Suroy suroy, kaon kaon sa sugbo

CEBU, Philippines - There were many warnings. In fact, an officemate joked that I should weigh myself before and after the event to see the effects. I told them I will just practice self control but they laughed off my strong reserve saying it is impossible to resist.

It was my first Suroy Suroy and I was really excited. I have heard many stories about the tour. I heard that it is tiring but exciting, that you will get to meet many tourists and that you will get to taste the delicacies of the different municipalities or cities in the province.

I received a lot of tips from officemates who have joined other Suroy Suroy in the past and received warnings, too. The tips were mainly about what to bring to the tour and the warnings were mostly about food, lots of food. You see, I have been trying to go on a diet since a long time ago, but my job at the Lifestyle Section just isn’t for someone who is dieting. So I have been putting off my diet for sometime and finally resolved that I will start to be serious about it in 2010. And voila! My first assignment for the year was the Suroy Suroy Sugbo Southern Heritage Trail!

The Suroy Suroy Sugbo is a tourism initiative of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia. It aims to bring busloads of tourists to historical, cultural and natural attractions in the different municipalities of the province. The Suroy Suroy Sugbo Southern Heritage Trail last January 20 to 22 covered 22 of the province’s 44 municipalities and seven cities.

The first Suroy Suroy for 2010 and the 22nd tour since it started in 2005, the Southern Heritage Trail was the biggest tour so far with over 300 participants. A total of 5 tourist buses and several coasters and vans transported balikbayans and local tourists to the different treasures in the south.

While the suroy, or literally “going around” to the different sights in the province is the highlight of the tour, one important component of the activity is the gastronomical adventure that participants go through at every stop. Can you imagine the 22 stops made in this Southern Heritage Trail?!

The Suroy Suroy trail is overflowing with delicious and unique yet simple food. Piniritong kamote, linung-ag nga saging ug ginamos, sinugbang isda, humba, linarang, puto balanghoy, are among the foodstuffs served by the different municipalities along the trail.

Although the food served is simple, you will see though that each municipality really puts an effort to prepare the best that they can offer. My companions at the media van said that the municipalities compete with one another on matters concerning food! There are even some mayors, my media companions said, who check the food served by other towns along the trail so his or her town could prepare something more special.

The Suroy Suroy breakfast trail usually consists of budbud, sikwate and manga, bam-i, buwad, chorizo, puso and lechon, among others. While queuing at the buffet tables, I heard a tourist squeal with glee, “Hala! Naay buwad. Kalami!”

Morning and afternoon snacks in the Suroy Suroy trail consists of piniritong camote, banana-Q, binignit, linung-ag nga saging ug ginamos, puto balanghoy, torta from Argao, budbud, sikwate and manga, puto, kutchinta, saksak, linusak and anagon, among others.

While snacking on puto balanghoy in Santander, Crescencia Escalante Ruiz, who is now based in Quebec, Canada, shared that native food from Cebu is “the best.” “I am from Argao and it has been such a long time since I have tasted this (puto balanghoy). The food here is really delicious. Like the chorizo, we were given chorizo by friends while in Canada but the chorizo here is really lami,” she said.

Siblings Boboy Reyes, Grace Aguilar and Josephine Perez, a balikbayan, sat on the grass in Argao’s plaza, picnic style, while snacking on torta and fresh buko juice.

Lunches and dinners are also feasts with puso, lechon, escabeche, humba, inasal nga manok bisaya, kinilaw, sinugba, kaldereta, dinuguan, talaba, pasayan and other seafood.

Travel time between stops/municipalities or cities is only between 15 to 30 minutes but it is really a wonder that all tourists, most often than not, get off their buses to eat, with gusto at that, to the delight of the host towns. Just imagine that all the lechon served in the different towns, including the 14 served in the last stop, Talisay City, were devoured to the bones!

Mayor Yvonne Cabaron of Moalboal said it is always fulfilling for a host municipality to see the participants of the Suroy Suroy satisfied, gastronomically. “The preparations for the Suroy Suroy are a community effort. Everyone contributes, so everyone is happy when our visitors leave our town satisfied,” she said.

So, that was my first Suroy Suroy. I never knew that riding on and getting off a van and eating at an average of eight stops a day can be sooo tiring. And, by the way, I gained a pound. See you in the next Kaon Kaon, er, Suroy Suroy Sugbo!

(Photos Credits: Quennie S. Bronce and Capitol Photographer Jac Velasco)