Sugar Shock

Silay City / Bacolod City, The Philippines

January, April, and October, 2011

What do you expect from the sugar capital of the Philippines? I’ve been in my home province, Negros Occidental, three times this year and every time felt like being in a candy shop. I blame my sweet tooth on growing up next door to a sugar mill. The sweet aroma of molasses during milling season pervaded the house in the morning. My sweet dreams carried on after I had awakened. On to adulthood.

Welcome to my Dessert Trail (First Stop: El Ideal Bakery)

And so when in Negros, do as the Negrense do – indulge your sweet tooth. These are some of the sweet stops on my dessert trail:

El Ideal Bakery in Silay City

A fitting starting point is an institution: El Ideal Bakery in Silay City. It is one of the oldest restaurants in the province. But at 80-plus years old, it’s still the place to be. The specialty is the guapple pie, made from oversized guavas, not a hybrid of apple and guava as the name seems to suggest. One serving was quite filling for me. The slightly crunchy guapple slices complemented the crumbly pie crust, which I washed down with small bottles of Pepsi. Their creamy egg pie is also a must-try.

My Cousin biting his lip at the sight of a Guapple Pie

A newer player in the sweets business, Kuppa Coffee & Tea is an alternative to Starbucks. Actually, I wondered why anyone would go to Starbucks at all when Bacolod has several local cafes that could give globalization a run for their coffee.

Kuppa Coffee & Tea and Me

They serve pasta and other dishes, but we came for sweets. Their chocolate cake was finger-lickin’ moist and the peanut butter pie frost was to-die-for. But don’t quote me; anything peanut butter automatically drives me nuts.

Kuppa's Peanut Butter Pie Frost

I guess they just have to work on their service. The second time we were there, it was almost 10pm (already an unholy hour in Bacolod on a weeknight, we realized), their closing time. The crew started cleaning up before we could finish our dessert. A major pet peeve: sweeping the floor when there’s still food on the table. Not being fussy, but who wants their food sprinkled with dust? It may be invisible, but it doesn’t mean it’s not floating around.

His and Hers: Kuppa's Chocolate Cake, Hers

Not to be outdone, Bar 21 Restaurant also serves moist chocolate cake. It was so viscous; it didn’t even slide off when my brother-in-law precariously tilted the plate. He played with my late night snack because he didn’t get his. Although the restaurant was known for batchoy, they had none at 10pm. Tip: Don’t expect anything at 10pm in Bacolod.

His and Hers: Bar 21's Chocolate Cake, His

And of course, there’s Calea Pastries & Coffee, the mother lode of dessert places in the city. We attempted to give it a try twice, but there were SRO crowds both times. Finally one lazy aftie, we found an available table. It was cake central. I had a dessert dilemma; I couldn’t commit to one cake. I wanted them all. My sister and her friends at one time ordered an array of cakes, lined them up on the table, and sampled each one. But that may be too much even for a cake junkie like me.

Come on in to Calea Pastries & Coffee

Since the cake shop is such a people magnet, it is also a great place to go people watching. Or listening. It was fun eavesdropping on the conversations of Bacoleños in Ilonggo. I realized how much I missed the lilting intonation of my native tongue – sweet music to my ears.

Mom at Calea: Let 'em eat cake!

But Felicia’s Pastry Cafe has the last word on ensaimadad, a Spanish pastry topped with grated cheese and sugar. I usually dip ensaymada into my coffee, but this one could stand on its own. It just melted in my mouth.

Mother and Daughter Bonding over Felicia's Ensaymada

Our dessert trail ended back where it started, El Ideal. The restaurant is conveniently located on the way to the airport, a perfect last-minute stop for take-away. I had my sugar fix in Negros and more. In fact, I tweeted: “If I had one more dessert, I’d go into shock.” So I went back to basics; I opted for sinambag, a biscuit shaped like sambag (sampalok in Tagalog, tamarind in English) that stores well. It’s unsweetened but gives you a potent dessert kick; and with its cylindrical shape, it’s made for dipping into coffee. I bought more to bring home as a not-so-sweet souvenir from the sugar trail that is my hometown.

Sinambag

Advertisement