Tantalizing Tastes

Unfortunately, Aling Violy's wasn't exactly what we had in mind.  Or rather, the humba that we had heard so much about wasn't exactly what it was supposed to be.  In the first place, it wasn't sweet.

You see, humba is a pork dish which is seasoned with soy sauce, brown sugar, salt, pepper and spices and cooked over low fire for several hours.  This softens the meat to melt-in-your-mouth tenderness and ensures the complete absorption of flavor into the meat, making your digestive juices churn just thinking about it.  But the essential ingredient here is SUGAR.

Well, like I said, the humba we had wasn't sweet.  So either the price of sugar was too high so as to be neglected or the cook forgot to pour it in.  Needless to say, as one of our seminar coaches-- Ms. Dolly-- had ingrained in our hearts that as tour guides we should be curious about everything (we were indeed VERY curious about this sad observation), that we practically interviewed the male server... in a fishing sort of manner.  Ms. Gen was the most inquisitive and got the most answers.

Apparently, Aling Violy was not present as she was an aging woman with various ailments such as heart desease and high blood pressure.  However, since this eatery was a family venture-- handed down from mother to daughter-- she had taught her daughter all her recipes and was trusting enough to just stay home while her family takes care of business. 

So the next obvious question should have been:  Does Aling Violy know that her daughter doesn't put sugar in the humba?  But Ms. Gen asked instead a better question:  What makes Aling Violy's humba different from other recipes that people, from experienced concessionaires to the daily wage earners, look for it?  The answer:  It is very popular among the common people, like drivers and market laborers, because of the always-boiling bottomless soup.  Another reason is that their humba is vitually oil-less, making it a "healthy" choice.

Well, oo nga naman.  Where can you find a "healthy" or "green" recipe of pork that is readily available to the common folk?  Only in Cogon Market in Cagayan de Oro City!

(to be continued)

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)