Whenever we travel to other parts of the country or the
world, the sights are not the only sense that matters in a tourist experience. There
is also taste. Part of being a tourist is to experience food that is not common
in one location because it also represents a heritage.
Whenever we go to different regions, we usually associate
the food with the province. For example, it is common knowledge that dishes in
the Bicol Region are mostly spicy. I went to Ozamiz City to attend Dine
Philippines. It’s a food and beverage fair and most of the attendees are
students who are taking up Hotel and Restaurant Management in college.
Since I am blogging about food, I also find it as a
refresher course since I also want to hear the insights in the food industry. The venue, The Promenade, also
provides catering by Johann's Cuisine for the event.
Most of the time, what you studied in college may not be enough
because the subjects we took does not show us the current situation in the work
place. That is why learning is an ongoing process. Experience is the best
source of learning and these students are fortunate that they are able to be
given a glimpse of the working class.
One of the insights of I got are from resource speaker Mr.
Adolf Aran, Jr. about situation of restaurant business in the Philippines.
There are comparisons of lifestyle from the past to present. Because of the BPO
industry boost in the country, the customer service representatives are in a
time-shift event though they are still here in the Philippines because most of
their inquiries are from another time zone. Their meal times are now different
and when their shift ends which is usually in the morning, it is the only time
they can enjoy drinking. One question was raised. Do we have food
establishments that can cater to this need?
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| Chef Jam Melchor with volunteers. |
Ozamiz City will soon have a BPO company but there are no
convenience stores yet because the city is still living a provincial life. I
was told the cinemas here close early compared to Manila. I love the
transitions of the topics in the plenary sessions. One of the resource persons is
a consultant Jai Ferrer. He specializes in farming and encourages going
organic.
I got to talk to one of the attendees present during the
first day. Misamis University student Roian Puckering enjoyed the topics and
looks forward to learn from Liquido Maestro Kalel Demetrio because he wants to
follow the example of his father who does different coffee drinks.
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| Liquido Maestro Kalel gives instructions for the AweZamiz mix |
Speaking of the Liquido Maestro, Mr. Kalel Demetrio got the
audience impressed when he created drinks using local ingredients in Ozamiz as
if he was performing magic with his cocktail mixes and gave the liberty to the
students to name the original drink. Chef Kalel encourages everyone to maximize
the ingredients of what the province or city has to offer and experiment. This
will also help promote local products that our own farmers produced. Chef Kalel
himself is an advocate of locally produced ingredients and uses it in his
endorsements in Distileria like the Barik lambanog he used.
But the best part of the event besides the insights from the
resource persons is the food of course. Why would there not be Dine Philippines
without the food. I got to try out the
food catered and provided by Johann’s Event Place which is the first events
place in Ozamiz City.
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| Dragonfruit ice cream |
On the first day, I got to try their Dragon fruit ice cream
which is homemade originally at Johann’s. At the trade area outside the
plenary, there are different food stalls that got me craving. I got to try out
the suman from Klarin. What makes these Suman unique it has different flavors.
There is also one booth the offers ube turon. It is smaller than the regular
banana turon but quite heavy even though it is bite size.
The chefs have substance in their topics and they have
rock-star status because they are entertaining and good with their craft. I
cannot blame the attendees if they ask them for selfies. The plenary topics is also participatory. Chef Jam Melchor and the Liquid Chef Kalel Demetrio even ask some volunteers to help them. At the end of Dine Philippines, I asked another student from Misamis University, Donna Kris Eltagon what she taught about event. She told me she learned a lot from this event and she looks forward to attend Dine Philippines again for new insights.
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| AweZaMiz: an original drink created by the Liquido Maestro during Dine Philippines. |
Ozamiz City has many
unique food trips but there are more gastronomic adventures in Misamis
Occidental which I will continue in my next posts. Follow this blog and like
W.H.A.T. Food Blogs on Facebook for more indulging food trips.
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| With Donna Eltagon whom I interviewed and the rest of the students of Misamis University who attended Dine Philippines. |
