Christmas Brews and Booze at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo

In time for the Holidays, The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo introduces 10 brews and booze that will tickle the beverage fantasies of its guests with its wide variety refreshingly delicious concoctions. Divided into alcoholic and non-alcoholic variants, each comes with a a twist that will certainly make the Yuletide celebration more festive. Together with the Iloilo Bloggers, we enjoyed an afternoon tasting all these brews and booze, comparing drinking notes and sharing our what we enjoyed the most.

Let's start with the Non-Alcoholic line-up and my favorite is the Christmas EggNog (a concoction of fresh milk and pasteurised raw eggs) which can be served hot or cold - I prefer the latter. Hot drinks include the Red Velvet Choco (a whipped cream topped hot drink version of the well-loved cake) and S'Mores Hot Cocoa- chocolates, Grahams and marshamallow you can gulp! Coolers were Cranberry Holiday Splash made with cranberry and lemon juice with honey and Crimson Cola - a mix of cola, grenadine and lime.

NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS PhP95
From left - Red Velvet Chocolate, S'Mores Hot Cocoa, Christmas EggNog (Hot or Cold), Cranberry Holiday Splash, Crimson Cola

Those needing a kick of alcohol, well just a little bit, will have to choose from these five mixed drinks that even Santa will find irresistible. With a dash of peppermint liqueur, the Hot Choco Peppermint tickled my taste buds best thus becoming my favorite. The Apple Pie Mistletoe is a concoction of apple juice, cinnamon syrup and lemon with a kick of Vodka. Another Vodka concoction is the Yuletide Tipsy Spritzer - made with orange juice, lemon-lime drink, cherry juice and vodka. The Grinch, Dr Seuss ' in famous Christmas character is a sweet-sour cocktail made of melon liqueur and lemon juice. Tequila lovers will certainly ask for more of Berry Christmas Margarita made with frozen cranberry juice.

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS PhP145
From lefy - Apple Pie Mistletoe, The Grinch, Hot Chocolate Peppermint, Berry Christmas Margarita, Yuletide Tipsy Spritzer

Enjoy this dizzying array of Christmas Brew and Booze starting today, Dec. 1 until the 31st as days Hotel Iloilo serves only the best food and drinks at The Promenade.

The Promenade, Days Hotel Iloilo

4th Level, The Atrium, Bonifacio Drive, Iloilo City

Tel No. 337-3297 / 336-8801 to 10 / 0918-933-3297 / 0917-700-3297

Facebook Page: Days Hotel Iloilo

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 cooking weed called Lupo

Lupo is a weed that is commonly found in ricefields and roadside in provinces. It is most prevalent in Ilonggo cooking compared to others as it is mostly the Ilonggos who can recognize lupo , though maybe called differently in other places. Most commonly used in laswa or monggo dishes to add greens like kamote tops, it also makes a good partner in sinabawan na isda recipes. It has hints of bitterness but don't expect it to be ampalaya-bitter like. It is mostly sold in wet local wet markets by the tumpok .

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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