‘Makaon ta’

People in Manila who have no time to go to the province or have no province to trace their roots to will have to contend themselves with what my wife Mary Ann often calls mestizo (hilaw or half-cooked) food. Even during my carefree days at UP Diliman during the 1970s, I remember my classmates turning green with envy every Friday afternoon when I’d go home to Pampanga for the weekend. "Buti ka pa, meron kang inuuwian na probinsiya," they’d sigh wishfully. And I, on the other hand, wished I could stay for the weekend to go party with them. But I guess that’s life. You simply cannot have everything. One offsets the other.

And that is why when a known and much respected cook from the province goes to Manila to showcase his cooking, it is one food trip that should not be missed, lest you can afford to fly to the guest chef’s hometown just to try his specialties.

InterContinental Manila Café Jeepney recently brought in Maridel Uygongco of the Amigo Terrace Hotel in Iloilo City to show city folks the best of Ilonggo cuisine. She has a passion for Ilonggo traditional cooking and prepares and cooks the dishes the way they were cooked in the past. With all her research work, Maridel is already an authority on Ilonggo cuisine. The food promo was titled "Makaon ta! (Let’s eat)" and indeed you would do just that: eat, eat and eat more.

Iloilo is a place where the cuisine reflects not only the province’s coastal terrain but also the famously hospitable sweet nature of the Ilonggos. It is known for its signature dishes, like batchoy, pancit molo, rabanos ensalada with crispy lobo-lobo dilis, binacol na manok, kalkag rice (dried baby shrimps), adobo manok stuffed in banana, estofado dila, ohong guisado (mushrooms sautéed with patola and shrimps), kadios baboy langka, pancit efuven, inasal manok kag baboy, tilapia adobado and caldereta, to cite a few. And bounties from the sea abound like sirom-sirom or black marlin, diwal or angel wings clams, managat or red snapper, malasugui or swordfish, prawns, and scallops: all simply grilled or made into a soup with ginger, just like the food I grew up with in Pampanga — simple and uncomplicated.

By the time you read this, the successful promo is unfortunately over, but it’s worth writing about our experience. Since you can no longer go to Café Jeepney to try the glorious food, just read on and wish that the Intercon do an encore.

If you ask me, I’d say you must imagine trying a little of everything. But if in case your appetite is not as big as my Darleng’s (oh, she will punish me for this) or your stomach is not as big as mine, these are the dishes you must not miss. Maridel’s batchoy has the usual pork meat, liver, intestines, pig’s placenta called biga-biga in Ilonggo, and generous amount of fried garlic and chicharon. The biga-biga may be the one that gives it the barrio taste, says Mary Ann. It was meant as a complement as opposed to the mestizo taste one gets in malls and Ilonggo restaurants in the metropolis.

After the authentic batchoy, head straight for the barbecue obre. It may look like your regular barbecue, but it is not. It is the pig’s mammary glands and never have we tried it before. It is quite uncommon even in the streets of Iloilo. Someone at our table urged us to try it, but only after Mary Ann assured me I shall not develop boobs that I became brave inside (pun intended lumakas ang loob) and tried a stick. I know the thought of downing this part of the pig sounds yucky to the unaccustomed. But how did it taste? "Beyond words. It’s just too wonderful. Soft, delicate and rich are not sufficient words. Parang taba ng baboy. Nandoon yong linamnam pero wala yung sawa," chorused several diners. My tip is to ask them to grill it till it has black spots, because then you will have crispy bites that melt in the mouth.

Then to relax your palate from all these rich innards, take a roll of the lumpiang ubod. Its very clean taste and garlicky flavor would prepare your taste buds for the next assault. I am not shy to say that I had three of these rolls and Mary Ann had two. Well, they were just small really (palusot pa!).

Now, get a few of the diwal or angel wing clams (if available on the day you visit). These are only available in Capiz and Iloilo and are very seasonal. They were grilled as is without a sauce and its flavor came solely from its natural sweetness. Mary Ann, who prefers her shellfish steamed rather than grilled, vowed to have them steamed on her next visit.

Now your taste buds have been cleansed like you have not eaten a thing yet. You can now attack rich food without feeing saturated. And what do I recommend you to eat now? What else but the stuffed lechon, flown all the way from Iloilo. Crispy, crunchy, tasty, and aromatic of the lemongrass it was stuffed with, as what one would expect from a lechon of the Ilonggos.

And what would I say you eat your lechon with? Mary Ann to my surprise recommends the Ohong Guisado (mushrooms sautéed with patola and shrimps). She is not fond of vegetables, but she was raving about this dish. I, on the other hand, liked the laswa, which is sautéed alugbati (a lowland watercress with violet stems) with dried shrimp or alamang.

Burp. Excuse me. And when you are finally ready for dessert, make sure to try the papaya flowers. These were not only beautiful but yummy, too. Fresh green papaya was sliced so thinly, candied with white sugar syrup, and rolled into a flower while filling it with yemas in the center. We had one each, and Mary Ann, who likes tupig very much, instantly liked the bibingka sa mohon, and had second helpings of bukayo mani (peanut brittle clusters).

By now, you would imagine we were ready to get up and leave the table. When I said, "Tara na," my Darleng hesitated and whispered if she could have a second of her first course, the batchoy.

"Yes," I said, "but you are not going through all the dishes again, are you?’

"May I? Will they charge me double if I do?" she asked in a deadpan manner. Where she puts it all is beyond me.

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InterContinental Manila Café Jeepney serves buffet-style for lunch and dinner Monday to Sunday. Always check for interesting food promos. For inquiries, call 815-9711.