Jaro Fiesta : Lechon baboy, Lamb kaldereta and more

The district Jaro, Iloilo celebrates biggest fiesta in the region characterized by the pageantry and the grandeur of the occasion paying homage to Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, the patron saint of Western Visayas.

Every February 2, all roads lead to Jaro as Ilonggos celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Candles in different aspects - religious, gastronomic, enterprising, and more. (For) As early as December the Jaro Plaza is teeming with the Jaro Grand Carnival with activities like carnival games, food stalls, fruit stands and ukay-ukay, among others. It culminates on fiesta day with the coronation of the Fiesta Queen, chosen among the lasses of Jaro families.

For the fourth straight year, I was at the Jamerlan household (thanks Sir Eugene) to celebrate the gastronomic part of the Jaro Fiesta. And just looking at the spread alone, it is indeed a grand way of celebrating the fiesta with one of the prominent Jareño families.

And the gastronomic journey started with these appetizing fresh lumpia - nice blend of spices in the filling, all wrapped up in a thin and almost melts in your mouth wrapper.

Another delectable treat were these empanadas that just wave at you from afar, almost shouting "Pick Me Up"!

The dough was just perfect - crisp and with all the layers and yummy filling just there for you to watch and eat in awe.

There's the Dinugu-an which comes free with the order of lechon from Erning's. With puto manapla, of course!

As always, the lechon baboy is the star of the fiesta with these crisp and crunchy lechon skin - all having a plate of its own.

Not to be "outdone", the lechon meat was so delicious - even just by the looks and aroma of it. Juicy and full of flavour even without the dip - you can taste the real goodness and "freshness" of the pork without the "interference" of so many spices and herbs.

And of course, it won't be a typical Ilonggo fiesta without the "occasional" Ilonggo delicacy - valenciana. Served in almost all Ilonggo events and occasions (thus my terming it as "occasional"), valenciana is among the most popular and most missed Ilonggo dish especially those living abroad. A complete meal in itself having the Go,Grow, Glow food groups in just one bite!

Another delectable Ilonggo dish that appeared on the Jamerlan Fiesta fare was the Pancit Molo - and there's no better than Kapitan Ising's Pancit Molo. The aroma along can already make you feel you've tasted it since it smells rich and delicious. Of course, Kapitan Ising has been doing this for years and they are really from Molo.

The broth has a rich taste of shrimps - essential part of the soup, and the pancit molo balls - tamed yet flavourful meat filling and home-made Molo wrapper that's still intact even after minutes or even hours of floating on the broth. The secret they say is the balls are steamed and just placed in the serving bowl when it it ready to be served (not to be boiled in the soup.)

Here's one you don't usually find during a typical fiesta. It is kaldereta, alright, but its not pork, beef nor goat, its karnero or sheep/lamb. As far as I know the Jamerlans have sheeps wandering in their farm and its a staple during fiestas. Namiiiiit!

There's also Chicken Galantina which is is somewhat like chicken relleno or embutido.

The macaroni salad served both appetizer and dessert for me with fruit cake squares, mazapan de pili and Millionaire's fingers bar as desserts.

It was indeed a feast, a very BIG feast, reflecting the gastronomic grandeur of Jaro and 'til we eat again next year for the annual Jaro Fiesta!

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...

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

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...

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...

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 por...

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