pineapples, steaks, and coffee

Our weekend jaunt to the south was coming to an end, sniff, but there was still one more thing we had to do (er eat) before hopping on that plane back to Manila: the steaks at Del Monte!

Bukidnon is a rolling highland with an average elevation of about 900 meters. It is home to the world's biggest pineapple plantation and is also the biggest cattle-prducing province in the region. Now think about that for a second. That's a lotta cows and pineapples! Actually that's a whole lotta cows eating a whole lotta pineapples!

Del Monte Philippines, Inc. owns 90 sq kms. of fertile land in Bukidnon, majority of which is devoted to the largest pineapple plantation in the Far East. In the heart of this vast expanse of land is Camp Philips, Del Monte's headquarters, where many of the top executives live while their children study at the Del Monte Int'l. School. The pride among other recreational facilities is the 18-hole golf course and a golf club famous for steaks from pineapple-fed cattle, a non-core business created to make use of excess pulp.

The club is casual and unpretentious and presents the diner with a pretty view of the gold course through screened windows. It's cool and there's a light breeze so there's no need for even an electric fan even at this time of day when the heat is usually most unbearable. We order our steaks - porterhouse for most of us - and a New York steak for my friend. Other cuts available are T-bone, sirloin, club and round. You can choose to get the full order which comes with soup, salad and dessert. I went with the short order of porterhouse (large!), with two orders of extra bread please.

I am told their bread is fantastic, so I ask for two extra orders not knowing that my steak comes with 2 slices. But it was really, really good, so soft and perfect that I practically finished it all anyway. The steak did not disappoint; it was tender and flavorful. But since I'm not a big steak person, I couldn't tell that this was pineapple-fed. But then that's me. I couldn't tell ostrich meat from beef either, remember? :) It didn't matter, everything was delicious, the company was first-class and we were happy.

At the airport cafe, I grabbed myself a pack of Monk's Blend premium coffee which I first heard about from Christina who discovered it while backpacking through Bukidnon earlier this year. The beans are roasted by the monks from the Monastery of the Transfiguration I'm still happily drinking my way through some Benguet arabica a friend of mine gave me (a present from Baguio) so I haven't tried this one yet. But I think I'll brew some and give it a try this weekend. :)

Del Monte Golf Club
Cawayanon, San Miguel, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon
(088) 855-5976 to 78 ; (08822) 742370 ext. 6125/6145
Email: clubhouse@delmonte-phil.com

Finding God's country in Bukidnon

We were invited to stay for the night at a friends' farm in Bukidnon. So after we accomplished what we did and satisfied our inner stuntman in Cagayan de Oro, they sent the car to pick us up from our hotel. We drove for over an hour through nothing but a sea of pineapples (owned by the Del Monte Corp.) on either side of the dirt road until we arrived at their gorgeous 60-hectare estate.

I knew they had a beautiful place up there, but I wasn't prepared for just how beautiful it actually was. When we reached the estate, we drove past banana trees, papaya trees, coffee plants and a myriad of organic produce, a couple of ponds and finally up the gravel driveway leading to the main house. It was a simple wooden structure, typical of a hacienda house in the province, that belied the quiet luxury within. There were big windows everywhere, giving every room a bright and airy feel.

I let out an audible gasp when I caught my first glimpse of the backyard from the cheerful yellow terrace. Wow! was all I managed, dumbfounded. Beyond the neatly manicured gardens, the grounds stretched out towards Mt. Kitanglad in the distance. It was absolutely breathtaking!

I flipped when I saw the horses and ponies - there were nineteen horses, I was told later. I love horses, and have always dreamed of living in a ranch with some of my own. I was thrilled beyond belief and felt like a kid in a candy shop. The air up here was cool and smelled fresh and clean. The only sound was that of horses neighing in the distance and birds chirping. We toured the grounds and I spent a great amount of time lingering among the horses and taking pictures of them. They're truly beautiful and gentle creatures.

We spent the next two days relishing our surroundings, during which we slipped into a state of perfect contentment. There were long walks among the horses, aperitifs in the gazebo, cocktails in the terrace of cheese fondue washed down with wine from their extensive collection; a delicious five course dinner with the highly entertaining sister of a datu; gathering around the bonfire sipping home-aged rum from large oak barrels, under a thick blanket of stars - the sky was so clear I actually saw the Milky Way!; waking up to the sweet sound of children singing during Sunday school nearby; lingering over a breakfast of mango pancakes, jelly-filled buns from Davao, capuccino and fresh pineapple juice; horseback riding against a backdrop of majestic mountain ridges; and dozing off on woven mats under the shade of an acacia tree.

In the end we felt sad that we had to go, but extremely grateful for a taste of this piece of paradise. As my friend aptly described it, God's country.