Isabela is considered to be one of the agricultural centers of the Philippines, with the province being one of top producers of rice and corn in the country. However, the province offers more than just large-scale produce but also local ingredients that might not be as familiar to others.
The province’s Bambanti Festival’s Makan Ken Mainum aims to shine a spotlight on these ingredients as well as the growing culinary talent of Isabeleños. However, this year’s competition had a significant twist. Doing away with having culinary professionals taking center stage in the competition, the organizers instead opted to have children be the participants in one of the festival’s highlight activities.
Kids as young as 9 years old up to 14 years old comprised the teams representing the different cities and municipalities of the province. Makan Ken Mainum co-chair chef Cocoy Ventura shared that this was meant to help the younger generation appreciate the ingredients that Isabela offers as well as pique their interest in cooking.
“Kids are a breath of fresh air. They bring new ideas to the table that seasoned professionals might not consider. To help them out, we also implemented a freestyle cooking competition because we found that if you follow the one-town-one-product system and you have a certain produce that you have to use, it limits the creativity of the participants. After the pandemic, people just want to be expressive. They’ve been waiting for this time to be out and about, especially the kids who have been stuck at home for years,” chef Cocoy shared.
Over the course of the afternoon of the competition, the young teams prepared their original dish and drink concept using local ingredients. One team prepared a refreshing cooler using wild cucumber and wild passionfruit as the base and accentuated with honey and citrus juice. Meanwhile, another team prepared a layered concoction using butterfly pea flower, yellow bougainvillea, and rose extracts mixed with dayap, cucumber, lemongrass for an eye-catching drink.
Local meat, poultry, seafood and produce were also used for the food offerings. A team from one of Isabela’s coastal town used lobsters found in their seas as base to flavor the heart of a palm tree stewed in coconut cream. Another team used carabao meat for meatballs paired with carabao milk-based cream sauce. There was also a whole native chicken that was poached in a delicate broth until fall-off-the-bone tender before served with a ginger-green onion oil.
Despite the numerous eyes trained on them during the competition, the participants remained in high spirits over the course of the competition. For them, it was not only a chance to show their skills, but also a moment to have fun with friends while doing what they love to do. “Nakakapagod at medyo nakakakaba, pero masaya pong magluto kasi kasama ko mga kaibigan ko. Nakakatuwa ding makita yung mga pagkaing nasa isip lang naming nung kami’y nagsisimula pa lang,” one contestant shared.
