My City, My SM, My Cuisine showcases Rizal family recipes

THE BEST LUTONG INSTIK AND BUKO PIE RECIPES IN SM-PHILIPPINE STAR CONTEST

My City, My SM, My Cuisine Cookfest winners Francis Cariazo for the best Buko Pie and Von Byron Ebron for the best Lutong Instik with DOT Laguna’s Regina Austria, Rizal descendant Jose Rizal-Lopez, SM VP for marketing Millie F. Dizon, SM Supermalls regional manager John Jason T. Terrenal, and STAR VP for marketing Lucien Dy Tioco.

Mallgoers had the opportunity to get a rare glimpse of the life and times of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, when My City, My SM, My Cuisine recently made a stop at his hometown in Calamba, Laguna.

Held just in time for the closing ceremonies of the “Rizal@150” festivities, Rizal’s descendants generously shared their heirloom recipes at the event and showcased the food Rizal’s family enjoyed the most. A joint project of SM and The Philippine STAR with support from SM Homeworld, My City, My SM, My Cuisine Season 2 celebrates the flavors of Philippine regional cuisine through a culinary contest that features two signature recipes from ten cities where SM malls are located.

At the SM City Calamba cookfest, 10 finalists competed to make the best Lutong

Instik entrée and buko pie dessert. Von Byron Ebron and Francis Cariazo were adjudged winners for their versions of Narcisa Rizal’s Lutong Instik and Laguna’s famous buko pie recipes, respectively. Their delightful flavors and food presentation got the nod of the distinguished board of judges, which included NCCA director Emilie Tiongco, historian and food researcher Sonny Tinio, The Philippine STAR’s vice president for advertis- ing Lucien Dy Tioco, SM Homeworld manager Maru Manugo, SM Supermarket manager Romualdo Porlay, Jr., and Metropolitan Museum trustee Cora Alvina.

They each received P5,000 worth of SM gift certificates and SM Homeworld gift packs from Rizal descendant Jose Rizal Lopez, Jr., STAR’s Lucien Dy Tioco, SM Supermalls regional head Jason Terenal, and SM vice president for marketing Millie Dizon. The rest of the finalists received P1,000 worth of SM gift certificates and gift packs from SM Homeworld. In keeping with the Rizal theme, two beautiful showrooms replicated the kitchen and dining room in Rizal’s home in Calamba, with antiques from the collection of Ed

Gamo of San Pablo and architect Mario Zavalla of Santa Rosa. Guests, including Rizal descendants Jose Rizal Lopez, Ester Lopez-Azurin, Atty. Fernando Alonzo, and Vivencio Lopez Villaruz were, were amazed at how closely these resembled the actual rooms in the Rizal shrine.

A specially prepared video also featured Rizal family recipes. With the Rizal Shrine in Calamba as the background,

STAR’s Barbara Gonzalez, a great grand daughter of Maria Rizal, graciously shared her family’s signature ginataang adobo sa

palayok recipe, cooked in the claypot, representing the official symbol of the city.

Ester Lopez-Azurin, a descendant of

Rizal’s brother Paciano, demonstrated two recipes: tinolang manok and Lutong

Instik, in her great grandfather’s shrine in Los Baños. Tinolang manok was mentioned in one of the most controversial scenes in Noli Me Tangere, wherein the Dominican friars — dinner guests of Crisostomo Ibarra — were served bony parts of the chicken, an insult during Rizal’s time. But the Rizal family’s version tinolang manok sa

kalabasa as demonstrated by Ester is more sumptuous. Ester also showed the audience how to make her Lola Narcisa Rizal’s

Lutong Instik, a Chinese inspired dish. Rizal’s most famous novels, Noli Me

Tangere and El Filibusterismo are filled with descriptions of Tagalog dishes of his time, one of which is the sinigang na ayungin

sa kamias. Atty. Fernando Alonzo, a great grandson of Manuel, a brother of Rizal’s mother Teodora Alonzo, demonstrated an updated version sinigang sa sampaloc, which uses a tamarind base.

All these dishes were showcased during the event, as were signature Laguna specialties: Amy Espiridion’s okoy from Calamba, Mernel’s chocolate cake from Los Baños,

monay bae by Tenorio’s Bakery from Bay, kinulob na itik by Vicky’s from Vistoria, and Aling Taleng’s special halo-halo from Pagsanjan.

My City, My SM, My Cuisine in Calamba is the third stop for the second season of this exciting culinary road show, which was launched in April at SM City Rosales with the best bangus and tupig recipes. It later celebrated the specialties of the province of Rizal and the city of Marikina, and featured a cookfest for the best binabaysan

na alimango or alimasag and suman sa ibos at SM City Masinag.

Last year, it made stops in 13 provinces all over the country, starting at Santa Rosa where participants competed for the best puchero with lauya and puto maya with kilawing puso

ng saging. Its last stop was at SM City Clark, where Kapampangan foodies showcased the best tidtad and tocino del cielo recipes.

My City, My SM, My Cuisine is a joint project of SM and The Philippine STAR with support from SM Homeworld and SM Supermarket. SM shoppers and Philippine STAR readers can submit their recipe of their city’s selected entrée and dessert along with their name, address, and occupation to sm_starculinary@yahoo.com. They can also mail recipes to Publicity Department, Building C, SM Corporate Office, JW Diokno Boulevard, Pasay City, or the Lifestyle Section of the Philippine

STAR at R. Oca Jr. and Railroad Streets, Port Area, Manila.

Ten finalists will be selected, five for entrees and five for dessert. Two winners (one for entrée and one for dessert) will be selected from each city during the culinary contest that will be held in time for the city’s festival. The two winners will each receive P5,000 worth of SM gift certificates, while finalists will receive packs

Pagsanjan, Laguna’s well-known dessert, Aling Taleng’s Halo-Halo.

Victoria, Laguna’s Kinulob Na Itik.

Ester Azurin-Lopez’ version of Lutong Instik.

Rizal descendants Vivencio Lopez-Villaluz, Jose Rizal-Lopez and Ester Azurin-Lopez, with their family’s heirloom recipes.

Atty. Fernando Alonzo’s Sinigang Na Sampalok.

Von Byron Ebon’s prize winning Lutong Instik ( with cabbage, water chestnuts, ginger and bamboo shots). This recipe was said to be Jose Rizal’s favorite “comfort food,” this is a healthy dish made from cabbage, water chestnuts, ginger, and bamboo shoots.

Francis Caiazo’s very own version of Buko Pie — Laguna’s favorite dessert.

STAR’s Barbara Gonzalez’s heirloom recipe Ginataang Palayok sa Sampaloc.

Los Baños’ pride, Mernel’s Chocolate Cake.

Bay, Laguna’s favorite bread, Monay Bae.

Young talent Pearly Perez wows the crowd with her rendition of Lupang Hinirang.

Marlo Niko G. Alvarez, assistant mall manager of SM City Calamba with The Rizal Shrine photo as background.

Los Baños’ bests e l l i n g cake. Mernel’s Chocolate Cake with Merle Balicao.

Atty. Fernando Alonzo ( another Rizal descendant), showcasing his very own version of Sinigang Sa Sampalok.

Racky Autor from Victoria, Laguna, with Kinulob na Itik by Vicky’s Kinulob na Itik.

Olga Palacay from NHCP with Okoy ng Calamba

Collete’s Buko Pie: One of the top-selling Buko Pie brands in Laguna.

Regina Austria with the famous Putong Biñan.

Christina Tenorio and their famous Monay Bae by Tenorio’s Bakery.