Sunday, June 06, 2010

Cebu: Sizzling beef and pork pochero at Abuhan Dos


After hearing so much about this sizzling pochero from Cebu City, I finally got to try it out at Abuhan Dos. Pochero is actually the Cebuano term for bulalo. So what they actually serve is sizzling bulalo. You can order the pochero the regular way with soup. Beef Pochero comes in large (Php373) and medium (Php304) bowls. While a bowl of Pork Pochero is Php186.


The Sizzling Beef Pochero comes in large (Php384) and medium (Php315) servings. While the Sizzling Pork Pochero costs Php192. We got ourselves a sizzling plate each of beef and pork pochero which comes with a generous serving of mushroom sauce in a bowl. The pork pochero is better for me. It's actually recommended by the locals.

Also among the specialties of Abuhan Dos are Balbacua (Php165), a traditional Cebuano oxtail broth, Kare-kare (Php196), Callos (Php226), Lengua Estofada (Php226), Bicol Express (Php111) and Caldereta (Php226).

Abuhan Dos
176 F. Ramos Street, Cebu City

Bulacan: What can be called traditional Bulacan food?


Last week, I got invited to deliver a lecture at a Bulacan heritage food forum and cooking competition in Paombong, Bulacan. I was quite interested as to what can be considered traditional dishes of Bulacan. I was surprised to find out that there are some similarities between Pampanga and Bulacan when is comes to traditional food, particularly bringhi and the various frog dishes.



There was Batute, Adobong Palaka and Aligasin at Damuko sa Tuba. Bringhe ng Tagumpay is like the Pampanga bringhe although this one is wrapped in banana leaf cones that make servings good for one. Also on the table was Lumpia ng Kalayaan, Hamon Bulakenya and Asado de Carajay, On the seafood list was Nilasing na Hipon, Alimango sa Misua, and Alimango ng Hagonoy which are from the coastal towns of Bulacan.

What other traditional Bulacan dishes do you know of?

Pahiyas, Agawan and Mayohan, Quezon festivals for San Isidro Labrador


Quezon is known for the various festivals held in celebration of the feast of San Isidro Labrador. These are the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Agawan Festival in Sariaya and Mayohan Festival in Tayabas. We got to visit these three Quezon towns plus San Pablo, Laguna.



We visited the town of Sariaya first and marveled at their grand Art Deco mansions. Three of them were declared Heritage Houses by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, namely the Natalio Enriquez House, Rodriguez House and Gala-Rodriguez House.



The Sariaya Church and the different houses were all colorfully decorated with local produce and goodies for the agawan which would happen later in the day.



From Sariaya, we visited the Tayabas Basilica, a National Cultural Treasure. At about 3 p.m., a procession of the image of San Isidro Labrador makes its way around town. As the image passes by every house, suman or glutinous rice cakes, are hurled out the balconies and windows in the hundreds, causing a mad rush among the procession participants. The more you get, the more blessings for the family and the more suman to eat!


The Pahiyas Festival in Lucban is the most popular and no doubt, the most colorful of the three festivals. The procession of the image of San Isidro Labrador usually makes its way around town first thing in the morning at about 7:30 a.m.



Every year, the procession route changes. And only houses along the procession route are decorated. Usually, it takes about seven years before the procession passes by a house again. So that gives a household enough time to save resources and prepare for the colorful and ostentatious decorations that are an inherent part of the Pahiyas.

The afternoon is reserved for a lively parade that makes its way around town. But unfortunately, this parade has been invaded by not so subtle commercial advertising. Anyway, I'll talk about the delicious Southern Tagalog food we ate in another post.
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