FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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! Tapioca (or sago) is an essential ingredient of native delicacies and desserts like  linugaw  and taho.  But now it has found its way to more "modern" desserts like puddings and salads. With the availability of cooked "sago pearls" in the market and in different size, making these desserts is just simple and easy. Here's a recipe for Creamy Sago and Fruits Salad

What is a hole-in-the-wall business concept? According to Collins Dictionary, a "hole-in-the-wall business is a business, especially a restaurant, that operates from very small premises." The pandemic has brought about new opportunities that are more beneficial to both businesses and consumers. The hole-in-the-wall concept is one of these. Most hole-in-the-wall food businesses are found in small neighborhoods. Unlike big restaurant chains, they offer good food that is cheaper due to lower overhead costs. It also offers consumers a sense of adventure when they visit an unfamiliar location. Mrs. Wharton Cakes and Savories Mrs. Wharton which started with cakes has previously announced that it will launch several food brands. It is now applying the hole-in-the-wall concept especially after they finished setting up the Mrs. Wharton Cake Boutique where people can come and take out cakes for their celebrations. Mrs. Wharton's popular savory dishes will als...

Back then, when what's on the table wasn't in tune to my moody taste buds, I am simply served raw native chicken's egg mixed with hot rice and seasoned with salt. That makes my childhood food memories as fresh as the "Bisaya nga manok" eggs. And I haven't tried one in decades so good thing there were some " itlog sang BIsaya nga manok " in the fridge and just some leftover rice (the magic of microwave oven) - the childhood gastronomy was relived. But I also take these native eggs, directly  - from the fridge, crack it open and drink. Others mixed native chicken's eggs with hot milk making a liquid leche flan! Anymore egg memories you can share?

It's been a while since my last German food trip at Bavaria Restaurant that it surprised me that they now have an aptly named gastronomic combo - Oktoberfest Platter . But I should have expected it since Bavaria is a German state in which Munich is the capital which is famous all over the world mainly because it hosts the world's biggest annual beer festival - Oktoberfest! So what's in this platter that almost had me speechless at Bavaria? It's a meat-lovers dream come true - assorted wurst  (sausages), fried pork knuckles, schnitzel ( meat, thinned by pounding with a  meat tenderizer, coated with flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs, and then fried), a basket of home-made German breads, vegetable side dish and  Kartoffelsalat (German potato salad) It's megacombo of their assorted platters (Sausage, Butcher's, etc ) given a more festive look which attracted me in the first place. A perfect "to be shared" meal with...

An out-of-the-blue experiment that turned out to be delicious! But it's really not that surprising since pineapple-cheese as a sandwich filling is already yummy, so how much more if it becomes an ice cream? The creaminess of the cheese and milk is balanced by the sweetness of the pineapple making the combination something different with hints of familiarity. Here's the recipe that I experimented with in making this pineapple-cheese ice cream

Now, who doesn't love danggit? The crunch, the saltiness ( yikes high blood! )  and how it complements the taste of vinegar, makes this dried seafood an ultimate favorite.   It's probably one of the most popular dried fishes together with the many varieties of tuyo/pinakas and dilis/balingon.  And fried danggit is the bomb! With just vinegar or calamansi as dip or some fresh tomatoes as side dish, it often makes you say "Extra rice, please!". I love the meatier type of danggit wherein you can actually bite some of the dried flesh of the fish.  Compared with the thin and smaller ones where in its just it may seem like just dried plastic (most often the prepacked ones in the groceries) and often are sharp enough to cut you gums, meatier danggit is la delight in every bite.  While, dried danggit is more often fried, I also prefer cooking it right on top of charcoal.  Aside from being  oil-free, cooking ...

Laswa is to the Ilonggos as what dinengdeng and pinakbet  are to the Ilocanos. These are mainly vegetables based dishes with a few meats and seafood. What makes laswa different is that guinamos or bago-ong is not part of the recipe. In both Ilocanos dishes, bago-ong is a major flavour enhancer giving both dishes a distinct bago-ong taste. Laswa , on the other hand, is a tamer version since guinamos is rarely used and it just relies on garlic, onion and tomato plus a little salt as flavour enhancer. Thus, it is a perfect combination with fried or grilled fish or pork! Here's the basic recipe for the Ilonggo favorite - Laswa Ingredients Kalabasa cubes Okra slices Eggplant slices Sigarilyas slices Patola slices String beans Saluyot Takway (optional) Puso ng Saging (optional) Alimasag, dilis, shrimps, daing na isda (optional) Garlic, crushed Onion, quartered  Tomatoes, sliced Salt Water How to cook Laswa Wash all the veget...