IN case you’re craving carbs, here are some tips on where to order them here in Cagayan de Oro: croissants at MiMo Café, ube turon at Fat Chef, and mango mambo at Thai Me Up and Cucina Higala.
Forget about plain rice which is as blah as that boring guy who constantly talks about himself, unknowingly providing background chatter for his listeners’ eye rolls.
Try eating rice, pasta, and noodles sans other ingredients. Not yummy at all. Their main goal is to remove the “umay” while eating the other delish dishes, to help you eat more.
So, choose the carbs that are worth their carbs.
Order the paella, risotto, sushi, jambalaya, biko, suman, puto, puto maya, bibingka, sapin-sapin, kutsinta, palitaw, tabirak, champorado, arroz everything, nasi everything, the many other kinds of fried rice—Yang Chow fried rice, shrimp fried rice, chicken fried rice, beef fried rice, pork barbecue fried rice, adobo fried rice, kimchi fried rice, egg fried rice, ham and egg fried rice, longganisa fried rice, tocino fried rice, aligue fried rice, tuyo fried rice, bagoong rice, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
Remember the sushi bake that made the pandemic lockdowns bearable? Yum!
Have some corn, ube, camote, potatoes, cassava, and saba bananas which may morph into binaki, popcorn, maja blanca, ube cheesedesal, ube cake, ube puto, ube halaya, ube turon, camote cue, mashed potatoes, French fries, cassava cake, pichi-pichi, kiping, nilupak, banana chips, banana cue, banana turon, maruya, ginanggang, etc.
For pasta, try the Lorenzo’s truffle cream at Mamou whose restos are found only in Metro Manila. Well, the Cagayanon can’t have everything. Haha. That’s why Philippine Airlines sends only its turboprop planes to Laguindingan for the Cebu flights—but that’s another story.
For pancit, make your own recipe so you can have everything on it.
Instant noodles will always be the Pinoy’s best friend, though. They’re cheap, always available at the sari-sari store, and they fill the tummy for at least two hours I guess.
For coffee, have the vanilla cream latte, Spanish latte, and caramel macchiato.
If you want something chocolatey, indulge in Royce chocolates.
If you want fruits, go for mangos, grapes, durian, marang, and atis.
For other sweets, there’s cheesecake, cinnamon rolls, leche flan, sans rival, silvanas, moist chocolate cake, chocolate crinkles, chocolate revel bars, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, cheese cupcakes, mango float, halo-halo, mais con yelo, sago at gulaman, buko pandan, buko salad, buko pie, bukayo, pastillas, yema, polvoron, calamay, peanut kisses, ampao, taho, milk tea, iced tea, soda, sikwate, fruit juices, shakes, smoothies, etc. And then scream for ice cream.
These carbs are to be savored one day at a time. Say, croissants for today, ube turon for tomorrow, and mango mambo on the third day.
With typhoon Betty a.k.a. Mawar somehow awakening the foodie in me, there I was, imagining the worthiest of snacks for rainy days. Croissants and coffee. Champorado and bulad. Strawberry-and-cheese sandwich and hot choco. Batchoy. Arroz caldo.
Yeah, this is starting to sound like the foodie’s version of “My Favorite Things.”
If this column is not making you hungry yet, I don’t know what will.
