FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Other places in the Philippines have their own version of this cassava-based delicacy. In most parts of Western Visayas, this native delicacy is called alupe (or alupi). It is made with ground balinghoy (cassava) mixed with coconut milk and meat plus sugar and other flavorings. It is then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. What looks like an unappetizing mixture before (steaming) becomes a pleasure to both the sense of smell and taste as it results to a flavourful snack that would surely bring back memories. Or will surely make one for those tasting it for the first time. Now only if it ain't that sticky and messy to eat!

Kusahos is my favorite way of enjoying beef. it is basically sun-dried beef strips marinated adobo style - that is with vinegar, garlic and soy sauce, among others. After an overnight marination, it is then sun-dried for a few days - watch for flies as this is a fly-magnet! The drier it becomes, the better tasting it will become. It is then deep fried or at time placed directly over charcoal, for a crunchy-lious local beef gastronomic experience.  Here's the recipe for Kusahos

People unfamiliar with these would often mistakenly refer to tambis as makopa  - for its shape and color are almost identical. That's until you you see it up close and bite into its flesh. Tambis has a smoother skin, tends to be more translucent and a lot juicier. On the other hand,  mangkopa  ( makopa ) has a more velvety skin, more opaque and is drier. Both come from the same  genus  -  syzygium  and just differs on the  specie  -  aqueum ,  samarangense  or  malaccense . I really cannot point out which is which though... It was one rainy Saturday afternoon while having a meeting at Camiña Balay nga Bato in Arevalo that I curiously gazed outside the window. It was a tambi s tree teeming with its fruits - lots of it. And before I knew, we were served this basket of tambis which appreciatively devoured... It brought a lot of memories then - of afternoons climbing our neighbours tambis tree, of having a tambis party, and even experimenting if tambis would yield

Tak what?  Takway is what Ilonggos refer to the part of the gabi plant that grows sideways , termed as tendrils. When scraped off of its outer skin and thoroughly cleaned, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the  ginat-an dish consisting   of the gabi tendrils and tubers with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon .  Spicy Takway Adobo It is sold in local wet markets or in groceries (like SM here in Iloilo) already cleaned, packed and ready to be cooked. And the most popular takway dish is adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . Local restaurants like Bauhinia Filipino Cuisine and the buffet offering at Camiña Balay nga Bato offers inadobo nga takway . Takway sold in the groceries Cooking adobo nga takway is like cooking the usual adobo - and there are a hundred and one ways to do it. If you have an adobo recipe you are frequently using, just substitute pork/chicken or kangkong

Amidst the fireworks and revelries, food ushers in the new year with the traditional  media noche . So what's on our table welcoming New Year 2024? Our media noche has always been a light to heavy snack. It isn’t like a fiesta fare that comes with rice and lots of meat dishes.  So check out our fare welcoming 2024…  Always present is the HAM. Be it the sliced pork ham (Chinese-style) or whole chicken hamonado. Another staple is a PASTA DISH but this time it was create your own. Linguine pasta with tuna-tomato, pork tomato, tuna, olive pil and pesto as sauce choices with Parmesan cheese. Something new was the pepperoni QUESADILLA to give our media noche some Mexican flair. Also some NACHOS to create some texture and flavor with its spicy cheese and creamy spinach dips. Another staple is QUESO DE BOLA - perfect for that ham & cheese sandwich. Adding carbo is the BAM-I mixed wit pork, seafood and veggies. The one I really gorged on was the PANCIT MOLO with the dumplings from ready