Kalami Cebu! - A Gastronomic Guide to Cebu

  I was invited by Dr. Nestor Alonso to his fraternity's anniversary.  His simple preposition was that he is organizing a lechon and cognac night for the Venerable Knight Veterinarians Fraternity and Sorority members of Cebu.  With lechon alone, it would have been an easy yes but with cognac, it became a no-brainer.  Happy 63rd Anniversary, VKV!!!

  We all know that Lechon is almost synonymous to Cebu.  In Cebu, you can practically have the best lechon in the world any time of the week.  For me, one of the best food experiences is to have a lechon brunch at Poblacion, Talisay City, Cebu.  The food stalls near Larawan Beach open every weekend early in the morning until afternoon.  It is indeed one of my favorite brunch places in the world.

When I have friends and relatives from out of town who come to Cebu, they usually ask me where to eat the best lechon.  I have my personal favorites but there are just so many good lechoneros in Cebu.  Dondi and Corinne Joseph of D+B Wines had a couple of visitors from Manila and instead of just taking them to their favorite lechon place, they decided to give them some choices.  Actually, a lot of choices.  They invited some other friends to a lechon and wine dinner and this is what happened.

Kalami Cebu Food Wars #LechonWars debuted last week and the first match-up ended in a rout as Rico's Lechon handily beat Zubuchon, 10-3.  Many Cebuano foodies in social media said it was going to be a mismatch and they were right.   Most tasters preferred the saltier flavor of Rico's Lechon while Zubuchon got some points from their skin and the meat quality.  Check out our video for what transpired in this episode.

There was a social media firestorm yesterday when an article came out at the ABS-CBN website telling the public that Cebu Favorite Lechon Zubuchon is coming to Manila.  I know Cebuanos love lechon and as a Cebuano, I consider it as a heritage dish.  I did not expect, though, the extreme reactions that the article generated from my fellow Cebuanos. Are we going to destroy friendships over lechon?  Well, here is my take.