ILONGGO FOOD BEYOND ‘BATCHOY’ AND KBL
Western Visayas cuisine takes center stage at Manila Hotel’s Café Ilang-Ilang this August
Chef Rafael “Tibong” Jardeleza Jr. said that the best Ilonggo food can be found on the street and not in fancy places. This is the truth. It’s not uncommon to find a makeshift stall in the middle of the mountain just serving halo-halo and batchoy.
There are some places, like Barangay Walang in Lambunao, Iloilo, where you can find a family making the most delicious empanada and fresh lumpia using meat and vegetables grown in the town. These delicacies can only be had in the morning, and before family members go out and sell it in different nearby markets.
Inihaw na pantat is best found in the municipality of Zarraga, where you can have the tastiest grilled catfish. In San Miguel, you can find spots where they roast native chicken every day for a more flavorful alternative to the broiler chicken.
There are carinderias serving tinuom in Cabatuan town. Tinuom is made of native chicken with onions, tomatoes and lemon grass, wrapped in banana leaves. It is steamed until the chicken is cooked and broth builds up inside the leaves. Jardeleza said that it is similar to chiken binakol. It is a simple dish packed with layers of flavor, the umami of tomatoes bringing out the dis
tinct savory taste of the chicken. It is something that must be had before you head to the airport or after you buy your pasalubong.
Simplicity
A jeepney ride from Iloilo City can take you to Arevalo, where you can find the famous restaurant Breakthrough. They offer a lot of seafood, but my mother taught me to check if they have the angel wing clams, locally known as diwal (which in Ilonggo means to put your tongue out). It was from her that I learned to appreciate it because of its seasonality.
Ilonggo food revels in its simplicity. It takes pride in its fresh ingredients, sourced from its water and land. Laswa, for example, when done correctly, can turn leftover fish into a hearty soup dish. The word translates to vegetables. It can be any vegetable, but lupo or Sessile Joyweed makes it special. It sometimes grows wild on the edges of rice fields.
This is what Jardeleza is trying to encapsulate in the month-long offering of Café Ilang-Ilang in Manila Hotel. The buffet restaurant celebrates Western Visayas cuisine with the renowned chef from Jaro at its helm.
“Ilonggo food has more than a about ka), said. cuisine: have hundred He batchoy its KBL continued “Each own recipes. (kadyos, or offering, pancit household to It baboy, describe is Molo,” not but lang- will just the it’s he ple, in Roxas, instead of batuan, similar they ing ingredient. will to use everybody’s. kamias They as use For the what exam- sour- is available Jardeleza in the added area.” that Ilonggo cuisine cause the is ingredients a heritage have cuisine stayed betrue to their origin.
“Our vegetables from years ago are still there. Our tambo, takway, iba have been there since before I was born. If you are too lazy to cook at home, you can go out to any carinderia and you will find what you are craving for,” he said.
This is what the buffet offers—a chance to taste the offerings of Western Visayas without having to fly there and travel from one town to the next to try dishes that have gone under the radar all these years. The ingredients fresh diversity Visayas. every of the Jardeleza every week for region’s He of the day. the is to also changing buffet dishes offering. cover emphasized are in a the Western flown fraction Tinuom menu the in will some a served also ed version in make make weeks. the on its of rotation an special Valenciana, way paella appearance. to occasions, are and the Guimaras buffet typically which Includ- will on is Mango KBL, Efuven, tofado, Laswa, with Bitchuelas, Beef Ginamos Pancit Morcon, Sopa Molo, Lengua sa Tulapo, de Pancit Ajo, EsFabada, Paella Negra Kinilaw with na Chiperones Tanguigue, and Canonigo. Batchoy They ice cream Ice curiously Cream, topped have which with La is noodles, Paz vanilla of sweet leeks and and savory chicharon. goes The surpris- mix ingly They well. also serve bingka inspired by the ones found outside Jaro Cathedral on Sundays. View the limited offering as an introduction to Western Visayas cooking, a gateway to explore more cuisine.