JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

is made the old-fashioned Filipino way at Camiña Balay nga Bato in Iloilo. It’s so good, you can sit in a cafe in Brussels, Basel or Barcelona, try their hot chocolate and say, “Wala ba kayo noong tsokolate tablea sa Iloilo? With Alpine milk?”

See that pot of rich, thick chocolate?

It takes four of these white packages of tablea to make one pot. No wonder it’s so good, it is labor-intensive. You can buy the tsokolate tablea at Lola Rufina Heritage Curio Shop on the ground floor of the old house. The shop also carries traditional woven fabrics, pottery, baskets, accessories and sinamak vinegar.

If you’d like to tour the old house or have lunch or dinner there, you can make an appointment at telephone (033) 306 1927.

The stone house, built in 1865, stands on Osmeña Street in Villa de Arevalo, Iloilo. You can’t miss it.

Go to the side of the house. No matter how desperate your craving for tsokolate, don’t forget your manners. You’re in Iloilo, what’s the rush?

The lady of the house Ms Luth Camiña, president of Banco de Arevalo, had just arrived. “If I’d known you were coming I would’ve prepared a proper lunch,” she declared. “We have no food. Would you like lechon and red rice?”

Whereupon food started coming out of the kitchen.

She made a bowl of hanggop, a refreshing salad of tomatoes and coriander in a sinamak dressing. Why do the simplest vegetables taste better when you’re in the country? Because they were just picked that day and are practically alive.

Then came the lechon, left over from the fiesta the previous night when there were a hundred visitors in the house. It was served with laswa, our favorite name for a vegetable stew. It should always be served next to the Ilokano puke-puke (a misnomer since it’s made of eggplant and eggs. Puke-puke. Laswa!)

And newly-cooked red rice, a variety that’s available only at certain times of the year. It’s so chewy and tasty you don’t need anything with it. The secret, Ms Luth said, is the amount of water you cook it with.

Instant feast!

* * * * *
Thanks to the My City, My SM, My Cuisine team Millie Dizon, Melody Bay, Nonie Cartagena and Cora Alvina of the Metropolitan Museum for making this trip possible.