Pilmico baking tilt puts new twist to traditional breads
Residents from the coastal town of Balayan in Batangas live the sweet life.
Home to major sugar manufacturer Batangas Sugar Central, Inc., it is no surprise that even the town’s breads are tinged with a sweet flavor, memorable even to outsiders.
“I remember this ‘Balayan Bakery,’ they have this hot pandesal being sold all day long,” shares Roy Tabocolde, a 21-year-old baking enthusiast from Iloilo City, referring to a hometown establishment whose owner was a native of Balayan, Batangas.
“It was so special that people would wait for 30 minutes just to get their pandesal, I could still remember the sweetness of their pandesal and have never tasted anything near to their version,” said school mate Greegy Cabarrubias, noting how Balayan Bakery gave Ilonggos a different “twist” on the traditional Filipino pandesal.
Roy went on to study at St. Therese-MTC Colleges La Fiesta in Iloilo City, but he never forgot the taste of the Balayan Bakery breads.
Together with Greegy, Roy went on to join and win last year’s Tinapay Natin Pinoy Bread Baking Competition, a nationwide baking contest organized by Aboitiz food business unit Pilmico in partnership with Max’s Corner Bakery.
The baking tilt celebrates local bread creations and strengthens pride of local produce.
No doubt, Balayan’s unique pandesal--sweeter and tastier than usual--was on Roy’s mind as they concocted their original breads that offered a modern take on well-loved food items: Caramel Sesame Roll, Cagayan de Oro Pastel, and Cream Cheese Ensaymada.
“When we tested the recipes that we submitted to the competition, we envisioned it to be a specialty of the house. One that can be taken as a pasalubong, a merienda or a potluck treat for any social gathering,” Greegy said.
Roy and Greegy have since graduated from college, finishing their final year as scholars, and their Caramel Sesame Roll, Cagayan de Oro Pastel, and Cream Cheese Ensaymada are now being sold as special edition items at Max’s Corner Bakery branches nationwide (until October), with partial sales going to Roy and Greegy and their chosen charity.
This year, bakers, hobbyists, and even baking enthusiasts will now have the chance to join the second installment of Tinapay Natin.
First launched in 2016 among culinary students all over the country, this year’s Tinapay Natin now includes non-professional home bakers who wish to share their own bread stories.
Last year, 12 bakers from all over the country made it to the competition’s regional semi-finals round.
Similar to last year, this year’s Tinapay Natin invites bakers all over the Philippines to create a beloved traditional bread, and their own version of a modern bread. Apart from the participants’ technical skills, the individual stories of their bread entries will be an important component in selecting this year’s winner.
“The entries that we received from last year’s
Tinapay Natin competition opened our eyes to the many colorful stories that go with each bread product, and this is a testament of how rich our local bread culture is. We hope that with this competition, we are able to encourage the public to keep the bread-making tradition alive, and of course, to support the local bread industry just as much as we and Max’s Corner Bakery do,” said Tristan Aboitiz, chief operating officer of Pilmico.
“It is our hope that through this competition, our young participants will be able to share the unique story of their bread creations. We want to know the inspiration, the struggles, and the hard work put into making it,” said Ariel Fermin, chief operating officer at Max’s Corner Bakery.
This year’s Tinapay Natin will run from July to October, with the regional semi-finals taking place in Baguio, Bacolod, and Davao Cities.
The winning breads will be awarded cash prizes during the grand finals in Metro Manila in November, and will be made available through Max’s Corner Bakery nationwide as a limited offering.
Pilmico is the integrated agribusiness and food company of the Cebu-based Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.