FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Today is the annual fiesta of the district of Molo, Iloilo. Now who isn’t excited during this time of the year? The carnival and fair in the plaza, the flair and grandeur it brings, and of course, the FOOD! It is even made more special when the place is renowned for its gastronomic and cultural heritage. Known as the “Athens of t he Philippines”, the district of Molo has provided leaders, statesmen and a lot more prompting scholars before to compare it to what the Greek capital has provided the western civilization. But it also has provided culinary contributions that make every Ilonggo, where from Molo or not to be proud of. A Chinese soup adaptation that has conquered the Philippine gastronomy is the district’s foremost contribution. Pancit Molo is among the most loved soups in the country and for Filipino abroads. It is more of a homemade delight that every household has its own unique recipe and no restaurant even in Molo itself can claim to have the best bowl of pancit Molo. Giant...

Proven and “tasted”, butterscotch is the top pasalubong item from Iloilo. Ironically not a home grown item like piaya or barquillos. But who cares really, for I was and still it's top "promoter"; from bringing it as pasalubong back to Manila before to now blogging and writing about it online. So here’s a rundown of the brands I featured (and “gobbled” up) before. The most famous and best selling butterscotch of Iloilo. Methinks they started this butterscotch craze that other followed (though I have no proof.) It has become the standard of whether a butterscotch is good or not for most of my pasalubong recipients. (Php45/10 pieces) The best packaged butterscotch. Many already have switched to this brand as they claim its much better. Very nutty and buttery, it stood out and carved a niche of its own by coming up with a mango and pineapple variant first. (PhP49.50/10pieces) Surprisingly almost tastes and looks like that of Biscocho Haus. If pieces were mixed up,...

First you will be enticed by the name, hojaldres , since it's not a typical Pinoy name for a biscuit. It also has this curious shape and thickness. And upon closer inspection, it's flaky, brittle and looks like baked thin slices of filo pastry. I got this pack of hojaldres from Deco's Pasalubong Center. I was looking for one made by Panaderia de Molo but there wasn't any. Since I only know two makers of this biscuit, so I got Molo County's instead. The latter is much thicker and harder since the formers hojaldres is so brittle that you can literally "crumple" it by just blowing. The most similar biscuit, I could say, is otap for both are flaky and topped with sugar crystals. Both are good eats but hojaldres wins by its novelty

Molo County's butterscotch comes in this sort of personalized giveaway style bag. Unlike other brands, it has more style but not overly done. Its this (packaging) that caught my attention when I was doing my usual rounds of blog hunting for pasalubong at Deco's. Costing PhP41.50, it was a surprise when others cost much more but upon closer inspection, it has only 8 pieces and they are very small, so its actually "worth" the price. Seeing the contents through the wrappers reminded me of my last (and not so good) butterscotch encounter. Molo County's butterscotch looks like that of Tibiao (which I described as semi-hardened butterscotch flavoured mamon) and that "alarmed" me. But I still bought a pack just to satisfy my curiosity plus the fact I am making a review of all butterscotch in the city. After finsihing my photoshoot, I took it slowly since I had a feeling that it would be the same (as Tibiao). I was wrong ..... ..... it was worse! Ahhh! If Ti...

I bought four different brands of butterscotch last Sunday to continue my quest for the best one in Iloilo City. It was another butterscotch galore as I tested and tasted each brand not to mention having another photo session. Starting with the one in yellow and clockwise Delifranz, Panaderia de Molo, Molo County and Sweet Nes There will be separate entries for each brand with more photos and reviews.