Tantalizing Scents

If you don't think about it, you won't realize that, common as they are, local dishes like humba, la-uya, sikwate and biko take on new meaning when eaten in Cagayan de Oro City.  You just have to know where to find the cooks who make them the most delicious. 

Eight of us newly graduated tour guides - Eper, Gen, Ying, Rob, Spy, Duane (Spy's son), Girlie and myself - took it upon ourselves to explore the culinary treats of Cogon Market. 

Now, before I proceed, let me explain what exactly is Cogon Market.  It is but the largest public market in the city, having just been renovated from a sprawling mini-city made of flamable materials a few years back, to a three-story concrete jungle (jumble), sometimes jokingly called the Superferry.  Why jumble?  Because unlike the organized sprawl it was before, the different vendors (of meat, vegetables, fruits, fish, flowers, cooked food, rice, general merchandise, etc.) are now packed together haphazardly into the crowded space of the ground floor, with hardly enough room between each one to pass through.  So traversing the path in search for the recommended eatery this morning was, in itself, an experience for the senses.

We entered the building from the west side (across from the old Gaisano Center) and immediately, the odor of freshly slaughtered pork and beef met our nostrils, not to mention the sight of different shades of red hanging from nails or lying on slats of wood or tile in an effort to attract buyers.  Then, if that wasn't enough to turn us away, we had moved into the dried fish section, complete with the smell of... well, dried fish.  Then, without warning, we were suddenly in the eatery section, with all kinds of specialties up for grabs.  There was a number of halal (Muslim) places and a few interesting choices, but we were on a mission.  I'm sure none of us had had our breakfast and we were all anticipating the sweet-salty flavor of the highly-recommended humba (a popular Filipino pork dish) we had heard about during our seminar.  At last, we found it -- Humbaan ni Aling Violy, located near the malfunctioned elevator which is now the site of a booming flower shop.

(to be continued)