BY JEREMY C. MALCAMPO
Though most Pinoy gourmands criticize Davao cuisine as something that always goes with liquor, or something you eat to help kill time because the natives prefer their fish and meat sinugba (charcoal grilled), boiled or roasted with ginger and tanglad (lemon grass), I believe otherwise. I do believe—behind all the Sinuglaw fad which roots from classical to contemporary Filipiniaña culinary history—that Davao food is so diverse and good, it takes a lifetime to rationalize and answer the question why they love Durian, and why Davao women are extremely special.
For one, the Davao people’s treatment of food, like the fresh bounties of the sea (tanigue, kitong, tuna), is geared towards preserving natural flavors. Whether we like it or not, a hearty tanigue meat, tuna panga (jaw) or tuna belly are at their best when treated with just the most basic culinary requirement (the most important element in cooking) which is plain heat.
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1. Guprito nga Tilapia with Mago Ginger
Sauce
2. Kinilaw na Barilis
3. Bola Bola Puso ng Saging | | Perhaps, all types of meat really reincarnate as food for humanity when grilled. They are four times more flavorful and aromatic with all essential oils enhanced. When grilled atop charcoal, meat becomes tastier as salinity (natural chloric acids) doubles, and high and low-lypo fatty acids fuse together, making it good enough to please both the palate and our olfactory sense. Of course, there’s the aged Sukang Tuba, and Sasa (sap) that are romantically fermented through years and years of storage in Tapayan clay jars, and big glassware with garlic, onions, pepper, pork fat oil, and heavily infused with chili peppers.
My last Davao food adventure was well over two years ago, and I had forgotten how good Davao food can be. It was precisely to reacquaint myself with the goodness of Davao cuisine that just recently I found myself, together with a few colleagues and friends, at the Hotel Intercon in Makati City giving support to Chef Manuel "Paddy" Lascano’s Davao Food Festival which highlighted a superior buffet line of modern and authentic Davao cuisine.
When I arrived at the Jeepney Restaurant of the Hotel Intercon, I found my mentor, Chef Gene Gonzalez, giving detailed instructions to a chef at the rotisserie station about properly grilling a tuna panga to his preference; while asking another member of the staff for a minute serving of Oding or Udong (a Filipinized dish of the Japanese Udon). In the next table, my mentor’s sous chef, together with Café Breizh owner Chef Paul Tee of Davao, was signaling me for an early, afternoon drink.
After Chef Paddy was formally introduced to me, I went to check the Oding or Udong station. I was asked by one of the interns who participated in the festival if I wanted to try a sample serving, and I replied yes. She sautéed some chopped garlic and onions in oil and put in about two tablespoons of fresh pork liver slices until they changed in color. She added some herbs and put in some flour-and-egg-based noodles with some kinayod coconut meat. The coconut meat extended its internal oils and turned the concoction into a creamy dish, timely perfect for seasoning with salt and pepper.
While she plated it, I proceeded to the grill station. I asked for a serving of marinated, fresh liempo slices and a single order of tuna panga for grilling. When I tried everything with steamed rice and a dip made out of suka at sili, the food was so good I was convinced to try out everything that the food festival had to offer.
While Chef Paddy was giving some lectures on Davao food history to the rest of the guests at our table, I signaled to my mentor’s sous chef to join me in choosing some more examples of Davao food to try out.
As we stepped into the casserole area, and the fry station, he recommended the Guprito nga Tilapia with Mango Ginger Sauce, which was fried to a superb crispiness. The mango ginger sauce was bliss; it was a basic amalgamation of aroma and contrasting tastes. It was really very good and as far as I know Chef Paddy is renowned for this amazing Davao dip. I then got some pieces of fried Puso ng Saging Bola Bola, which had some reddish outer-burn, and tasted meaty in umami. I enjoyed them with the mango ginger dip, as well.
After lunch, my stomach still had some room for Sea Urchin Roe Salad, fried garlic stewed pork belly, Manuk Kiarehan, and some Cassava Dumplings with Durian Cream for dessert. Needless to say, I left the food festival well-sated and intending to come back. Incidentally, the Davao Food Festival at the Hotel Intercon is until March 31.
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