Tocino del Cielo: Milk-less flan

Served during this year's Mother's Day Buffet at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo is what I love to call as Leche Flan Bites. At first I thought that leche flan and tocino del cielo are somewhat the same but then Googling about it, I was enlightened.

Tocino de Cielo literally means "bacon from heaven" but obviously it contains no bacon. The dessert originated in the Andalusian region of Spain in the town of Jerez de la Fontera that specializes in sherry production. In the sherry-making tradition, egg whites were used to clarify the Spanish wine With so much egg yolk at their disposal, they were donated to the nuns and with "God's guidance", tocino del cielo was born.

Very similar to leche flan but these two desserts are made with very different ingredients. Leche flan is made with whole eggs, and milk and/or cream while tocino de cielo is made only with egg yolks, sugar and water. The combination of (lesser) ingredients leads to an extremely light and tender custard – much lighter than the traditional leche flan.

Here's the recipe I got from SpainRecipes

INGREDIENTS

6 egg yolks

9 oz sugar

1 fl. oz water

For the caramel

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoons water

PREPARATION

Put the sugar in a saucepan with the water and heat until the syrup goes golden brown.

Cover a baking tin evenly and put to one side. Put the sugar and water in an earthenware dish and heat until the syrup goes stringy.

Beat the egg yolks and slowly add the syrup, stirring with sticks. Strain and pour into the caramelised tin.

Cook in bain-marie in the oven at 150º for around 20 minutes.

When the tocino has set, remove from the oven, leave to cool and take it out of the tin.

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 (

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

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.

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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