A Most Delicious Ube Jam

We have just had eight glorious days of sand, sea and sun in Eastern Visayas, specifically Cebu and Bohol. For foodies, here is good news: Bohol is ube (they spell it as ubi) country and among the most enterprising women of Tagbilaran city is someone who produces the most delicious ube jam. The very creamy concoction is a cross between mousse and ice cream, so smooth and not too sweet. Had we not gone to the residence of the very hospitable Tony and Deny Uy, we would have missed a dessert we most love. Elizabeth Chua is her name and she works at home, producing not only jam but pastillas and tarts as well. The jam was entered in the recently-held Ubi Festival (which we missed by a day) but was eased out of the top prize because of its rather high price. Elizabeth might now want to look at Manila as a market.

Bohol offers a lot of delicious kakanins, hitherto undiscovered, using their own produce like coconut, milk (from coconut as well), glutinous rice, corn, peanuts and yes, ubi. Thus, prepare yourself for endless sampling of all their goodies. At the home of Cora Galbraith, we were served a trio of suman-type snacks–pintos which is made of ground corn wrapped in corn husks, thus sealing the flavor; alupe, made of ground rice and young coconut and budbud, very much like the antala of Laguna. They cost so little, P2 per, and are readily available in the markets. Boholanos have a good selection of offerings using peanuts, such as mani con crema, crispy sticks, choco-peanut cookies–all in attractive boxes. Prices range from less than P20 to P45.

Tagbilaran city is very clean (why can’t Luzon and the rest of the country be like it?). Even the Emerald River is free of the usual empty bottles, plastic bags, etc. that we find in bodies of water here in Manila and its environs. The public market is dry and neat. The vendors are friendly. Prices are generally lower–tenderloin at P140 a kilo, spare ribs at P85, shrimps at P120, red onions at P60 and tomatoes at P30. Practically every place in Bohol is by the water, such as the MR Restaurant where they serve the flavorful fish head they call tinola, sweetish crabs (lambay), kinilao and lumot (seaweed salad). To enjoy it more, you need to eat with your hands! Of the 50 resorts in Panglao, Alona Tropical serves "internationalized" dishes, concocted by owner Frank Montero. They grow the unique green señorita bananas.

In Cebu, we joined the frenetic Sinulog, which sadly has been commercialized. Visiting delegations with lots of funding ran away with the top prizes in the traditional offering parade, easing out the "locals"‚ who were less moneyed but did have some of the best presentations as well.

We never fail to visit our favorite eating places in Cebu and therefore lunch at one time was at the Laguna Garden Cafe in the Ayala Center where owner Lita Urbina served us the best beef nilaga, lumpiang hubad (ubod) and crispy ampalaya salad, among others. Cowrie Grill has changed ownership and management which innovated on the original daing na bangus with coconut cream. They poured some bagoong alamang, which to us was more of a flavor confusion than enhancement.

At the Crossroads Mall in Banilad where our sister Mila brought us, we discovered Krua (Kitchen) Thai. The very entertaining assistant restaurant manager Cedric Tumulak III gave us a most soothing Thai tea after a delicious meal of the traditional phad thai and crispy fish. They sell goodies from Bangkok including vari-flavored candies like tamarind guava, mango and cantaloupe, ranging from P75 half a kilo to P150 a kilo packs.

Two readers aired their complaints via e-mail . Two ladies felt intimidated by the overbearing security guards at Robinsons Big R and found it odd that they were asked for IDs when they tried to claim raffle stubs. A family dining at the newly-opened Kusina ni Maria at the Festival Mall were not served all the food they ordered and felt they did not get value for their money in the very tiny portions. Should the establishments want to contact them, we can supply the names on request.

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Lydia D. Castillo’s e-mail address: [email protected]