Cebu once again

The lure of Cebu never seems to end. And so it was that we were in the Queen City of the South for another exciting event, Cebu Goes Culinary 2008, held for two days at the Waterfront Hotel. It should be noted that the Chefs on Parade of a few years has now been replaced by a series of regional cook fests organized by the ‘younger’ ones or the new breed of culinary practitioners. Cebu is one of the venues, which hosts it every two years. The Manila organizers fly to all these places and coordinate with the local communities.

Our group, coming in on separate flights, landed at the Mactan airport full of anticipation and excitement as members of the panel of judges. Waterfront’s Marco who heads the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) and Isa, executive director of the event, attended to us along with the team of Joanna, Martin and Gino, of the Unilever Food Solutions (UFS), one of the sponsors.

We were actually there not only to examine the entries, but to encourage and inspire the participants, to enhance their skills and creativity. The theme was “A Celebration of Traditional Cuisines” and for two days we saw how professionals and students interpreted and adapted dishes of old to the current techniques and flavors. It was not a surprise that the fresh talents of the amateurs shone and even challenged the seasoned team. Hence, the University of San Jose-Recoletos garnered the most number of golds (we were particularly impressed with their “Heavenly Wedding” set up where they lavishly had the floor strewn with white rose petals, so the couple would literally be walking on clouds). Waterfront’s elegant black and red European formal setting was unanimously declared winner.

Down on the ground floor of the hotel was a food exhibition, consisting mostly of industrial equipment. We caught up with our friend Cherry who heads Equilibrium, whose products are Bialotti coffee makers, Café Mauro beans and the Torani line of flavored syrups. There were new coffee companies, Illy, Echonolux; Roundup Hotdog equipment and processed food exhibitor, Belgris, now ready with a variety of Christmas hams under the brand Tins.

In the course of our stay, we managed to drop in on two supermarkets, Save More at the new wing of E-Mall and Fooda. Pork belly costs P74 for half a kilo, ground pork at P82.50 and beef at P190. Eggs sell at P58 a dozen while prawns were at P550 a kilo. At E-Mall, we discovered that Julie’s Bake Shop has expanded to serving food, cafeteria-style. Of course we sat down for a while and had merienda. Fooda now has butterball turkey for P247.50 a kilo. Cebuanos might want to get what they need for Christmas now, before an expected price increase.

Finally, our search for the Belgian lace cookies ended when we met its creator, Lynn Moro at the culinary fest. This is a must as pasalubong. Cebu-based Lynn even offers to deliver wherever a client is billeted. Her number is 0917-622-0427. Her distributor in Manila is Sandra, cell number 0917-855-5502. This is one cookie no one should miss.

In the course of our stay, Plantation Bay manager Efren hosted a dinner for us. This thoughtful guy, aware of us having been satiated with much food at the competition, prepared a much welcome fare of refreshing soup, starter and a tender rib eye dish.

Back in the city where our sister Mila was to be feted with a sumptuous Chinese lauriat at White Gold on her birth anniversary, we checked in at the Park Lane International Hotel, a new place that must be considered when visiting Cebu. It is a stone’s throw away from the Ayala shopping center and business establishments. The lobby has that welcoming look, the staff are courteous, service is fast and efficient, the rooms are neat and bright. Breakfast buffet at Manuel’s comes with room accommodation. At lunch time, shortly before we headed for the airport, we ate at the same outlet. Happily, we found our Filipino favorites done very well – dinuguan and stewed goat meat, among others. Indeed a beautiful end to another Cebu week!

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