

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.

An Ilonggo favorite - Suman Latik

Suman Latik is one of my favorite native delicacies - plain suman/ibos topped with sweetened coconut strips or bukayo . Most of the time those sold in the markets have this two (suman and bukayo) already in one wrap and all you have to to is devour it. But most of the time, the bukayo portion is bitin that I wish there's more. So why not make our own suman latik so you can have all the suman we want with all the bukayo toppings we desire! Here's a simple recipe for Suman Latik

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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