NEGROS ORIENTAL: Foodtrip and Pasalubong

The eastern half of Negros Island has some specialties to offer, some of which owes to sugar industry where lands used to be tilled. Here are some treat you can take home from this province:

1. Sans Rival

The pride of Dumaguete, this pastry is made basically of meringue sandwiched with cream and butter and showered with cashew nuts. Sliced akin to loaves of bread, this light dessert is perfect with coffee to satisfy your buttery cravings. I took a slice and at first bite, the cream seeps in to your taste buds as it was served chilled. I finished the slice in a minute and felt like I want to ask for more. However, I need to try the second item.

2. Silvana

This sister of sans rival is a cookie made also of meringue but filled with butter and cream. It is chewier and best eaten chilled, closer to ice cream sandwich. Once you took a bite, you won’t stop to take or eat a box of these. I’ve tasted ones from Nueva Ecija and guaranteed their milky goodness. Can’t help to take more but I have to buy other delicacies as well.

3. Budbod Kabog

This rolled millet rice cake from Tanjay City is their specialty. Millet, a kind of round grain is made into these sticky cakes and a common staple for breakfast in public markets in Negros. There rice cakes are more expensive than common glutinous rice varieties but the texture is different. The taste varies as it is not too sweet, perfect with a slice of ripe mangoesf and chocolate drink for a fulfilling breakfast.

4. Inato Pecho

Visayans have several ways of grilling chicken like inasal and inato. Lately I found out that Dumaguete is the birthplace of famous Jo’s Chicken Inato. This barbecue, grilled to a tender-juicy crisp, is marinated in a special sauce for its aromatic flavor, and served with atchara or picked papaya. Their single serving is big enough to make you full. Couple with unlimited rice, I enjoyed every bite and left nothing but little inedible chicken bones.

5. Barquiron

Barquiron is a fusion of two delicacies: barquillos (wafer rolls) and polvoron (powdered milk candy). Polvoron is put in every wafer roll and packed. The taste is light as sweetness of polvoron overpowers the plain flavor if barquillo. It is a perfert pasalubong for people who enjoy these two-treats-in-one package.