An afternoon of nothing but gelato

The fairly cold and rainy Tuesday afternoon didn't hinder us from enjoying the galore of gelato specially prepared for us at Nothing but Desserts at The Avenue Complex. I've tried a number of the Mokkilato gelato offerings at Coffeebreak and NBD before like kalamansi, mento, mango cheese cake, caramel and tiramisu among others.

But when Ms Arvi Sumayo Sicad, Marketing Manager of Great Foods Comcepts Inc mentioned a host of new local and exotic flavours like santol, ampalaya and my "favorite", ginger, it got me all excited. Good thing Nothing but Desserts has their own gelato machine that they can make any flavours under the sun, anytime.

Ampalaya gelato

So, lets start with one of the most intriguing - AMPALAYA. No problem with me, I guess since I eat amargoso as a vegetable and I've tasted dishes having this gourd in all its bitterness. The first taste impression I had with the gelato version of bittergourd was it had hints of guava skin taste.

A confusing taste test but I liked it since it had no traces of the bitterness everyone dreads. Its the novelty of the flavour plus being curious on the actual taste would be the selling factor of this flavour which at that time was almost halfway sold.

Ginger gelato

If possible, I'd stay away from ginger especially from local cooking even though I know the health benefits one can get. But now, there's one ginger specialty I am eagerly looking forward to - GINGER GELATO. It smells like ginger and really tastes like one - so how come I liked it? I don't know, all I know is that I almost finished a whole serving of it yesterday. I didn't have to remind my self that its gigner as it comes with the natural ginger spice in every spoonful!

Carrot gelato

An almost safe, tried and tested flavor is CARROT which I find more refreshing. Basically, there's no overpowering taste and aroma, just the color and the hints of "carroty" taste makes you feel like a rabbit in every bite. Its also a god way of enticing kids and those who don't like carrots to finally have a taste. And who knows they will like it and eventually the actual carrot itself.

Turmeric

Another exotic flavour (and another ginger variant) is the TURMERIC GELATO. Locally referred to as kalawag or luyang dilaw, this spice is mostly associated with the Ilonggo dish valenciana, with the spice giving the rice dish its signature yellowish hue. As a Mokkilato gelato, this one is less overwhelming than the regular ginger flavour in taste and aroma but knowing its one exotic flavour on its own, it can entice those with adventurous taste.

Unto the fruit selection of Mokkilato, let's start with something exotic - SANTOL. The color alone is exotic enough as one ay not usually find a dark orange gelato or ice cream for that matter. And it just follows that it is not only the pulp from the santol seeds that made it as gelato but also that orange inside peel of the fruit that made it into the Italian ice cream.

The PASSION FRUIT flavour has one of the most overwhelming and lingering flavour. It was more on the sour side on the first bite then "passion" comes in. The nice aroma and flavour but the hints of exoticness will certainly entice gelato fans to try out this flavour.

Now unto something sweet - LANGKA. Unmistakably, this ripe jackfruit flavour could be one of the best sellers as it presents the real taste and aroma of the fruit. You could almost smell and taste it just by looking at the photo!This flavour really for those having a sweet tooth for every spoonful is a burst of langka sweetness!

But one of the top notch flavours, well just among us then, was GUYABANO. Locally known as babana or soursop in English, it was a perfect blend of sweet and sour flavours. Depending on the sensitivity of your taste buds, you can ewither taste the sweetness or the sourness first then it changes into sour and sweet respectively. But it had the taste of the real fruit which a very generous amount I guess was used. It was almost like eating an icy fresh guyabano in every bite.

And this PEANUT BUTTER variant also shared the top spot in our gelato afternoon at Nothing But Desserts. Of course, what can go wrong with peanut butter except maybe having too much. A spoonful is like a having a spoonful of peanut butter right of the bottle. And the flavour appeals to both young and old, and its an almost universal flavour to begin with thus it has the makings of a best seller!

With nine new flavours, both familiar and exotic, it was indeed a great Mokkilato gelato afternoon at Nothing But Desserts. But still, one flavour eveaded us yesterday as the fruit wasn't available that time. Its among their best sellers in the exotic fruit category - TIESA. Oh well, its a perfect reason for me to go back at NBD anytime soon, for all the desserts my eyes and feast one and of course all the sweets I can gorge on. Now i wonder how did we finish all of those gelato above? Hmmm...

Nothing But Desserts is located at The Avenue Complex in Smallville, Mandurriao, Iloilo City. It is open daily around 12nn until 12midnight.

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 (

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.

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

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

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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