FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Diwal (angel wing clam) and other prized seafood from Western Visayas take centre stage at Paseo Uno’s lunch and dinner buffets as guest chef Pauline Gorriceta-Banusing , Iloilo’s culinary ambassador and celebrity restaurateur, flies in for a week’s engagement. In this rare gastronomic festival, seafood lovers will delight over the distinct sweet and succulent flavours of diwal and other treasures of the Visayan Sea – scallops, Centennial Clams, Antique oysters and more. For those who cannot have enough of Chef Pauline’s signature Ilonggo dishes, the spread will not disappoint. Namit! For reservations, please call Paseo Uno at Mandarin Oriental Manila at (02) 750-8888. */ PR -------- Manila looks poorer when the bounty from the sea is difficult to find here. Think diwal and scallops. But only for this week, the sea bounty will be available at Mandarin Oriental Manila’s Paseo Uno. The familiar face in Paseo Uno is Pauline Banusing, indefatigable promoter of Ilonggo cuisine. Some mont...

This feature published by the Manila Standard Today narrates how gastronomy played an important role in the author's recent visit to Iloilo City. It simply shows that food is very much a part of the city's "tourism" and as the title says it's "Beyond batchoy". Enjoy this article (written by Nana Nadal) more with some photos from Flavours of Iloilo archives. Mention Iloilo and batchoy is not far behind. With everyone sending me off to the province with “enjoy the batchoy” messages, I was half expecting to live on the noodle soup for the duration of my three-day stay. After devouring a bowlful paired with soft white puto at Ted’s Old Timer La Paz Batchoy along Valeria Street, I realized that I had nothing to worry about, I would have been perfectly happy eating it for several meals. I’m no batchoy connoisseur but I think Ted’s 65 years in the business and 34 branches nationwide prove that their recipe’s a winner. I had another round of the dish at Days ...

The lure of diwal (angel's wing clams) brought us to Breakthrough Restaurant along Villa beach one afternoon. I often have a "staple order list" whenever I dine at this seaside restaurant but during this visit, it was overlooked for some other food items. Ilonggo style fresh lumpia became our appetizer despite the fact that we dont need one since we were already hungry. It was a very late lunch at past 3pm but it was worth the wait. This lumpia requires no sauce at all since it's already packed with flavours. This grilled blue marlin is among the best I had. Very fresh and perfectly grilled inside out. It was as though freshly caught, cleaned, sliced and grilled but it in reality it was sitting on ice inthe freezer when we looked at it. Appetizing to look at but in contrast to the blue marlin above this plate of lechon almost had been sitting there for hours. The skin was still crisp though but what lies underneath is a cholesterol bomb waiting to be ignited. T...

Photos Courtesy of Cecille's CASA BALUARTE Interesting features about Diwal on these links Diwal Conservation Market Manila