Maasin City, Southern Leyte: A Foodie's Paradise

“Food is an essential part of living. Among all human activities, eating undoubtedly has the greatest effect on health! After breathing, eating is what we do most frequently during a lifetime.” says Tunde Ajobo, a dietitian at University College Hospital, Ibadan.

Truly, food is important to every individual in existence. Without food, one cannot survive. People worldwide depend on food for daily survival and energy for work. Food is consumed by an entity in accordance with the place and culture where he / she belongs.

Southern Leyte is a province in the Philippines that is located in the Eastern Visayas region. It has eighteen municipalities with one city, having a total population of 390,847.

Southern Leyte

Food has always been a major necessity of the people in the province. Everywhere you go, people’s major concern is food. You always seem to find people eating, especially when they are bored or not doing anything. It is a common pastime of the Southern Leyteńos.

Every place in Southern Leyte has different types of food specialties, depending on what is abundant in it. In Silago - the farthest municipality of the province - for instance, they have the "banagan", a freshwater lobster that is abundant in their rivers, as their specialty. It is usually served when it is already orange in color, crisp, and fresh from the stove on special occasions such as barrio fiestas. It is more delicious when cooked in Sprite beverage, which adds and enhances its flavor. Every time we go to Silago, which is also my Grandfather’s hometown, we always catch ‘banagan’ and bring it fresh and alive back to our homeland.

"Banagan" in Silago

On the other hand, in Pintuyan, one of the four municipalities of the Panaon Island – which is across Surigao, the delicacy they have is "ampaw", which is commonly called rice puff. It is made of rice mixed with syrup (sugar and water) and is dried under the sun, which makes it sweet and crispy. They have the best ‘ampaws’ in the province of Southern Leyte, selling the products to different places in the said province.

"Ampaw" in Pintuyan

Meanwhile, dairy products such as fresh cow’s milk, which comes in various flavors, are abundant in Sogod, the most productive municipality second to Maasin City. It comes in pure milk, chocolate, strawberry, ube, and melon flavors. Every time we visit Silago, we always pass by Sogod. Dropping off Sogod, we constantly buy fresh milk for refreshments. Other specialties in Southern Leyte are the ‘budbud’, a sticky rice delicacy cooked with coconut milk and wrapped in banana leaves then steamed; and bingka, a rice cake made with fire on its top and bottom. Both can be found in Padre Burgos, the second municipality from Maasin City to the Southeast.

''Budbud" and "Bingka" in Padre Burgos

However, in my own opinion, among the food all over the different parts of Southern Leyte, the food in Maasin City is the most sumptuous of all. Well, being a true Maasinhon, I can definitely say that the local food is the best food. For seventeen years of existence in the world, I have always loved the food in our place. Though I was not born in Maasin, still I admire the local food for I grew up there. Being a native of Maasin City, I am going to focus on it for it is the one closest to my heart. Maasin City is the only city in the whole province of Southern Leyte, which is composed of 70 barangays. It is also the capital of the province and is the border from Leyte in the West. One of the most famous specialties in our place is the ‘bocarillo’, a homemade sweet delicacy made of grated meat of young coconut or ripe jackfruit, milk and sugar. It also comes in different flavors such as ube, pineapple, durian, cheese, lemon, or anything you want to put in it if you will only request. 

Maasin City

"Bocarillo" in Maasin City

As you can see, food reflects the culture and lifestyle of the people in Maasin City. People in our place usually love to relax and hang around, especially with friends. You can always see people around the city going out. Because of this, foods sold here are typically intended for consuming outdoors. Examples are the fast foods, which are mostly sold around. These include burgers, pizzas, and the common street foods such as the barbecues, tempuras, squid balls and siomai. Roasted legumes are also a big sale here, especially when it is paired with beer or any beverage when chilling out. 

