ABOUT 12 member establishments of Cagayan de Oro Hotels and Restaurants Association or Cohara showcased mouth-watering food plating presentations of the traditional Filipino dish, "Humba" to open the Humba de Oro Festival at the Limketkai Mall Atrium Thursday, March 30.
The festival marked Cohara’s third straight year on food display and tasting since 2015. The activity was also in celebration of the Madrid Fusion Manila, which is the first Asian edition of Madrid Fusion - a traditional gastronomy celebration in Madrid, Spain.
“This is our third year of our food presentation and we chose humba this year,” said Nelia Lee, Cohara president.
Cohara started with the Sinuglaw Festival in their first year and succeeded with the Binaki and Kape Festival last year.
Present with their presentation yesterday Thursday, March 30, were from Apple Tree Hotel, Chali Beach Resorts and Hotels, Luxe Hotel, Grand City Hotel, Seda Centrio, Ah Fong Asian Cuisine, Cagayan Riverview Inn, VIP Hotel, Kagay-anon Restaurant and Boy Zugba.
Former Barangay Iponan chairman and now Kagawad Anthony Brellita, a respected humba critic, personally witnessed the activity. Over the years, Brellita founded the annual Humba Festival in Barangay Iponan which became popularly known in the city that takes place every July.
“Majority of them had a lot of innovations from their chefs and they are particular of their presentations that are good in the eyes,” said Brellita.
Like the one from Seda, its presentation was cooked to a kind of belly lechon but has the taste of humba.
“We made it differently than the traditional one but it still has the taste of humba,” said Randy Dreisback, food and beverage manager of Seda.
He added that the pork was marinated for two days so as the taste of humba would prevail.
Brellita noted that the presentations from Apple Tree, Ah Fong and Grand City were close to the traditional ones but has some innovations. “The presentations reflect that the culinary community of the city is brimming with pride,” Brellita said.
