Fiesta Señor and Sinulog 2012

Once again, Cebu has celebrated the feast of our dear Sto. Niño and the cultural festivity we fondly call, Sinulog. Pilgrims, devotees, tourist and local residents joined either one or two of the major events of the Philippines’ grandest fiesta: the religious procession last Saturday and/or the grand street parade of the Sinulog last Sunday, January 15.

On the other hand, continued pud the Sugbusog Cebuano Food Festival at the Marco Polo Plaza, Cebu City’s only five-star hotel (www.marcopoloplazacebu.com, phone 253-1111) and for 2012, the theme was “Suroy Suroy sab ta sa Marco Polo” featuring the fiesta dishes of Southern Cebu. The original Suroy Suroy is the pet project of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia which provides an opportunity for local and foreign tourists to visit a cluster of towns and cities and sample the culture and food of that area.

To bring these delicacies from all over Cebu to the ambiance of Marco Polo, you need a Chef who has the expertise and experience to cook authentic Cebuano cuisine and Cebu has that person. She is Ms. Jessica Avila and if by this time you have not known her, well, you are really not from Cebu nor have you participated in the Cebuano food festival at the Marco Polo Plaza.

Your favourite food columnist began his meal with the Abre-ganas (appetizer): Kasahos (Beef Tapa) and the Carcar chicharrón (pork cracklings), Puso sa Saging (Sautéed banana blossom), Green Mango Salad and Gay Salad topped with Dilis (Camote Tops with Fried Dilis) were some of the salads served.

Sopa (soup) was Linarang (Cebuano Hot and Sour Soup) made with fish and tomatoes and spices: onions, garlic, ginger and green chilli with a souring agent like camias or green mango. For some gentlemen who need the energy, the island of Cordova is the destination for a dose of Linarang nga bakasi. If your desire is the original recipe of Linarang, look for the book on Cebuano cuisine, Lagda sa Pagpanluto (1924) by Maria Fadullon Rallos.

Several carbohydrate sources were served including Rice Sinanduloy and Arroz Valenciana. The former reduces the rice used by the substitution of an alternate, sweet potato; while the latter dish is the Pinoy version of the Paella Valenciana. In reality, many Cebuanos would not eat the real paella because it has rabbit meat! 

For the main dishes (Sud-an), the following Cebuano specialties were some of the dishes that I tasted: Humba from Ronda, Kinamatisan na Buwad (Dried Fish with Tomato), Lechon Manok Bisaya from Dumanjug, Inun-onan, Afritada and Bam-I Noodles. And to complete the selection, the renowned Cebuano specialty, inasal nga baboy (Lechon from Carcar) was also available.

Once upon a time, before many of my favorite readers were born, I used to work as a veterinarian in a piggery farm located in Carcar and naturally, our pigs were among those that were transformed to the town’s specialty, lechon. This was available on a daily basis in the public market with the chicharrón carajay (pork cracklings). Because these two specialties do not come cheap, you need to have a robust economy to fuel the demand; regrettably, excess consumption also made some folks unable to reach retirement age.

The best dish served during the festival was the Bam-I Noodles and excuse me, I did miss the Rellenong Manok, one of my favorite dishes of all time.