FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

I'm not into exotic food so when I was served this adobo nga maya , yup it's the bird we are all familiar with, it can be the most exotic I have gone through. It was cooked the adobo Ilonggo style - that is with achuete, and smells like one great adobo. The taste was like more of a native or free range chicken - but you'll have to "work you way" to get the meat since mayas are very small birds. It's the head that completes the adobo nga maya experience, so I just grabbed one and crunched it. It likes eating balut, though I don't usually eat the aborted "chick" so I got the sensation of eating meat with some egg shells infused. Yet it was all a great experience especially to share my first taste of adobo nga maya.

The Visayan region's iconic seafood delicacies and other gastronomical delights take center stage at Mandarin Oriental, Manila's Paseo Uno with a week-long festival, featuring chef Pauline Gorriceta-Banusing. Renowned for representing Iloilo's famous culinary scene, the enterprising chef returns to the hotel for the "Flavors of the Visayas" food festival that will be held from May 6 to 12.  KBL kadyos baboy langka Diners can look forward to indulging in a smorgasbord of Gorriceta-Banusing's signature dishes in the lunch and dinner buffets such as kadios, baboy at langka or more popularly known as KBL (a tangy soup made with kadios beans, pork and jackfruit, soured with batuan seeds); chicken inasal, Iloilo's most popular chicken dish, made even more special with Gorriceta-Banusing's basting sauce; lukon na may aligue kag paho, or fresh Aklan prawns with crab fat in garlic and scallions; and a batchoy station where food lovers and connoisseurs can...

 The Archdiocese of Jaro and the Parish of St. Anne in Molo together with SM City Iloilo brings to the Ilonggos The Journey of St. Pedro Calungsod: To the altar and into our Hearts . This visual exhibit runs from April 26 to May 11, 2013 the the upper ground floor of SM City Iloilo near Banco de Oro. Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo welcomed guests and devotees during the opening program and at the same time cut the ceremonial ribbon together with SM City Iloilo mall manager Ms Girlie Libo-on and Father Espiridion "Boy" Celis of the Molo Parish.  The exhibit showcases showcases photographs taken during the Visayan martyr’s beatification and  canonization of the second Filipino saint whose roots can somewhat be traced here in  Iloilo . Images captured during the pilgrimage of the official image of San Pedro Calungsod to different parts of the country are on display as well Canonized on October 21, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter’s Basilic...

A trip to New "Zealand" capped the last Friday of April and it was one rejuvenating experience over a cup of native coffee. It was in the SkyScraperCity-Iloilo forum that I to know the existence of this hole in the wall. A respite in the hustle and bustle of the construction boom in the area, "New Zealand" is set right in the middle of Iloilo City's megadevelopments - Megaworld, Ayala land, SM and Gaisano among others. It also sits on the bubog grove, a specie of native beach forest trees locally known as calumpang . The area is where the original shoreline of Iloilo used to be. Time and man-made development pushed the shoreline further away but these trees managed to survive and adapt. This hole in the wall has no name so it adapts the name of the place - New Zealand . And there just like in NZ, there were cows roaming around as you sip you coffee. There was even a sort of "bull fight" when we were there - good thing they didn...

Now you ask, what is pantat ? It's is catfish, and is popularly cooked as inasal  (barbecue grilled) and adobado (adobo style with coconut milk). I am not really a pantat -eater and can't remember the last time I enjoyed having one (apologies to pantat -natics out there). But my recent trip to Roxas City changed all that and if asked when was the last time I had a good pantat experience, I surely have a ready answer. I attended the CAPIZtahan 2013 festivities as one of judges in the Seafood Cooking Competition . We were hosted by Ma'am Sonie who gave us a very satisfying 3 day-2 night gastronomic experience in Roxas City. Everything was fresh, home-made and just within reach. One of the discoveries I had there was a pantat cooked unlike the ones I am familiar with. It was Maam Sonie's son, GB, who introduced this on our table when he requested pantat to be cooked the way they liked at home. It turned out to be a fillet of pantat  marinated in kaffir lime then ...

Mention Roxas City and images of all the seafood you can imagine will flood your thoughts. Whether they are the freshest catch of the day - shrimps still jumping, crabs crawling away and fish of all kinds struggling; or those that have been salted and dried lining up the market - it's all in the Seafood Capital of the Philippines! I was in Roxas City over the weekend to join CAPIZtahan 2013 Festivities . Now on its third year, this years celebration marks the 112th Foundation Day of the civil government of Capiz and the 65th Death Anniversary of the President Manuel Acuña Roxas. I was particularly involved in the Seafood Culinary Competition as judge together with Mr. Eugene Jamerlan, Chefs Miguel Cordova, Ramlo Villaluna and ?? Barbers. Held at the People's Park in the Baybay area, there were seven participants, representing various restaurants and resorts from all over Roxas City and nearby towns. They were out to compete for the Best Seafood Dish that reflects th...

With a culture influenced by diverse influences, it’s not surprising that our regional cuisines in the country are as diverse as our people and as unique as our local identities. Laswa And for the Ilonggo, the local food is more than just dishes that satisfies our palates, it is the Ilonggo culture ingested. With the goal of promoting the Ilonggo cuisine, Bauhinia Filipino Cuisine serves a wide variety of local dishes the Ilonggo are most familiar with. From appetizers, to pork and chicken delights, to vegetables and salads, Bauhinia prepares its version of the dishes we love.  Taste the likes of Kinilaw na Gulaman, Ensalada nga langka, KBL, Pinaksiw, Manok sa Monggo at Puso , and a couple more dishes for a memorable lunch or dinner. Baboy sa Balatong Every dish will surely evoke a nostalgic feeling for the locals. For sure tourists will be enthralled with each plateful of the Ilonggo Specialties. (Bauhinia Filipino Cuisine is located at The Avenue Complex, Glicer...

I was in Roxas City over the weekend to join CAPIZtahan 2013 . Now on its third year, this years celebration marks the 112th Foundation Day of the civil government of Capiz and the 65th Death Anniversary of the President Manuel Acuña Roxas. I was particularly involved in the Seafood Culinary Competition where in around 10 participants battle it out for the Best Seafood Dish that reflects the gastronomic bounty the Seafood Capital of the Philippines. It was through my fellow judge, Mr Eugene Jamerlan, that I got this stint in the first place and through him, my first Capiz experience turned out one memorable weekend as it involved non-stop eating and meeting a lot of very interesting people like our host - Maam Sonie. For the whole weekend, we had a lot on interesting food trips - from seafood to steaks, from home-made specialties to restaurants best sellers and more. But for this particular blog post, as the title says, I'll concentrate on the wonderful bangus specialti...