WITH Davao City being home to delectable cuisine, culinary tourism is now being seen as a strategy to further boost its economy.
Along this line, SM Lanang Premier staged Davao on a Plate, a showcase of various dishes out of Davao's abundant ingredients, on April 1.
Homegrown and branches here of some big names in the country's hotel and restaurant industries participated, as they showed off the twist and unique flavor they added to the regular known dishes of Davao.
Olive Puentespina of Malagos Food, Inc. presented her Malagos cheese board; chefs Edward Tuazon and Clinton Gregorio of iChef gave visitors the chance to taste their Davao brown rice pudding topped with durian jam and pomelo bits and seafood fiesta brown rice and chicken pianggang on coco creamed crispy shells; chef Marty Morales of Yellow Fin Restaurant had his grilled ubol-ubol on the Davao on a Plate table; Jun Dulla of Blue Post Boiling Crab & Shrimps had the crab claw in sambal sauce and garlic fried crab claws; chef Anton Abad of Vikings gave a twist to the famous kebab by using crocodile meat; and chef Jovi Uy of Park Inn by Radisson Davao presented an array of desserts such as the cacao nib meringue, durian crepe maki and lemon coconut donut.
rMeanwhile, chefs Patrick McCarthy and Wade Watson of Bondi & Bourke took pride of their Saranggani seabass ceviche and chef Alex Destriza of Marco Polo Davao gave Dabawenyos a taste of their bangus Saranggani sardines mac and cheese with Malagos goat and cheddar cheese and spicy coconut stewed bangus belly, toasted smoked bangus, lime mayo, and steam cua pao.
Department of Tourism (DOT) 11 Regional Director Robby Alabado expressed appreciation on SM's initiative, especially in forging partnership with the agency.
"The personalities in culinary arts and the foodies of Davao are here right now," he said. "We have our own way of cooking; we should show to tourists how we do things here."
He added that Davao should "tell the world what we have here. We have a different flavor here in Davao. It's actually because of the freshness of our food here."
*****
If you have special events and fashion tips to share or just want to discuss about any fashion-related concerns with me, you are always free to reach me at mendoza.jennygrace@gmail.com.