When celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain gave it his thumbs up (view the video clip here), the already popular Marjo’s pochero in Cebu City became even more sought after so its regulars were disappointed when it closed down in 2008. Missing that unique pochero taste that was uniquely Marjo’s, a group of friends prevailed upon the mother and son tandem behind the popular Cebuano dish to reopen, but this time at a spacious area along...

Read More

All photos by Boboi Costas The bakasi (saltwater eel) thrives abundantly in the town of Cordova, Mactan Island, a 45-minute drive from the city of Cebu. In taxonomic classification, eels belong to the Muranidae family which includes 200 species in 15 genera. In Buwagsong, Cordova, a local fishing community; the bakasi is a prized catch. Because Cordova’s tidal flats are mostly muddy and grassy, the bakasi is caught in abundance. It has...

Read More

  Torta is as Cebuano as inasal nga baboy (roasted pig). It is a cake made from flour, sugar, egg yolks, tuba (coconut toddy) and pork lard (mantika sa baboy). The tuba acts as fermenting agent, just like baking powder. The southern Cebu towns from Carcar to Boljoon make this cake so good that these are culinary mainstays in every fiesta. Eeach town has also a different take on this native cake.     Torta can be a dessert, or it...

Read More

The secret to the delicious biko of Aloguinsan is the way it is cooked. Ordinarily, biko is cooked in covered pans until it is ready to be served. In Aloguinsan, the biko is transferred to an oven to give it a flavorful finish. The result is a texture that is not so soft and yielding and yet, with a certain consistency that’s just right to the bite.     Aloguinsan taro balls are made from gabing tuod which grow in profusion in...

Read More

A makeshift oven made of wood, galvanized iron sheet, and rebar — heated by burning dried coconut husks — churns out bread by the dozen along a roadside in Cebu’s midwestern town of Aloguinsan. The roadside stall sells two kinds of bread, pan bisaya and salvaro, of a recipe handed down through generations of the Dayanan family. A loaf of each costs five pesos. Anunciacion Dayanan, who will turn 75 in March, started selling...

Read More