Dumaguete and the now controversial budbud kabog

Leave it to Marketman to have the patience, determination and passion to make his own budbud kabog when no one else will. And being the generous man that he is, he even gives a blow by blow account of the whole learning process on his blog for the benefit of his readers, carefully detailing his mistakes and findings. What would we do without him?

Unfortunately, his post ruffled some feathers and took an ugly turn. How something so unassuming and which can trace its heritage to "the city of gentle people" can cause such a brouhaha could only be the result of a grave misunderstanding. But faster than you could say Makabuang gyud! (it's driving me crazy!- or something like that) it was all sorted.

Budbud kabog is a native delicacy similar to suman (sweet, sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves) but made from millet which is a whole grain used to make bread like chapatti and roti. In some Eastern European and African countries, millet is also used in porridge and as baby food. It has a sweet, nutty flavor and is known to be rich in fiber, vitamins and phytochemicals. One of those rare food that's both tasty and good for you!

My grandmother's house on the boulevard

I had been meaning to wax poetic about the budbud kabog and Dumaguete (my dad's hometown) for a long time now and was finally prompted by MM's recent posts. For me these two go together like peanut butter & jelly, like bagels & cream cheese, like Louisiana & crawfish, like Captain & Tennille, like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong chang chang changity chang shoo bop..... sorry got carried away there heehee. What I'm trying to say is, I can't think of one without thinking of the other.

top and bottom photos: typical day on Rizal Boulevard.

Both photos taken right across my grandmother's house

Ever since I can remember, every summer that I spent in Dumsville, we had an abundant supply of budbud kabog in Mamaita's house (that's what we called our grandmother).We always looked forward to that so she made sure there was plenty. We would have it for breakfast or merienda (afternoon snack) and unlike other sumans which I prefer to eat with some sugar , this is perfect as is.

I don't get to spend summers there like I used to for months at a time, but I still try to visit when I can. It is my favorite city in the whole country, naturally because it holds so many memories for me, but also for so much more than that.

The people are amazingly gentle, the seafood is fishing-net-fresh, the food in general is delectable, the beaches and waterfalls are exquisite, the pace is very laid-back, and the overall atmosphere is one of lazy charm. For many tourists, the lure of Dumaguete is the outdoors. So if scuba diving, snorkling, dolphin or whale-watching, caving, trekking, fishing, golf or just plain lounging and perfecting that tan is your thing then this is the place to be. Oh and by the way, if you are ever in town, make sure to visit Sans Rival on San Jose st., birthplace of the House of Sylvanas. Every afternoon we walked the 2 blocks there for our daily dose of sans rival or sylvanas. Just thinking about those slices of heaven is making me drool.

the sandbar in Campuyo at high tide

Mamaita was a wonderful cook! She was famous for her homemade chorizo (I vividly remember playing with those dried intestine casings, wrapping it around my neck like it was a feather boa and strutting my stuff on a pretend catwalk), bacalao, leche flan, callos, fabada, salchichon de pili and native delicacies like pichi-pichi to name a few.

She was also a very passionate woman who possessed admirable business acumen. With these qualities, it was inevitable it seems that she would go on to build and operate one of Dumaguete's hotel resorts, the North Pole. When I took a chance and looked it up on the net, I came upon this book written by Tara FT Sering which has a reference to the hotel. I thought that was pretty cool! :)

The hotel was soon followed by a restaurant of the same name along the boulevard (now named Mamia by the present owners). The hotel didn't last very long as tourism in Negros Oriental at that time was still pretty much non-existent. The restaurant, on the other hand, lasted much longer. It was a favorite hangout for my cousins and I because we had "signing privileges". The ballrooms of both the hotel and the restaurant were venues for many disco parties during my sister's time and my time. It was always so much fun because (or should i say despite the fact that) we were related to 95% of the people there. Not surprising as I think I'm related to most of the city's population!

Although my uncle still sends the occasional budbud kabog (and chorizo) packages, discovering it in the Salcedo Saturday Market c/o the Van Hovens was serendipity! I loved that I could get it so conveniently. Most of the time, I'd get there too late and all that would be left are the other flavored budbuds. Although they were certainly delicious as well, it was the bk I was after. So I persisted, trying to drag my sleepy butt out of bed earlier every Saturday, hoarding enough for myself and the rest of my family much to my dad's delight. Soon after I found the same stall in the Legaspi Sunday Market with an abundant supply this time.

If you live in Manila and have not yet tried budbud kabog, go go go! and make a beeline for them at the markets this weekend. I do suggest going very early though, as I'm sure MM's readers are planning on doing just that! :)