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Saturday, April 22, 2006
Australian at Don Merto's
Where in Cebu can you have a taste of Australian venison? Only at Don Merto’s at the Banilad Town Center, which currently has an Australian food festival featuring, among others, venison, lamb, beef, veal, cheeses, sausages and hams, antipastos, organic pastas and sauces and jams from the land down under.
These you can buy to use at home, or you can get a taste of it by eating at this deli-restaurant.
Don Merto’s is named after Don Mamerto Escaño who, with his wife Mena Fortich, traveled extensively and brought home recipes of the food they enjoyed in their travels so that their house was known for the good food served there.
The Escaño family used to have a cattle ranch in Bukidnon and cattle fattening operations in Liloan. According to Merto’s grandson Jimmy Escaño, who runs Jedco, a butcher shop, the company started importing prime cuts of lamb and beef from Australia and the United States in 1999. In August last year, the family opened Don Merto’s as a showcase of products available at Jedco, and as a way of sharing the good food Don Merto’s house was known for. Among the traditional Escaño recipes at Don Merto’s are Callos and Lengua Sevillana.
The restaurant offers steaks and pastas as well as other continental favorites in salads, soups and appetizers. The steaks are either certified Angus beef from the US or prime-grade Australian beef. Jimmy is particularly proud that Jedco/Don Merto’s is the only outlet in the Philippines that carries sausages, pates, terrines, jambon from a multi-awarded butcher from France, George Thiol. From Australia, Jimmy carries the fruit preserves and honey from Beerenberg, carried by the first class section of Australian airline Qantas, and all Shangri-La properties in Asia.
With the Australian food promo, ongoing until April 30, is a chance to win a round trip economy ticket to Australia courtesy of Philippine Airlines. Every dine-in order or purchase of Australian products worth P500 entitles a customer to one raffle ticket; raffle draw will be on May 2 in Don Merto’s.
At the opening of the Australian food promo, Fil-Australian chefs Anton and Miguel came to Cebu for a special lunch menu featuring an Antipasto selection, Twice-Baked King Island Blue Cheese Souffle with Arugula, Apples and Caramelized Almonds, Roasted Southern Highland Venison with soft Parmesan, Polenta and Sauteed Portabella Mushrooms (venison, or deer meat, is not that readily available here; it has to be cooked just right to retain its soft texture and flavorful juices; a real taste treat), and finished off with to-die-for Almond and Blanc Cherries Florentine with Vanilla Mascarpone. The antipasto and the venison are still available to Don Merto diners.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 22, 2006 issue)
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