One of the more interesting dishes served during our food tasting session at Punot Restaurant, a week ago was Pasta Dinagyang. It was most striking as the penne pasta was unlike the usual - it was black and aptly named for Iloilo City's most distinguished festival - Dinagyang. The pasta is blackened by squid ink which forms part of the sauce and topped by mixed seafood and parmesan cheese. Now, Dinagyang can be celebrated all year round, gastronomically that is - only at Punot.
A stones throw away from the plaza of La Villa de Arevalo is an ancestral house where one can find not only good pasalubong items but also a look into the past of the district. Known as the Sinamay House , this well preserved ancestral house is an attraction not only in the outside but also what it houses inside. A collection of what the past like is housed in the two storey edifice which also acts like a museum of sorts. Sinamay is simply known as abaca by most and, here, a variety of products made from this fiber can be found. I remember watching a feature on tv wherein the owner proudly showed a framed letter signed by the late Princess of Wales, Diana, showing her appreciation of the handkerchief she was given as a gift coming from this very shop. But the attraction I am most familiar with are the chewies and crunchies made by Mama's Kitchen. Attractively packed in boxes showing their current flavours and variety, this is among the better...