Slow Food Manila in Bacolod

We often are recognized for being the Slow Food Manila community even if we do not have farmers in our midst, as we are all based in the metropolis.

- CHIT U. JUAN

But it is actually in Manila where the rubber meets the road — where ingredients from far away are included in menus across restaurants in the cities of Taguig, Makati and Alabang, to name a few. This is the melting pot where degustations are offered by our new chefs who have since been foraging to find ingredients that are not only fun to use, but memorable for many consumers. Who will not remember kamias, santol and langka as part of our new menus? When other restaurants offer Maine lobster and another can of caviar, our new young chefs offer the most exotic fruits, ferment tomatillos and papaya and offer adlai and etag like it is pancetta or prosciutto of yesteryears.

Recently we had a lunch event at Grace Park where we tasted the flavors of Batanes, a province still mysterious to many as it is not so easy to get to— you need to go during the right season and hopefully not get stranded. And at the event, the diners experienced Batanes specialties like dibang and Iujiis, versions of daing and adobo, which is not only survival cuisine but are foods that represent the taste and culture of the island. Lumis is present because a pig can be slaughtered and its meat kept in its own oil for a year. That is for survival when the harsh weather hits the island and no one can catch animals or slaughter them.