2019 Fiesta de Arevalo at Camiña Balay nga Bato

The Feast Day of the Santo Niño which falls every 3rd Sunday of the year coincides with the Fiesta of the district of Arevalo, Iloilo City.

Home to the 3rd oldest image of the Child Jesus after Cebu and Tondo, the district also boast of many other titles - Lechon, Seafood, Flowers and Firecrackers Capital of Iloilo City!

As I missed last year's fiesta, I made it a point to attend this year's gastronomic offering served at Camina Balay nga Bato.

While I've attended numerous lunch and dinner buffets this ancestral house has hosted for it's guests, a fiesta celebration inside one of Iloilo City's top tourist attractions is still a different and one-of-a-kind experience.

And here are some of the fiesta food offerings I and other guests enjoyed last Sunday during the Fiesta of the district of Arevalo, Iloilo.

How about some papaya atsara to whet our appettites for the fiesta dinner?

But the pasta salad was as appetizing too with its tangy-sweet flavor combination.

I also got a small portion of the pasta bolognese for I couldn't resist any red sauce pasta in frotn of me.

How about some fish fillet with mango salsa to start off the festive dinner?

This is Sinagol (or something like that) which is mix of different kinds of shellfishes plus shrimps.

There was chicken cordon bleu with cream sauce...

... and some chicken lollipops too!

And a whole lot of ham!

I forgot what was this beef dish as called but it was a merry mix of meat and vegetables which was both an eye and palate pleaser.

Of course, everybody loves and are familiar with beef with broccoli.

Here's the specialty of the house - pavo (turkey) cooekd estofado style.

And it won't be a fiesta without the most familiar dish of all - lechon baboy!

And dessert time it is. I gorged on these sweet pomelo all night!

I also loved these mini lemon tart cups with its tamed sour and sweet filling.

There's a potato salad which I had for dessert though it can be had as appetizer.

But the sure dessert salad was the fruit salad in all its creaminess.

Capping off the dessert line were chocolate cake...

... and a cheesy yema cake which I also feasted on.

It was another delightful and delicious Fiesta de Arevalo hosted by the ever-gracious Ma'am Luth (and Sir Gerard) Camiña.

'Til we eat again...

Photo credits: RENE TRANCE

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

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

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.

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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