FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

This is Chicken Bacon with Potato Salad Pesto. It is among the many Danish specialties served at Munks Coffeeshop and Resto in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo. Located inside Liz Complex in Bangga Dama, the cafe is partly hidden by a bank (PNB) from the highway but it's just a minute walk from the road. There, you'll find the husband and wife tandem of Peter Munk Andersen and Lynette Gorriceta Andersen. Peter is from Denmark but has worked in the Danish Embassies in Poland and Japan together with his wife who hails from Bacolod.  In 2016, they both decided to retire and put up Munks Cafe in the heritage town of Sta. Barbara, Iloilo. The resto has a homey feel once you enter and feels different from the outside surroundings. And just like the mom and pop restos (family managed) across Europe, both of them prepare the orders - from the actual cooking to the plating until it is served. You could even ask them about your order or have a

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

The lure of the "novelty" of a bakeshop inside a hospital had me, in a span of three days, twice inside St Paul's Hospital lining up for this moist, fluffy and delicious carrot bread from Sisters' Delight Bakeshop. But after all, the bread itself is a very big delight as the delicious aroma of this bread leaves a lingering desire to have more than just a bite. Made with fresh and organic ingredients with no preservatives, this carrot bread is the best seller among their baked goodies which includes Carrot Cup, Chocolate Cup Cake, Challah Bread, Torta Cebuana and Ensaymada. The carrot bread in particular is baked every morning but it isn't available until the early afternoon like around 2pm. It has to be cooled to ambient temperature before it can be wrapped so as to prevent deformation and rapid moistening of the bread in its wrapper. They bake a very limited number per day - that's more or less 30 loaves of bread, thus it'

Pinamalhan is the Ilonggo way of making pinaskiw na isda . Its starts with the fish being cooked in vinegar or with sour fruits like batwan or iba (kamias). Making  pinamalhan  with the use sour fruits tends more subtle compared to the soured with vinegar. The recipe's quite simple as it just uses all- around spices and the method of cooking is just stewing.  Here's a basic recipe for Pinamalhan nga Salmonite sa Iba Ingredients 1 kilo salmonite, gutted and cleaned (Cut into half if medium sized or whole if small) 2 cups iba, sliced 1 medium size onion, sliced 1 tbsp. crushed black pepper 5 pcs. siling pansigang 1/2 head garlic, crushed 1 thumb size ginger cut into thin slices Oil Salt Procedures In a pan put garlic, onion, ginger and the sliced kamias at the bottom. Place the salmonite on top then add the green/red chili, spring onions and crushed black pepper.  Add half a cup of water and season with salt. Cover and simmer i

What the Bicolanos (and the rest of the Philippines?) know as laing , the Ilonggos call it pangat . This particular one from Breakthrough Restaurant along Villa beach in Iloilo City is among the most popular commercially produced pangat .  There are also a number of pangat -makers especially in Villa with pangat  like the one served during the Arevalo fiesta. The one below was during the Jaro Fiesta served at the Jamerlans. Pork or whatever filling one prefers (seafood) is wrapped inside  gabi  leaves. It is then simmered in low fire in a coconut milk-ginger concoction until cooked. 

Bujawi (budjawi, budyawi) is what Ilonggos refer to the fruit of the buri or century palm tree . Abundant in many parts of the province of Iloilo, the buri has many many uses from the leaves to its trunk. It produces a fermented drink (tuba), alcohol, vinegar, syrup, and sugar. The trunk yields large quantities of starch. The bud (ubod) is used for salad or as a vegetable. The kernels of the young fruits are edible and are made into a sweetmeats. The mature seeds are used for beads? (rosaries) and buttons.  The petiole yields so-called buntal fiber of which, the famous Baliuag and Lucban hats are made, or which, when crudely extracted, is sometimes twisted into rope. Mature leaf is used for covering tobacco bales, rarely as a thatch for houses, while the ribs are used for making brooms. From the unopened leaf is obtained a very fine fiber, corresponding to raffia fiber, which is utilized in making cloth, fancy articles, and as string. Fibers secu

There are a hundred and one ways to cook laswa. Basically, its just a mix of vegetables seasoned with salt, garlic and onions. It could come as plain all-vegetables or with seafood like shrimps and crabs. Commonly used vegetables for making laswa are tagabang (saluyot), kalabasa, okra, sitaw and talong. Check out this basic Laswa recipe. Yet this one makes use of kolitis or Chinese spinach instead of the usual tagabang. Kolitis is very nutritious as it is rich rich in dietary fiber, iron, calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin, niacin and many more. It also helps prevent from anemia, asthma (just boil the leaves), it has diuretic properties that prevents urinary troubles and diarrhea.  Its high high fiber content helps remove the toxins and eliminate waste easily. It also contains calcium, phosphorus, and iron which helps in enhancing production of mother's breast milk . Source Happy Eating!

If you love canned or bottles Spanish-style sardines, here a simple recipe that would sure excite your taste buds. How about some home-made Spanish-style bangus ? It's easy as 1-2-3 and simple as prepare-pressure cook- wait... All you need are thoroughly cleaned and thickly sliced bangus or you can opt to have whole small bangus. Add some crushed garlic cloves, onions, olive or corn oil, bay leaves, sliced carrots, pickles, water, salt, and whole pepper corn with the optional ingredients chilies and tomato sauce and paste. When everything's ready, just arrange everything in the pressure cooker, making sure the bangus and other ingredients are covered with the water and oil mix.  Pressure cook for about 30 minutes or until the bangus is cooked. Serve and enjoy! Link to detailed recipe >>> Spansih Style Bangus

If a picture is worth a thousand words, there would be thousands of the word namit (delicious) written all over this native delicacy called bot-ong. Bot-ong is made with glutinous rice mixed with gata wrapped in banana leaves in a pointed shape then boiled until cooked. It is like ibos but with different shape and wrapper. Ibos is mostly tubular and wrapped on coconut leaves while bot-ong is pointed at one end and wrapped in banana leaves. Ibos and Bot-ong being wrapped and still uncooked. Photo from Google While the dips could be interchangeable, ibos is usually paired with sugar, bukayo or ripe mango while bot-ong with latik which is  made with gata and sugar boiled until it is syrupy and caramelized. One of my fave bot-ongs now comes from Brgy. Lanag in Santa Barbara, Iloilo from the same makers of  Puto sa Lanag .  I could eat 5 or even more in just one sitting when the bot-ong is warm and drizzled with the latik.  Will give details on how to order these delicious