What’s more nostalgic than the sight and aroma of your local delicacy from your hometown? A dessert that an auntie of yours always brings as a meryenda when she’s visiting your mom on a sunny afternoon or maybe at birthday gatherings the perfect pasalubong you could share with your cousins! No memory has a stronger bond with us than nostalgia. As old places and faces of where we grew up are a reminder of the people we were once was, I would like to think, that food is the best cure for homesickness.
If you grew up in Visayas like me, Let us reminiscence on those sweet delicacies and pastries we strongly associate with our hometown.
Leyte – Binagol
Let’s start this trip down to memory lane from my hometown, the province of Leyte. Nothing makes me more nostalgic than a rich sweet taste of binagol paired with an ice-cold glass of Coke. Binagol originated from the Visayan word “bagol” which essentially means coconut shell. The literal translation of binagol is “to place in a coconut shell”.
A combination of gabi or taro, coconut milk, and malagkit (rice). Most binagol nowadays includes nuts, chocolate, margarine, vanilla, cheese, and eggs. It is made up of two layers, top layers consist of a mixture of the gabi while the bottom layer, consists of the caramelized filling of the delicacy. The perfect meryenda for anybody that grew up in the province of Leyte.
Bogo, Cebu – Pintos
No other city captures the perfect balance of scenic beaches and the hustle and bustle feel of its downtown area than Bogo City. The gateway to the island of Daanbantayan, Bogo City is home to the local delicacy of pintos. Fun fact, the delicacy also shares the same name as the annual festival that Bogo has which is Pintos Festival.
Pintos are made of ground corn mixed with milk and butter. Some versions come in a form instead of milk and butter, they are mixed with margarine and some have cheese or coconut strips. The way it is cooked is by soaking it in boiling water for around one hour and wrapping in corn husk when it is done. It is best paired with sikwate, a local Visayan version of hot chocolate, perfect for cold gloomy mornings.
Negros Oriental – Sans Rival
For dessert aficionados who oddly haven’t tried to take a bite of sans rival or the also popular bite-sized cookie take of sans rival, silvanas, I highly recommend that you should order one now. The go-to pasalubong of any tito or tita, the name sans rival when translated in French means, “without rival”. It is rooted in French origins mainly because it was brought over by Filipinos who studied in France during the 1920s to 1930s.
The technique used in making sans rival is similar to a French dessert cake called Dacquoise. Sans Rival is made of sandwiched French Buttercream in multiple layers of meringue infused with chopped cashews.
Negros Occidental – Piayaya
Hailing from the province known as the “Sugarbowl of the Philippines” Negros Occidental definitely knows a thing or two when it comes to sweets. The province is mostly known for a delicacy called piaya or piayaya.
Piaya is a sweet warm flaky flatbread filled with dark muscovado sugar. This piyaya has a soft and flaky crust with a distinct concentrated syrup from muscovado sugar that gives a gooey texture every time you bite. The sesame seeds give a nutty flavor to the piyaya and it makes a perfect blend of simple ingredients.
If you are reminiscing to be in the comfort of your province’s delicacies, why not move back home permanently? Lessandra is widely known for its affordable house and lots located nationwide and especially on locations that I’ve mentioned to you: Bacolod City, Dumaguete City, Palo Leyte, and Bogo City, Cebu. Be at arms reached of the delicacies you grew up loving and balik probinsya na tayo!
Sources:
http://evlearners.com/binagol-sweet-treat-coconut-shell/
https://www.lutongbahayrecipe.com/snacks/binagol/
http://www.peanutbrowas.com/blog/whet-your-appetite-for-something-sweet-with-the-pintos-of-bogo
https://www.angsarap.net/2013/03/22/sansrival/
https://www.pingdesserts.com/piyaya-or-piaya-recipe/
https://steemit.com/food/@jezmacher/6-promoting-negros-food-category-the-bacolod-city-famous-delicacy-the-piaya