Cebu has become a destination for delectable food, serving special cuisines from across the country.
Recently, our family enjoyed Pampanga and Laguna specialties at Aysee on Escario St., Cebu City, together with some media colleagues and friends. While dining, we also met a few Cebuano friends entertaining guests from Manila.
The dishes reminded me of my mother and siblings who used to prepare Tagalog meals. I would like to pay tribute to my late sister, Lydia Castillo, who wrote a book titled “In My Basket,” published several years ago and launched in Cebu at the old Café Laguna, owned by our close friend, Lita Urbina.
A well-known sociologist once observed that “we Pinoys eat when we are happy, sad or celebrating with friends.”
In Cebu, popular Tagalog dishes include kare-kare, dinuguan, kilawen, pinaksiw na isda (bangus), escabeche, lechon and pinaksiw na lechon, bulalo soup and lumpiang sariwa. We can enjoy these dishes at Laguna Garden, Café Laguna, Chikaan at SM, Choobi Choobi and other local restaurants. Many hotels in Cebu also serve Tagalog meals, especially during breakfast.
The Department of Tourism promotes “Food Tourism,” especially during the Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo.