Beef randang and chicken piyaparan
Among the many Maranao dishes, beef randang and chicken piyaparan shined the most at the culinary festival.
"'Yung main course namin is beef randang. 'Yung beef randang kasi is parang kultura at tradition na yan ng mga Maranao. Lahat ng handaan, mga events natin tulad ng Eid'l Adha and Eid'l Fitr, kahit na may kambing ay nandiyan pa rin yung beef [Our main course is beef randang. The beef randang is like the culture and tradition of the Maranao people. All our feasts, events like Eid'l Adha and Eid'l Fitr, even if there is a goat, the beef is still there]," said Farhana Lomudag from Tugaya town.
She said it was her first time joining a culinary competition. She and her teammates were nervous but excited at the same time, as they would be able to showcase their Maranao dishes at the culinary event.
Farhana shared that if the provincial government holds the same competition next year, they will participate again as they find their first experience memorable and meaningful.
"The main dish [we prepared] is a whole chicken, which we called "Matarintis a manok." The term "matarintis" means perfect or whole package. Since the trend nowadays is fried chicken and in our culture the way of cooking the chicken is piyaparan (with shredded coconut), so we decided to combine them together," said Majar Mariga from Sultan Dumalondong.
Mariga said the names of their dishes were also coined from the main ingredients, such as the appetizer Parezan," which is a combination of pareya (bitter gourd) and puzan (small salted fish).
Hadja Aliah Dimalna from the municipality of Marantao, who cooked chicken piyaparan, said she also enjoyed the experience. "Sumali kami for fun. Sinubukan lang namin and okay naman 'yung experience. If may ganitong event next year, InshaAllah sasali kami [We joined for fun. We just tried it and the experience was okay. If there is another event like this next year, in God’s will, we will still join]," she added.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Tourism Officer was surprised to witness a fusion of traditional and modern ways of cooking Maranao dishes.
"Nakakagulat na nag-evolve na rin ‘yung mga cuisines natin. For example, yung biyaring dish na nakasanayan nating raw (ang pag-serve).This time, dito ginawa nilang fried [It was really surprising to see that our cuisines have also evolved. For example, the biyaring dish that we usually serve raw, they have fried the ingredients]," Tamano stated.
With this development, Tamano said the citizens can hope for another culinary event at next year's founding anniversary of the province, targeting promising cooks from the different schools in the province as participants.
For the first culinary event, the cooks from the municipality of Balabagan were hailed as the champions, while the first and second runners-up were bestowed on the municipalities of Bubong and Marantao, respectively.
The champion received a P50,000 cash prize, while the first and second runners-up got P30,000 and P15,000, respectively. Other participants received a consolation prize of P5,000 each. Aside from the cash prize, all participants were also given P5,000 to defray their transportation costs. (APB/PIA-10)
