FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

A stones throw away from the plaza of La Villa de Arevalo is an ancestral house where one can find not only good pasalubong items but also a look into the past of the district. Known as the Sinamay House , this well preserved ancestral house is an attraction not only in the outside but also what it houses inside. A collection of what the past like is housed in the two storey edifice which also acts like a museum of sorts. Sinamay is simply known as abaca by most and, here, a variety of products made from this fiber can be found.  I remember watching a feature on tv wherein the owner proudly showed a framed letter signed by the late Princess of Wales, Diana, showing her appreciation of the handkerchief she was given as a gift coming from this very shop. But the attraction I am most familiar with are the chewies and crunchies made by Mama's Kitchen. Attractively packed in boxes showing their current flavours and variety, this is among the better...

Ilonggos are surely busy preparing for the holidays - where to bring the family for some treats, what’s on the menu for the Noche Buena and what gifts to buy and which goes to whom – the never ending questions of the holiday rush. And you should already have answers to these for Christmas is just around the corner. But don’t fret if you haven’t for I’ll be listing down of my personal favorites as well as the “IN” gastronomic gifts and giveaways for the Yuletide season. DULGIES' ALFAJORES AND RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE SATINE. Make an impression with these insanely delicious one-of-a-kind cookie treats. The former is a Dulce de Leche filled short bread cookie smothered with confectioner’s sugar while the latter tastes as good as a real cheesecake! (PhP 190/20pieces and PhP160/dozen respectively). Don't forget their heavenly cheeseroll and ensaimada too! THE CHOCOLATIEST CHOCOLATE CAKE. There are many good tasting chocolate cakes in the city but only Uncle Tom’s could claim being t...

It all started when I inquired through text if Bingkahan sa Mohon would be making their popular bingka last Saturday. And after it was confirmed, I literally just took off - excited over the fact that my blog frustrations on this popular bingka would finally come to an end. Though I have blogged about it before but I have to see and buy them for myself to complete the experience so to speak. But when I got there, they were still just preparing and it would take at least an hour before their first batch would come right out of the oven. So that made me think, whether I'll just stay there waiting or go somewhere else to kill time. It took me awhile to decide and chose the latter, quickly excited by the fact that I may finally seek some of the holes-in-the-wall in this district which is out of my usual way. A few days earlier I met with bloggers friends; Lee and Inday Hami at a popular snackshop in Mandurriao known for it's sio pao, sio mai and mami ( Jiecel and Thea's Ref...

Probably the best "packaged" pasalubong item from the city. Yet it was a tourist that introduced me to this stuff. Luckily, it was available sa Deco's Pasalubong center in from of SM Delgado (very convenient rather than going all the way to Arevalo). Priced almost a hundred pesos each, these crunchies and chewies are a welcome change from the usual pasalubong stuff. Crunchies are thin and crisp "cookies" with pinipig, cashew and tsokolate varieties to name a few while chewies (in mango) are thicker and .... chewy. Additional photos courtesy of Weekend Pastime

"WELCOME TO Iloilo. Forget your diet." This was the cheery welcome from no less than Mayor Jerry Treñas, when select press were invited by the Iloilo Economic Development (ILED) Foundation to a weekend tour of the city and neighboring island-province Guimaras. As it turned out, he wasn’t just joking. Wherever we went, the genteel Ilonggos lavished us with the chief beauty—and for the weight-watchers among us, the major bane—of their province: The food. Here are the treats you shouldn’t miss out on for a genuine, manamit Iloilo experience. Photos and article courtesy of Flavors of Iloilo - and where to find them By Jaymee T. Gamil The Philippine Daily Inquirer Sweet surrender With the province renowned as the land of sugar barons, Ilonggo delicacies are as much a legacy as the heritage architecture along the city’s Calle Real. There’s the traditional baked sweets from the Spanish era: Barquillos, cylindrical wafers; biscocho, sugared toasted bread; banadas, sugar cookies gla...