Testing

Slow Food Negros:
Heritage Food Stays Afloat

Without sounding biblical, the Ark of Taste of Slow Food International is a repository of heritage food ingredients created to preserve them against extinction. According to a press release from Slow Food Negros, there are several Negrense ingredients registered in the ark, among them, the Darag Chicken (our native chicken), Adlai, Batwan, Marang, Kadios, Warty Pig, and Criolla Cacao.

Slow Food Negros takes inspiration from Slow Food International, an organization founded by Italian Carlos Petrini in the late 1980s. Its website shares, “Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us.” (www.slowfood.com)



From Oct. 30, 2020, to April 2021, the slow food movement will celebrate the Terra Salone del Gusto in Turin, Italy. The press release said, advocates from 160 countries come together in this biennial event to learn from talks as well as exhibits. Times have changed but the commitment remains. Notwithstanding the pandemic, many topics reminiscent of long-held traditions will be revisited in virtual talks, including preserving food sources, seeds endemic to particular places, and traditional farming practices. Reena Gamboa, Slow Food Negros president, says, “I am a farmer myself, and I do realize the importance of taking care of earth’s blessings and going back to the basics. Food production is taken for granted and farmers always get the least attention in this world of digitalization and information technology.”



 

That’s about to change. This time Terra Madre will be on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram running talks and events, exploring traditional food possibilities under the theme, “Our Food, Our Planet, Our Future”.

In step with the times the press release said, “…preservation of local food cultures and traditions is important not only for historical and sociological purposes but also for a balanced local biodiversity and food security in our nation. This COVID pandemic is an opportunity to open the eyes of our fellow Filipinos in nurturing plants and animals that are indigenous to our country.”

 A kitchen serves up Negrense heritage



The new normal has started. It is a world where people step out with caution and awareness and responsibility. A world quite unlike our get-up-and-go carefree ways just lived months ago. Come to think of it, the wisdom to embrace challenges and innovate has been a hallmark of Negrense resilience through crises over centuries. And while this pandemic might be a heavier burden to pull, trust Negrenses to find their emotional tug, inhale, and heave-ho.

In Negros, a house teeming with heritage, from the front door to the kitchen, is making a unique mark in this countryside restaurant landscape. The historic Casa A. Gamboa in Silay City, Negros Occidental, has opened its doors to intimate group dining reservations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all meals in-between. Its veteran kitchen, repository of cooking secrets admired through the years, is again abuzz.



 

Once visited by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the house and its sprawling garden, Jardin de Alicia, were built in 1939 by Aguinaldo Severino Gamboa and his wife, Dr. Alicia Lucero Gamboa. Its Old World charm lends to soulful, hearty, even nostalgic dishes, many coming out of heritage recipes. For years too, Jardin de Alicia has played host to the annual Adobo Festival. While the event has been temporarily put on hold due to the pandemic, a menu of delectable, insightful adobo dishes is to be expected in the offering.





 

The food experience begins with a painstakingly designed table setting that, by itself, is a feast for the eyes. Reservations are requested three days in advance so guests can plan their meals using farm-fresh, market-fresh ingredients in season. The menu is specially put together by the family matriarch who holds nothing but the highest standards in quality and taste. It is then meticulously executed by a seasoned kitchen staff.

For everyone’s health and peace of mind, Casa A. Gamboa accepts reservations from four to 15 guests only. Masks and shields are required, and guests may choose to dine at the open balcony, the airy dining room, or al fresco out in the garden, should the weather permit. Those who wish to experience dining on heritage cuisine straight out of a heritage home may visit its Facebook Page, Casa A. Gamboa.

Text by Alan S. Gensoli. Photos courtesy Reena Gamboa.

 The art of reaching out



The historic Casa A. Gamboa in Silay City, Negros Occidental, the house built by Aguinaldo Severino Gamboa and his wife Dr. Alicia Lucero Gamboa in 1939, will host the Food for the Soul bazaar, set for the third week of November 2020, according to a press release from Casa A. Gamboa.

Food for the Soul will be a two-day bazaar aimed to provide artists and craft folk who lost livelihoods due to the pandemic, with a venue where they can present their creations and generate needed income. The event will observe proper health protocols and will be done in an outdoor setting.



