Diwal-icious at the Mandarin Oriental

by Ryan

Sometimes one good thing leads to another: While tracking down a baker from Ilo-Ilo known for her homemade yema cake, Twinkle and I ended up with invites to a Visayan-themed luncheon at the Mandarin Oriental. As it turns out, the baker in question was also guesting at Paseo Uno for this week's Diwal-icious Visayas: Bounties of The Sea. Not only did we have our fill of yema cake (flown in from Bacolod no less), but also of Chef Pauline Gorriceta-Banusing's other specialties inspired by Ilo-Ilo's thriving culinary scene.

Just this week: Diwal-icious at Paseo Uno

Expect a variety of shellfish including diwal
'Angel Wing' clams (upper right)  during the week-long festival

The food fest revolves around diwal or Angel Wing clams - succulent, juicy shellfish flown in from Capiz. Placed in the endangered species list years ago, diwal has made a bold comeback thanks to the concerted efforts of Capiz locals, the government, and the scientific community. So serious are they about seafood that they hold a yearly seafood festival in Roxas City to celebrate the return of diwal.

Personally I've never been much of a seafood fanatic past the occasional fish and chips. (Which is a shame I know given that I live in a country of over 7,000 islands.) Live shrimp and lobster at Chinese restaurant aquariums intrigue and horrify me, and when cooked and served whole, impress me more as subjects for dissection than potential dinner.

Mmm... Can somebody say facehugger from Aliens?

Bring on the Filipino flavors. Clockwise from upper right: Shrimps in aligue, tuna kilawin, fresh lumpia

Still, it's hard not to resist Mandarin's current seafood buffet (even though diwal's scientific name, cyrtopleura costata, still unnerves me). Expect baby lobsters, shrimp cooked with crab fat, blue marlin, seaweed salad, and pink salmon among the cast. As for the famous clam, you'll be surprised by how much meat there is in each shell. Found fresh, it's already surprisingly sweet. But at the buffet, a little garlic and rock salt adds some welcome contrast. Abroad, diwal is called Angel Wing clams; a prettier, gentler name taken from it's long, oblong-shaped shell reminiscent of angel wings.

Sweet, delicate, juicy Adriana Lima -er, Angel Clams

And while you dine on Visayan seafood, God forbid this be an Ilonggo buffet without all-stars like chicken inasal, chicken binakol, and batchoy.

I'm only happy when it rains...and I'm eating batchoy

Chef Pauline's Chicken binakol has subtler flavors

After what seemed like endless trips back to the buffet table, Twinkle and I finally sunk our forks into Chef Pauline's winning yema cake. Part of The Philippine Daily Inquirer's list of 25 best desserts for 2010, the yema cake will spoil you from first to the last mouthful. Texture-wise it's very dense with layers of meringue icing and yema spread that, as a whole, surprisingly, isn't as sweet as you'd expect. There's a welcome sprinkling of cashew on top as well. Last holiday season, Chef Pauline received a total of 113 orders a few days before Christmas, prompting her to fly from Ilo-Ilo City to Manila on board with more than a hundred boxes of yema cake. Now that's dedication.

The infamous yema cake

Thankfully, she's found an easier way since then: Manileños can order 5 days ahead from Chef Pauline and expect their cake flown over and made available for pick up at her family's restaurant, Freska, at the Promenade in Greenhills. In the meantime, you can savor as much of it as you want the whole of this week, or hoard taro-based toffee bars and servings of ibo (a type of local suman) drizzled with molasses and slivers of Guimaras mango.

Twinkle trying to pry the yema cake recipe from Chef Pauline...

Diwal-icious Visayas: Bounties of The Sea is available at Paseo Uno, The Mandarin Oriental, Makati City from September 19 to 25. Buffet starts at Php 1,800.00++. For more information contact +63 (2) 7508888 ext. 2412/2413.

To order Chef Pauline Gorriceta-Banusing's yema cake contact +63 (2) 7443446, +63 09209039603, or e-mail paulineiloilo@yahoo.com.

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