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Santa Barbaranhons embrace the Slow Food Movement

The municipality of Santa Barbara, Iloilo embarks on a culinary journey focusing on heritage, traditional and sustainable food. Promoting and utilizing local produce and recipes, the LGU led by the Municipal Tourism Officer Irene Magallon with the support of the Baranggay Nutrition Scholars and department heads held a cook off of local Ilonggo dishes and typical "sud-an"    with ingredients sourced out from the local market.  Tasked of preparing one dry and one "sabaw", groups prepared assortment of typical "sud-an" favorites and various methods of cooking which includes pinamalhan, tinola, sinugba, sinabawan, ginat-an, relyeno, ensalada, tino-um among others. On a special note, if the dish involves a souring ingredient, it required the use    "catmon", a local citrus fruit which was the old name of the town. Fresh ingredients were sourced out from the town market which is just a few steps away from the venue. The
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Ginata-ang Tambo kag Pasayan

  A favorite of many Ilonggos,   ginat-an nga tambo   is heaven to them and fans of Ilonggo cuisine. With coconut milk and greens like saluyot, takway and okra plus subak like shrimps or crabs – this would automatically induce a lot of cravings.  Especially when you’re abroad where raw ingredients are often hard to find and if they are luckily available, it still doesn’t taste like the one you might have grown up with. Even so, it is more than enough one's craving for this Ilonggo cuisine, no matter where you are in the world.

In Photos: Camilo Bar + Cafe in Santa Barbara

Inubaran nga Manok sa Libas

Inubaran basically means the dish is cooked with  ubad . No, it's not a typo error, it is really ubad not ubod - different from but practically the same.  CONFUSING? Well ubod is the pith or the center of a coconut tree while ubad is the pith of a banana tree. To make this dish, one has to prepare an ubad for cooking - first thinly slice, around half a centimeter, the cleaned pith (must be very white and sized like a fluorescent lamp to be sure of the quality.)  Ubad sold in local markets. You will only use the white center/core portion.Then using a barbecue stick, remove web like fibers "interconnecting" these slices (these are actually hardened banana sap). When finished you can crush is into smaller pieces and add to your cooking. Here's a popular recipe using ubad... Ingredients 1 whole (native) Chicken, cut into bite-size pieces 3-4 cups chopped Ubad, prepared as described above 1 stalk Tanglad (Lemongrass) 1 thumb size Ginger, sliced  5

Tam-is : Have you tried this rootcrop?

When I had my first bite of the  tam-is  many years ago, I find it weird and ask why isn't it sweet. After all, tam-is  literally means sweet in the melodic Hiligaynon language. Tam-is  is starchy but its "smoother" compared to  kamote  and cassava. One can find them during market days especially in inland towns where farming is abundant and crops come in different kinds.  In Iloilo City, the best place to find this rootcrop is at the Jaro Big Market aka Huwebesan - for its market day is Thursday. It is also what Ilonggos call a variant of a tuber-crop related to the ube, potato, taro and yam, among others, with a collective? scientific name of  Dioscorea esculenta, syn.: D. fasciculata.  These are tubers are the enlarged storage tips of a rhizome. The “eyes” are actually buds in nodes, arranged in spiral pattern from the base to the apex of the tuber. Aerial tubers, which are common in yams, are called tubercle.  ( Source ) Now

The Flavors of Modern Iloilo at PUNOT

On the banks of the Iloilo River, along the side of the Esplanade stands PUNOT - a restaurant named after the fishpens that used to dot the river. The restaurant is s venture of siblings Andrea and Tope Arañador paying tribute to their parents Lea and Rogelio who built the family's two restaurants in Estancia - Friends (1987) and Punot (2000). Andrea, who is now based in Germany, was in town a few days ago and invited the Iloilo Bloggers  to check out the latest creations of Punot concocted by her brother who is Center for Culinary Arts graduate. Iloilo Bloggers Inc. with Ms. Andrea (righmost) enjoying the flavors of modern Iloilo at Punot. It was also an opportunity to bring back the food memories of their best-sellers, which for years have stood the test of time despite the heated gastronomic competition in Iloilo City. Here are some of " The Best of Punot" 1/16 TRES MANGGAS SALAD Will you say no to the burst of fla

Monggo with Chicharon

There are so many ways of making a delicious bowl of Monggo Soup. Often a perfect partner of fried or grilled fish and meat, ginisang monggo is a staple in Pinoy gastronomy especially on Fridays. As the recipe varies from household to household, it's just simple cooking - a mix and match of monggo beans plus leafy vegetables and sliced veggies plus the subak or meat/seafood add-ins.  Be it pork slices, grilled pata, shrimps, dried seafood, left-over lechon, baby shrimps called kalkag and so many more. And how about CHICHARON? Now, let's cook... Ingredients 1 cup monggo, soaked in water before cooking A pack of your favorite CHICHARON (better if with "laman") Leafy vegetables  (Malunggay/moringa, Kamote tops, alugbati, lupo, etc) More vegetables (Langka, kalabasa cubes, sayote, papaya or eggplant slices, shredded ubad (banana trunk pith)) Water Salt, to taste ( broth cubes or patis - optional) How to Cook MONGGO S

Munks Cafe: A Blend of Danish and other European specialties

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