Adorable Adobo!
Exciting adobo creations
Unique to Negros Occidental is the celebration of Cinco de Noviembre, now known as Negros Day, which marks Negros' full independence from Spanish rule. And, unique to Silay City is its celebration of Cinco de Noviembre, with its Adobo Festival held annually at the Balay Negrense. It's a feast for the senses as this year's celebration invites you to a "Taste of History", with its ever-gracious hostess, Lyn Gamboa. It's been 11 years since she organized the first Adobo Festival, and the celebration gets bigger every year. Balay Negrense's garden dressed up for this year's festivities with an array of every type of adobo imaginable – pork, chicken, squid, tilapia, puso ng saging, assorted vegetables, and even vege-meat.
Exciting adobo creations
As important as the adobo viands (what would this day be without it?) were Lyn Gamboa's special guests like Senate President Manny Villar, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, and Antique Governor Salvacion Perez. Vice Governor Dino Yulo and Congressman Jose "Kako" Lacson were seen enjoying the scents and various tastes of adobo at the many booths in the garden. Also present as the city's host were Mayor Oti Montelibano and Silay's First Lady, Marissa.
While 16 participants were busy chopping, marinating, sautéing, and simmering their adobo for the adobo competition, the guests were enjoying a tour of the Balay Negrense Museum, the ancestral home of Victor F. Gaston.
Participants of the adobo competition.
Then, what would a meal be without dessert? In one corner, a booth was selling "budbod" from Tanjay, Negros Oriental, with your choice of fillings such as chocolate or mango. There was puto lanson, suman latik, and ibos which was wiped out by lunchtime. Displayed together with handkerchiefs and patadyong from Antique, was a basket of "bandi" or sugarcoated peanuts. From Mariel's Bakeshop in Silay, the banana loaf was freshly baked and moist, and if I didn't stop myself from picking on it, almost didn't make it to my home!
It was a day filled with celebration that honored not only adobo, but muscovado as well, with its 3rd Muscovado Competition. Aside from the Adobo cooking competition, talks on Negros' Food Culture and Tales of Muscovado were held in the afternoon.
Silay’s First Lady Marissa Montelibano
and Senate President Manny Villar
seem to enjoy this participant’s adobo.
Ending the day was the Adobo Song and the Adobo Dance, and the announcement of Irene Madreliño's "Adobong Puso ng Saging" as the winner of the competition. Only in Silay City does one find a day dedicated to this great food! As Governor Gwen Garcia said, "There are so many dialects in the Philippines, but when we say "ADOBO", we just understand each other!"