Food tripping in Mindanao

Filed under: General — Mirsbin at 12:40 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2007

My boss bought me tickets to join them in Gen San, Cotabato and Davao for my birthday. A day after my big day, I flew to Gen San to start my culinary adventure. This is one of the reasons why I like tagging along with Ms. Myrna and her friends. You do get to explore the local flavor. In my last trip with her in Bohol, we went directly to the market to taste sikwate and puto maya. This time we were to explore three provinces in 4 days.

As soon we stepped down from the airplane, I could smell Durian in the air. I can smell Durian even while inside the van during the trip to the city proper. When I finally met them they were doing some tasting for a culinary competition for the Gen San Tuna Festival. They did eat a lot of tuna and even witnessed one big tuna being sliced for their sashimi nights.

After the event we headed straight to Cotabato. We arrived in Makilala around 8 PM and there the encounter with the dreaded Durian started. Right after the meal ended, Ms. Jill’s mom started to bring in some lanzones, mangosteen and rambutan. Then she blurted out “labas nyo na yung durian, yung native”. I started eating the other fruits and managed not to touch the durian. But it was so sweet smelling unlike the ones that I encountered before. Then I tried one, then got another one until I was addicted to it. For 3 days after each meal, we would eat those fruits- lanzones, mangosteen, rambutan and then durian. I even looked forward to dessert since I liked it so much. I am now a convert. They say it’s either you hate it or you get addicted to it. When we went home, we each brought home some 20 to 50 kilos each of mangosteen with of course some packs of the precious frozen Durian.

When we reached Davao, we were treated to a BBQ Night, the inasal or chicken was so good, you have to eat it with your hands. They also had BBQ chicken liver (sarap!) To finish the night, the group started to dance and sing happy birthday to me and Jill since we were both born on the same day. Until next year, looking forward to more durian adventures.