Celebrating the gastronomic grandeur of Jaro Fiesta

Every February 2, all roads lead to Jaro, Iloilo as Ilonggos celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Candles in different aspects - religious, gastronomic, enterprising, and more.

It is the biggest fiesta in this part of the country characterized by the pageantry and the grandeur of the occasion paying homage to Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria - the patron saint of Western Visayas.

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. But it was rather different this year though without the latter...

But what is/was consistent is that for the past 7 years, I was at the Jamerlan household (thanks, as usual Sir Eugene) to celebrate the gastronomic part of the Jaro Fiesta. And the gastronomic grandeur of the Jaro Fiesta is ever present in one of the district's most prominent families...

So let's the fiesta food trip begin with these very Ilonggo specialties - fresh lumpia and empanada. One can have it as a snack or side dish but I like it as an appetizer or a pre-buffet eat to start my appetite on what's to come.

The ever-present pancit molo from Kap Ising, is more than enough reason to be in the fiesta.

I think I had three bowls teeming with lots of pancit molo balls and I still think I didn't have enough LOL.

Another crowd favorite is the chicken galantina, which is can be simply compared to chicken relyeno ala morcon. I enjoyed the embutido style stuffing as well as the chicken meat itself in every bite.

While the ham of the holidays is still in my system, I couldn't resist a slice of this tempting meaty goodness waving at me. Maybe, I had two or even three slices then...

And the specialty of the house - Lamb Caldereta. It is a staple on the fiesta table eversince I joined in the celebration more than 5 years ago. It is fresh from the farm lamb as the Jamerlans domesticate a number of sheep in their farm in Santa Barbara, Iloilo.

A new-on-the-fiesta-menu but very familiar to our tastebuds is the kare-kare. Supervised in the kitchen by Sir Eugene's friend, Ms. Sarah Baviera, this authentic Kapampangan-style version was easily the talk of the table. And it made me throw my so-called diet away...

The sauce was really thick - thanks to the combination of real ground peanuts and ground rice (malagkit?).

You can actually taste the labor of love and no shortcuts on this classic Filipino recipe.

And what's a fiesta without Lechon Baboy? Here it is in its chopped glory revealing all the works inside out.

And the skin, so crunchy that despite my so-called diet, I had to take a piece. Okay two or maybe three... haha

Speaking of the works, how about some Dinugu-an, which always comes with an order of lechon. Have some puto manapla too!

Macaroni salad and ube brazo de mercedes complete this gastronomic celebration of Jaro Fiesta.

And like I always say it - 'til we eat again! Burp!

NOTE This blog post is a reposting of a previous article.

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 (

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.

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

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

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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