Jardin de Alicia, the sprawling gardens at Casa A. Gamboa, will be transformed into a curated bazaar with discerning criteria. Tastefully done booths will be provided for artisans and artists who will pass stringent curation criteria. The event will be an exposition and exhibition of artisanal ware and cuisine that are unique and novel, embracing Negros culture and heritage.

In addition to providing opportunity for artisans and artists to exhibit and sell their creations, the press release also said that Feed our Souls aims to feed the local community a feast of homegrown artistry, creativity, and superior craftsmanship to appreciate. Thus, the act of “feeding souls” will happen both ways.

Food for the Soul is scheduled for Nov. 20-21, 2020. For details check the Facebook Page Casa A. Gamboa.

Tales of Sugarlandia presented by Don Papa Rum
Episode 2:  Heritage Kitchens of Sugarlandia

For generations families in Sugarlandia have passed down and protected recipes in their private kitchens.  Host and “Man on the Ground” Ben Scharlin gains access to some of the most famous private kitchens in Sugarlandia to talk with the descendents, chefs, and business owners who have been custodians of these heritage foods and recipes.   In this episode we explore heritage recipes and kitchens of Sugarlandia.

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaJP6-fVb2w

Production Credits:
Writer, Producer, Host:  Ben Scharlin
Production Company: Aim High Productions and UnitA Creatives
Presented by: Bleeding Heart Rum Company

Special Thanks To:
Keeno Locsin
Nora Lacson
Cindy Belleza
Mark Sanchez
Joman Lopez
Sylvia Golez

Location Links:
Emma Lacson's Delicacies: https://www.facebook.com/emmalacsonsdelicacies
El Ideal Bakery:  https://www.facebook.com/EL-IDEAL-Bakery-157423434580
18th St. Pala Pala:  https://www.facebook.com/18thpalapala
Melkens Seafood Restaurant:  https://www.facebook.com/Melkens-Seafood-Restaurant-129816017822588

A cocktail of sugarcane juice, rum, and dalandan, spiked with batwan, native darag chicken skewers, locally sourced cheeses, hams, and nuts.

The grazing table is not new. It dates back to medieval times and is now making a comeback in this century, big time. In Negros, where locals would rather be served than be herded to the buffet table to queue, grazing is a welcome option. The shabby chic styling of the table is a magnet to the senses. It is sophisticated yet cozy. It says abundance, harvest time, fiesta at the hacienda! The tablescape lends well to the landscape.

Chef Mia saw the connection and quickly turned the grazing table into an indigenous Negrense concept. She included traditional food and local ingredients wherever doing so would raise eyebrows in pleasant surprise. Basic elements, like the crudité platter and the charcuterie board, are given higher calling, not just to feed but to feed with a mission.

In Chef Mia’s crudité selection one will find locally sourced vegetables, after all, we have land to plant them so there is no reason to bring them in from outside. Homegrown cucumbers and carrots and singkamas (jicama) are lent artisanal air with dips rich in organic herbs.

Chef Mia Lizares Gonzaga

Meanwhile, her charcuterie board always carries a variety of nuts but also the favorite Talisay peanuts, wedges of cheese from Murcia, cold cuts from butchers who raise their own livestock, native darag chicken skewers, fruits in season, and rustic bread baked fresh from the chef’s “pugon”. For sure there’ll be something on Chef Mia’s table that’s not from the neighborhood, but when 65% are local, you can imagine the impact she makes on backyard farmers and micro-entrepreneurs, not to mention reducing her carbon footprint.

Text by Alan S. Gensoli. Photos courtesy of KusinaMia.

The chef is not quite done. In-between the basic elements she inserts her “manuglibod” basket. The manuglibod is an itinerant food vendor who carries her offerings on a round basket tray. And from that Chef Mia takes inspiration to include local sweets and snacks on her grazing table, like fresh lumpia ubod, panara, piyayas, cassava and rice cakes, and dalandan jelly candies. To wash them all down, that sugarcane-rum-dalandan cocktail with a kick of batwan. How Negrense is that?