FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

The City of Love named as the next Coca-Cola Foodmarks Epicenter in the Philippines The golden afternoon sun casts long shadows across Iloilo City’s Calle Real, where the scent of sizzling chicken inasal mingles with the salty breeze from the nearby Iloilo River. It’s a symphony of aromas, a feast for the senses, and a testament to why this vibrant city in the Philippines has earned its moniker as the ‘City of Love’. But love isn’t the only thing brewing in Iloilo; it’s a culinary cauldron where history, tradition, and a dash of the unexpected create a flavor profile that is uniquely Ilonggo.  After the successful debut of Coca-Cola (Philippines) Foodmarks in the world’s oldest Chinatown in Binondo, Manila last May, it’s no wonder that Iloilo City, with its vibrant culinary heritage, has been chosen as the next destination for this campaign.     Coca-Cola®, a long-time companion at Filipino tables, recognizes the magic woven into Iloilo’s food culture. Their Coca-Cola Foo...

Googling for Pancit Efuven showed only a handful of pages and most links were actually some of my own forum posts and pictures.  PCIJ’s online article said this noodle was actually named from the maker but it had no supporting information actually also made me hunger for more, info that is. My familiarity with this noodle started on the fact that it had become one of the staple noodle dish prepared at home, whether on special occasion or just any given Sunday lunch.  I can only assume that we (family members) got curious about this noodle variety that we tried to use it instead of the usual pancit canton, bihon or sotanghon. Or we might also have heard others talked about it or ate in some restaurants serving this pancit. It has no special ingredients, just plain and simple noodle. Some say it’s the local version of linguine, others a much cleaner pancit canton.  It doesn’t really matter but for me it does taste like a cross between a panc...

If this picture is worth a thousand words, there would be thousands of the word namit (delicious) written all over the page.  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, only difference is this one's wrapped in coconut leaves and shaped like tubes. Latik is made with gata and sugar boiled until it is syrupy and caramelized. Not really surprised to have found this in the kitchen but the fact I have some native delicacies to blog really excited me ... So I got one, opened it and poured some home-made coconut syrup known as latik . You get a more mouth-watering look at it in the topmost photo. Still not satisfied, here are two bot-ong's swimming in latik with a spoonful of coco jam. Now have bite...