FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Ferrero Rocher, Cadbury, Toblerone, M&M's, Delfi, Hershey's and Snickers. These are some of the ultimate chocolates that make up our sweetest, chocolatiest dreams. And last Valentine's Day, Days Hotel Iloilo made our choco-aspirations come true! The Promenade's annual Valentine Dinner Buffet "Romantic Interlude" is no doubt among the top Valentine gastronomic events on Hearts' Day. You can't go wrong with its wide selection of food - hors d'oeuvres, soups & breads, organic salad bar, sushi & sashimi, pasta & pizza, entrees and, of course - desserts! And that will be on the spotlight - as it has and always been. The M&M's Affair starts our food-gasmic journey. The very popular and familiar candy-coated chocolate added color and extra crisp to butter cookies and bars.  Next on our sweets trip are Hershey's Cookies and Cream Bark - pieces of our beloved chocolate given an extra crunch, and the heav...

Among the many reinventions of the fruit salad, one of the most interesting I find is the addition of sago as base or "extender". Though the latter may sound "negative", but once you've seen and tasted this new take on a fruit salad, you'll be asking for more! Just at it looks, the recipe is very simple. It calls for cooked sago, canned fruit cocktail and some fresh fruits. This one has bananas and avocados giving a contrast in taste and texture plus to the eyes. Just a can of evaporated milk and sweetened by condensed milk used to blend them in all in a concoction bursting with color and flavour. Only the imagination limits the possibilities of how creative one can get in making a sago fruit salad to suit his own taste and senses. Make one now!

I’ve been to Netong’s Original Special Batchoy inside the Lapaz Public Market many times but I’ve never chanced upon their pata. Finally, one rainy Sunday afternoon, the “elusive” pata has been conquered! It was unplanned – I was eyeing the Pancit Noname at Lapaz Bakeshop but it was already taken off menu when I inquired so I was off to Netong’s. There, a gigantic “kalaha” (frying pan) filled with the cholesteriffically appetizing pata welcomed my visit. Before I was informed that it’s only during Sundays that Netong’s serves their own pata recipe, on other days it’s another. Also it’s linaga during the morning and this Mon-Sat pata is served around 3pm onward. So I was just in time for Netong’s very own recipe. There are two pata orders – for Php20 you get that piece of skin only and for Php40 you get the one with bones. After much debating in my thoughts, I got two orders of that skin-only pata, I was after quantity that time. Service was prompt and just a few minutes ...

While the most familiar Pochero recipes are the ones stewed with tomatoes (or tomato sauce) or the Cebu variant which is like bulalo or nilaga, the pochero i grew up with is just very simple. It's just pork cooked with saba (cooking banana) and kamote tops. I just love the mild sweetness of the broth brought about by the bananas and the kamote tops.  Most often I end up taking all the greens on my plate. The pork goes well with a toyo-mansi (soy sauce and calamansi) dip that also makes a good "dressing "for the kamote tops. There are times the recipe changes to cabbage or pechay, carrots, potatoes or sayote and yes, there's still saba. But in the end, it still has the same familiar taste of the pochero I grew up with. The recipe is just very simple - just boil the pork first until tender. Add the "hard" veggies like potatoes, saba, etc then finally when the leafy veggies when its almost done. Just season it with salt or broth cubes for a savory brot...

When it comes to gastronomic adventures, Iloilo City even with is small area comes out big. From the heritage dishes, native cuisine and fresh seafood it offers to its current, trendy and cosmopolitan dining lifestyle that sprouted in the last few years. It's "survival of fittest" or should we say the tastiest and most delicious that is also just right within the budget is the name of the game nowadays. The influx of big players/imported in the restaurant scene as well  local entrepreneurs trying their hand on the food business gives the Ilonggos more than enough food places to choose from. And more often than not, Ilonggos tend to go back to old favorites and restaurants that give them their money's worth. On the banks of the Iloilo River, overlooking the Esplanade stands Punot Restaurant - named after the fishpens that used to dot the river and from its origins in the town of Estancia in Northern Iloilo. The restaurant is the first venture of siblings Andrea...