Friends chilling out on a Friday night having roasted nuts and beer

The lifestyle in Maasin is not fast-paced. Though it is a city, it is not that urbanized yet. It is somehow a rural type of city. Having the mentality of being a bucolic place, people tend to keep things in a regular flow. They do not like to rush things nor keep them slow, same as through with preparing food. This can be seen in cooking barbecues. Grilling barbecues takes time and is usually done outside of the house. That is why people go out just to eat barbecues. Nevertheless, they do not really consider going out as hassle, for the reason that it gives them the opportunity to go socializing. Being a small place, everybody knows almost everyone. Close and tight bonds are usually formed in our place. That is why “salo-salo” or eating in groups is mostly done.

People chilling while waiting for their barbecue to be cooked

Groups of people having dinner

Populaces, young or old, prefer to eat outside and in groups to meet the ambience of leisure and fun. They are usually extroverts, and do not want to be alone, especially in eating. Maasinhons love to converse while eating. You will seldom see people eat alone and silent. Through conversing, they meet the pleasure of socializing and entertainment. They easily smile and get happy, even when only meeting an acquaintance or friend. They even get merrier when they have the chance to chatter with them. Some say Maasinhons are gossipers since they always love to chat and talk about people, issues, and many other things. Gossips are easily spread out in the place – usually in eating places, from one to another.

Old and young people having dinner outside

Eating places in Maasin City are a big factor and reflection on how people eat. There are various types of eating houses that can be found in our place – from the common eating hashes to the pleasing bistros. One of the famous and probably the best place for street foods is the “Mcdo”, or a short for “mag-dukoduko”, meaning to bow the heads down. This was called so since the very first setting of the eating place was at the reclamation area of Maasin, which was very dark then. Since there were no lights, people always bow their heads down as to look closely at the food they are consuming. “Mcdo” is somehow a “corporation” of street food stalls, wherein there are different vendors and owners of each stall. Most foods sold are the barbecues and the hanging rice, which is commonly called “puso” in vernacular.

People eating at "Mcdo"

Another type of eatery is the pastry shop. Example of this is Panny’s, which was used to be a simple home-based pastry store that improved and now has 3 branches in the city.  They sell bread, cakes, cookies, ice cream, and other confectioneries. Students usually eat here since it is near the school. 

Students eating at Panny's

We also have Jollibee and Andok’s, which are fast food chains. Still accessible at schools and offices, students and employees eat at these food places.

My classmates and I eating at Andok's

A family eating at Jollibee after school/office hours

In addition, restaurants cannot be missing, of course. We have Esoy’s Grill, which features Chicken Ati-atihan products; Kinamot sa Abgao, a native restaurant which is located near the seaside and serves the most excellent local (Filipino) foods in the city; and Supercha, a restaurant situated in the heart of the city which serves the finest courses in town. It serves from the simple French fries to the juicy “Supercha barbecue”, their specialty dish which is chicken barbecue marinated and covered in their secret sauce.

My grandparents eating at Esoy's Grill

My Mom relishing some appetizers before the main course is served at Kinamot sa Abgao

A family eating at Supercha

Eating places serve people from different classes of society. People eat according to where and what food they can afford. For instance, those who are not so blessed with wealth eat at “Mcdo” since foods sold there are affordable. But not only that, they are also very delicious – which is a positive on their part. Average people usually go to Supercha, which is the most trending restaurant in Maasin with 3 branches. It also does catering services, which makes it easier for people to have the food that they want. Rich people more often than not go to Kinamot sa Abgao for a meal outside since the ambience is tranquil and pleasant. Though the food is quite expensive, they can afford to pay for it. Entertainment is also present in the eating place. Sometimes, there are bands that will perform various genres, especially during Friday nights.

My friends having a pic with Spongecola before they perform at Kinamot sa Abgao

In each type of eating place, eating manners are observed. Commoners eat in compliance with the place where they put away food. In the streets, people care less on how they eat. They can just eat using their hands, which is commonly practiced by anyone eating street foods. In fast food chains and restaurants, spoon and fork are used in eating, with less or no use of bare hands at all. 

Nevertheless, no matter who or where you are, the pleasure of food depends on what and how you devour it. People have different types and tastes of food. As for a foodie like me, my tongue will always be loyal to the local food, for Maasin is my seventh heaven.

Me eating Kinamot sa Abgao's juice pork barbecue