It all started with an almost non stop talk about food while traveling all the way up north in Luzon. In conversation were Ms. Corazon Alvina of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila and Ms Millie Dizon, VP for Marketing of SM Group of Companies, among others. And when they arrived at their destination, the idea for My City, My SM, My Cuisine was born as the project complements the retail giant's thrust of showcasing the best of the regions and food is among the highlights of travel to most parts of the Philippine archipelago.
Thus, a week before Dinagyang 2012, the event centre of SM City Iloilo was transformed into regal showcase of Ilonggo gastronomy and culture as the mall welcomed the arrival of My City, My SM, My Cuisine into it's fold. With replicas of the symbols of Iloilo like the Arroyo Fountain (below) and the Molo Bandstand (above) with the Miag-ao Church as background to the (almost) aristocratic buffet set-up, it was a fusion of history, culture and gastronomy - all magnets of Iloilo tourism.
No less than Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog welcomed the guests and VIPs including SM's Millie Dizon, Ms Corazon Alvina, Dept. of Tourism Region 6 OIC Atty. Helen Catalbas and writer Jessica Zafra among others. It was also a show of support from both the private and public sectors for events promoting the city of Iloilo.
A cooking competition was held hours before the launch with 10 Ilonggos battling it out in preparing the best Pancit Molo and Mango Dessert. Given less than two hours to prepare their specialties, the contestants made them all from scratch - that is making the pancit molo ball filling. the broth and everything right then and there.
For the dessert category, it was a galore of mangoes as five concocted special recipes that includes Mango Pastillas, Crazy Herbed Mango, Mango Cathedral Window, Mango Crema and Cheesy Mango Puto. In the end it was the Cheesy Mango Puto made by Analye Padilla, who works in a school canteen that got the judges vote both in taste and the presentation.
Pancit Molo contestants also showed different styles and ingredients in making the best Pancit Molo. While others used pork, beef and shrimps, surprisingly one contestant infused hotdogs in her recipe. All were noteworthy especially given the fact that they had to start from scratch, do it inside a mall with those prying eyes and come up with their recipe in less than two hours. In the end it was a shrimp based Pancit Molo of Maria Zaide Bastintin that tickled the tastebuds of the judges and was adjudged the winner.
Judges for the said competition included Ilonggo culture and heritage expert Eugene Jamerlan, Ms. Cora Alvina, Heather Maloto of Panaderia de Molo and Ms Reina Donesa, Asst. Brand Manager of SM. Dept Store, among others. They had the enjoyable at the same time difficult task of choosing the best pancit Molo and mango dessert during that gastronomically exciting afternoon.
In each of the city's featured in the My City, My SM, My Cuisine event, the organizers choose notable personalities from each place to share a dish they have in their families and demonstrate the way they were prepared. (But it was just all in video during the launch and I will share some behind the scenes during the shoot of these videos soon plus some recipe if I can get hold of them).
Mr Eugene Jamerlan shared his family's long time recipe which is also a typical fiesta fare. His Estofado nga Pato sa Tuba calls for duck to be slowly boiled/stewed in tuba for at least five hours to really soften the duck meat and to let the flavours seep in. It was also notable that he never used some seasonings like soy sauce to flavour his dish. It was a concoction of tuba, onions, ginger, peppercorn, garlic, brown sugar and bayleaves among others garnished with fried saba.
Photo c/o Rosmar Villalon
Ms. Maridel Uygongco, whose pastry and dessert shop is now making waves in Iloilo prepared two of her favorite recipes - Potato Praline Torte (right) and YSL. The former is a potato based cake, you'd really taste the potato flavour in each bite topped with pralines and nuts. YSL has quite an interesting story as she narrated and yes, it is YSL as in Yves Saint Laurent. She has been making this dessert - from fried and sugar coated ibos (suman) then placing it on top of butter cream and adding fresh fruits like mangoes and kiwi on top - but still haven't found a name for it. Then a friend suggested to call it YSL with the Yves sounding like Ibs or ibos then the rest is history.
And finally, a dish using lengua. But it isn't the usual ox tongue dish, those with brown butter sauce and the likes. The recipe, called Lengua con Setas con Olivas, has been in the family since then and has tomato sauce as base with spanish chorizo, shitake mushrooms, olives and a lot of other herbs and spices. Resulting was a melange of new flavour for a lengua dish - familiar yet seem special, plus the lengua melts in the mouth added quite a new dimension to this particular delicacy.
The snack buffet was catered by Chef Miguel Cordova of Esca's Garden Restaurant. It showcased Ilonggo delicacies like valenciana, pancit molo, pancit efuven, fresh lumpia, panara, pan de sal ni Pa-a with adobo pate and quezo de bola filling, vegetable okoy and turoncito con halo halo.
It was indeed an afternoon reflective of Iloilo's best foot forward - food, culture and heritage and with support from the private sector like SM Supermalls. Projects like My City, My SM, My Cuisine will surely become a boost to the the tourism potentials at the same time a chance to showcase the gastronomic and cultural heritage of Iloilo. Not only for the tourists for the Ilonggos themselves - to rediscover, to appreciate more and share with pride to the rest of the world!