Lunch Entrees

I know, I invited you to stay for the lunch entrees and it took me almost five days to serve you the dishes. After posting the appetizers I had to jump out from this virtual little screen to spend a bonding weekend with my family ( that too would be served to you later :D).

Anyhoo, hope I didn't make you starving for the promised lunch entrees. Remember, we were back at Samal Islands' Pearl Farm lunch buffet.

Pearl Farm has a pretty Pavillion, fit to accommodate hundreds if not a a thousand guests. It is open air and the ocean air breezes sweetly. Furniture and ornaments are tribal mixed with modern amenities.

Now let's divulge the contents of the pots :

I consumed bits and pieces from each pot but definitely left a big room for the desserts, which ofcourse are may favorite parts of a buffet.

Desserts coming up !

Salad Bar

Pearl Farm Beach Resort in Samal Island offers one of the best buffet lunches in town. One post woudn't be enough to accommodate all dishes. So let me start with the salad and appetizer bars. The salad bar was beautifully presented in a separate room along with the dessert bar . As back draft, there was a glass window which framed green garden outside. It then offered fresh green ambiance which aptly enhanced the appetizing sight of the salad dishes.

An extensive parade of salad dishes and dressings flaunted on the table. Arrays of colors- green , yellow,orange and olive, painted the concoctions.

At the near end of the buffet table, another sett of appetizer choices awaited a different bunch of foodies. Those whose palates were awaken by the sinful oil. In there were fried dishes like crackling pork fats, chicken wings and garlic eggplant drizzled with oil to the max.

Personally I indulged in the greens and cheeses and yes tried a bit of the fried appetizer. Stay for the main entree'. Coming up next ;\\\\\\\\\\\D

I Luv Marang

Another spiky fruit from the South has captured my palate_ marang . Similar to my first love durian, marang has also spiky cover and pungent odor but the latter is all timid compare to the king of fruits (durian).



Snap Facts :
The Marang/Johey Oak/Green Pedalai/Madang/Tarap/Breadfruit Cousin (Artocarpus odoratissimus) — also called Marang, Madang, and Tarap — is a tree native to Borneo. It is closely related to the Jackfruit, Cempedak, and Breadfruit trees. The appearance of the fruit can be regarded as an intermediate shape between the jackfruit and the breadfruit. It is round to oblong, 15–20 cm long and 13 cm broad, and weighing about 1 kg. The thick rind is covered with soft, broad spines. They become hard and brittle as the fruit matures. The fruit does not fall to the ground when ripe. It may be harvested while still hard, and left to ripen until soft. Marangs change colour to greenish yellow when ripe. The ripe fruit is opened by cutting the rind around, twisting and gently pulling. The interior of the fruit is somewhat similar to the jackfruit's, but the color is white and the flesh is usually softer. The core is relatively large, but there are far fewer "rags" and less non-edible parts. Arils are white and the size of a grape, each containing a 15 × 8 mm seed. Once opened, the marang should be consumed quickly (in a few hours), as it loses flavour rapidly and fruit oxidizes. The seeds are also edible after boiling or roasting.

It is an evergreen tree growing to 25 m tall. The leaves are 16–50 cm long and 11–28 cm broad, similar to the Breadfruit's, but are a little less lobed. The tree is not cold tolerant (as is the breadfruit). It can grow between latitude 15º north and south, and in coastal regions where temperatures never stay under 7 °C. It is cultivated for its fruit in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and southern Thailand. The species is largely grown for local consumption; the short shelf-life of the fruit limits its wider use.



I'd say it's also an acquired taste. I tasted it once and got addicted to it. I could easily finish a ball of it in one sitting. Couldn't describe the taste cos it's a fusion of many familiar local  fruits. It's like atis with banana with star apple with guyabano. .  it's marang !! Not everyone likes marang as opposed to the popularity of mangoes and bananas. It's exotic and not widely available. The shelf life is so short but I managed to bring home some for my loved ones in Manila. My eldest whose palate is perfectly molded like mine (Myka eats anything I eat. Kyla eats anything the dad eats), fell in love with it the way I did on the first taste. The following day, she was still looking for some to eat. Sorry, no more.



I was told the best  marang here in my country could be found in Cotabato . True enough, when I visited the South last week, I passed by a lot marang plantations seen from the road. On my way back to Davao City, there were lots of marang fruits for sale on the road sides.

It's in season and was so cheap. Selling at P10 each. That was wow! I could bring home sacks of it as pasalubong. But couldn't no matter how cheap. Remember the shelf life is so short. Ofcourse excess baggage was another hindering factor. So I just bought like few of them that I could manage to take home and was given another day to consume them. It was good I had my cuzin who was an expert on marang.



So folks, that's my marang story. Have you tried one?

Durian Spikes

I still burp the after taste of durian and wear the infamous smell of durian, my ever favorite smelly fruit. Coming from Davao City where this fruit hails popularly in this side of the universe, I did ofcourse take back home some for my can't- get- over- it- cravings. I don't have issues with frozen durian. I actually prefer mine frozen which to me taste like an ice cream.

Cuzin' knew how we are forever yearning for the king of fruits and brought us to a durian market the soonest she could when we woke up the following day.

Buying durian ( or any fruits) here in Davao is a breath of fresh air. The customer  calls the shot. You  taste first with the privilege to buy or not. Here the customer is always right!

Best thing, you don't have to wait to get home to answer your craving. They have dine-in tables on the spot.






This month of August is Davao's Kadayawan Festival. We were there just few days ago and how delighted we were to realize that this month is also the harvest season when almost all fruits found in this province are in abundance and therefore nth times cheaper. I saw durian everywhere around the city. So opposite of scarce supply in my island see here and here .

durian tart

durian yema



Old time favorite durian sweets are yema, pastillas , tart , ice cream, shakes, but this time I was so happy to find all new favorites :



durian meringue tarts

durian pie, so magical. luv.luv. it!

durian ice candy! wowee!

durian_ _? those in square plastics ready to use for durian float ( ala mango float)



Trivia for this durian trip 2010 : cuzin' Joey had introduced us to 12 varieties of durian. Oh please don't ask me to name each and describe _ I can't! But I realize how diverse each variant is. There's one which is pure sweetness, there's one that is bitterly sweet, garlicky sweet. . so on and so forth. All are interestingly del-i-cious !