An organic picnic at Orchard Valley Farm in Pavia, Iloilo

It was a perfect Saturday morning - the sun was shining bright, a steady warm breeze blowing, birds are chirping their sweetest songs, the countryside emits a fresh aroma.

And the day couldn't have started much better than a picnic under a mango tree at Orchard Valley Farm in Pavia, Iloilo.

I have been to this organic farm twice and this third time, so to speak, is a charm.

And nothing's more charming and welcoming than a breakfast in the shade of a mango tree with all of Orchard Valley Farm's organic produce.

That Saturday breakfast was a gathering of foodies which includes well known chefs and restaurateurs - Claude Tayag, Jessie Sincioco and Jill Sandique.

They flew in to Iloilo as guests of the Department of Tourism Region 6 headed Atty. Helen Catalbas.

A picture perfect morning
Photo courtesy of Ms. Junel Ann

They were to take part in the culminating activity of the International Cuisine training which was part of the “Destination Marketing Project” aimed to strengthen the capacity and standards of Iloilo City for meetings, events, conventions or conferences and exhibitions or events (MICE) and make it at par with international tourism destinations.

The project was formed through the memorandum of agreement signed between the Iloilo Business Club (IBC), the Local Government Support Project - Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED), and other stakeholders to strategically market Metro Iloilo and Guimaras (MIG) as a premier MICE tourism destination.

With chilled fresh buko juice as welcome drinks, Mr. Johnny Que, who owns Orchard Valley Inc., toured the guests throughout his organic farm which had herbs and vegetable plantation, milk production facility, vermicompost, orchards, seeding nursery, bee farm and cows-goats and lambs among others.

Breakfast turned out to be a showcase of the best organic produce Orchard Valley has to offer.

Meticulously prepared and arranged beautifully by Chef Con, that the guests from Manila likened it a picnic "under the Tuscan sun".

We had a basket of different variants of sweet potato - golden, white and the tapul which at first glance looks like ube or purple yam

On the other side were glasses of yogurt usually served at Nothing but Desserts. We had fun concocting our own blend from the fresh strawberries (from their farm in Bucari, Leon), raspberries and honey.

All organic. All fresh. My own yogurt mix. Yum-yum

Mulberries!

We meet again, Bucari-grown strawberries!

One of the more popular items were the kesong puti - all natural, all organic. They came in variants like pimiento, pepper and a lot more. One can just pop them in or bathe them in olive oil.

There's also this plate of mozzarella cheese balls with cherry tomato and basil leaves.

Fresh fruits came in droves - guava, star apple and Indian mangoes ...

Boiled sab-a, that we topped with latik ...

Red lady variety papaya

There was also a sample of labog or roselle, which is mainly used a souring ingredient in some Ilonggo dishes.

Aside from the fresh buko juice, we also had mint-passion fruit coolers and Orchard Valley fresh milk.

With all these delicious food, the ambient setting, the good company - it was indeed a morning affair to remember. And you too can also have this kind of moment as Orchard Valley will be open to tours and brunch star this month.

Just check out these posters or drop them a message on the farms Facebook Page.

Orchard Valley Inc. is located in Brgys. Tigum and Pagsanga-an, Pavia, Iloilo. It is accessible via the C1 road from Leganes/Tagbak area or Ungka or through the poblacion of the municipality of Pavia. You can also contact them through 033-337-3510 local 104, 033-335-0935, 0932-876-6673 or 0922-892-3415.

A tinapay called MONAY

Monay is a well-known Filipino bread and based on Wikipedia , it's the Filipinized version of the Spanish bread pan de monja or bread of the monks . I had to laugh it out upon reading that entry from Wiki. Coming from Western Visayas in which monay is more than a bread based on local dialect, it's hard not to. And here's why... A post from PinoyExchange forum "I had this funny experience a few years back when I was in Aklan. I bought a homemade peanut butter and I was craving to eat it so I immediately ran to a nearby bakery with a friend to buy some bread. I was hoping to buy pandesal but I saw this large "monay" and I said to the tindera " Miss magkano ang hot monay mo ?" My friend suddenly laughed and so did the tindera. I repeated it saying " Yan monay mo nga miss kung magkano and bibilhin ko ." They again laughed and I was left wondering why. Then on our way back with my "hot monay" I asked my friend why did they laughed...

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 us...

Sooo Pinoy in Davao City at Binggoy's Lounge

Aside from durian, another fruit that brings Davao to mind is pomelo or suha and for the Ilonggos, it is known as kabugaw. And the Pomelo-Seafood Salad was a fitting appetizer that welcome us to our next food trip destination - Binggoy's Lounge located at the Villa Margarita Hotel. The cozy restaurant served us local Dabawenyo specialties that excited our palates and certainly satisfied our cravings. I was part of Sooo Pinoy, Food Trip na Pilipinas ! which is set to visit 300 restaurants in 10 key regions/areas all over the Philippines. Davao is the 4th food stop after Iloilo , Bora cay and Cebu that started last March. The goal of the Food Trip is to show that Filipino dishes per region have different identities based on the culture, lifestyle and history of the area. The Food Trip also aims to show that there are many Filipino recipes from different regions of the Philippines, each having its own specialty that has to be recognized for the unique flavor it adds t...

Ube brazo de mercedes from Lapaz Bakeshop

It was just an impromptu food trip in and around Lapaz market a few months ago when I discovered this ube brazo de mercedes from the Lapaz Bakeshop. I got to taste and take home this ube dessert that later on became a staple at home. Lapaz Bakeshop sits on the corner of Tinda Lapaz right across Grand Dame Hotel. A restaurant named Lapaz Kitchenette was the previous locator of the space and it was famous for it's PhP59 buffet . The bakeshop is among the bigger "small town" bakeshops in the city with it's wide range of breads, pastries and cakes plus shorts snack items. It even has branches in some towns in Iloilo including one in my hometown, Sta. Barbara. It was a quick side trip made by Sir Eugene that time that introduced me to this ube variant of brazos. He bought a few slices of this dessert and brought it inside Madge Cafe inside the market. It was perfect with the cafe's native coffee and the filling is somewhat like ube halaya. The meringue is jus...

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Search This Blog