FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Located in most major shopping malls, this stall specializes on Ilonggo delicacies and native food products. A good move in making these native local products be readily available since most of these only just live in our memories but thanks to some entrepreneuring spirit, we can actually live and taste these memories. It was fresh lumpia that lured me today at their SM City branch (at the Food Court) and thinking about my blog, I added linupak and supposedly inday-inday but turned out to be bucayo (the attendant's mistake or my ignorance?) It looks like I just opened a treasure chest for my blog since its a native food galore at Sabor Ilonggo. Fresh Lumpia Linupak Bucayo (grated coconut cooked with sugar until dry)

My feature before gave you either a brown or white bucayo photos, as dictated by the sugar used. Seeing these ordinary but colorful bucayo in the grocery did not make me think twice of buying them for it would surely liven up the page.. Enjoy!

Bucayo is most common in places where coconuts abound. Luckily we have around five trees towering our backyard so whenever we find someone to climb over then we all go coco loco. And almost all of the time, it's bucayo . It really is simple to cook and can be summarized in just a sentence, Slowly cook grated coconut meat in (carameled) sugar . Vanilla extra and lime rind are also added sometimes . Young and soft coconut meat grated in large portions makes a moist bucayo while finely grated almost mature meat makes a drier finer bucayo. White refined sugar makes makes a white bucayo that is a sort of crunchy, easily hardens and shaped while brown sugar obvious makes the darker version. So take your pick and make your own.

As part of the tradition, native food is served during Pyesta Minatay Suman This is the ultimate native food for me during this season and luckily we had one made today even thouhg it was a day late. Linugaw Simple yet satisfying, this one only had sago, kamote, buko strips, rice balls (bilo-bilo) and ube made this one purple. Suman Latik I can't get over with them as of the moment since we made a big batch and I find it automati to take new pics whenever I eat one. Baye-baye It would be a "mortal sin" if this wouldn't be part of any native food fare. Bucayo Whether as topping for suman latik or eaten by itself, its a delight when ever, wherever.

Suman latik , as I grew up with, is ibos with bucayo as topping and wrapped in banana leaves. Often a pasalubong whenever my mom goes back from her usual panindahan from the town market. Ibos is basically sticky rice often cooked with coconut milk and is often partnered with ripe mango, tsokolate or simply sugar. Bucayo on the other hand is shredded coconut meat slowly cooked in sugar. Its the combination of the less flavourful ibos and the sweet bucayo that makes suman latik a good dessert and a great buy whenever. Seeing a stalk of banana leaves on the table this afternoon was a sign that in only a few hours I would be seeing a batch of ibos as traditionally done during this season. Then came grated mature coconut as source of coconut milk and pilit soaked in the milk. Using banana leaves and its midrib as tie, it is then boiled for some time until it is cooked. NOTE: Usage of the various native terms may vary from place to place.

It was an unexpected good haul of native food last Saturday. Got a batch of bingka from Molo plaza and three items at a stall at the food fair at The Atrium. Bingka sa Plaza Molo It was a suggestion from a reader before and was glad I was finally able to get one. More.... Corn baye-baye Baye baye is usually made of rice but a corn variation intrigued me so I got one. But after eating it, the one made with rice wins by a mile. Ten pesos is nothing to satisfy one's cusriousity. Aripahol I was looking for this eversince and was really excited to finally get one. But upon closer inspection this looked, tasted like and turned out to be linupak. A ten-peso mini fiasco! White bukayo I had second thoughts about this one being sold at PhP25 per pack of 6 pieces. I wanted it to be part of my bucayo entry that I decided at the last minute to get one. But it turned out to be great!

Breakfast What else but my Century tuna topped rice! Lunch My favorite, alugbati with kalabasa and shrimps. Snack Ibos + bucayo = suman latik Dinner Another one of those mixed vegetables; puso ng saging, okra and saluyot! Almost midnight snack I almost forgot my oatmeal so I had one with bananas!