TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) — In celebration of Filipino Food Month (FFM) in April, three fiesta dishes were featured in this year’s “Kumbira sa Tagbilaran.”
The “Kumbira sa Tagbilaran” is an annual culinary festival in Bohol organized by the City Government of Tagbilaran, as part of the activities of the Saulog sa Tagbilaran fiesta celebration.
The event is a cooking contest for city barangays, showcasing local cuisine that aims to sharpen the skills of local chefs and promote Bohol’s culinary heritage.
For this year, three fiesta dishes were featured, namely: Bol-anon-style humba, Bol-anon-style hamonada and hinilosan.
Criteria for judging includes mise-en-place (20 percent), quality (25 percent), palatability (25 percent), presentation (20 percent), and time pressure (10 percent).
The participants were allowed to create their own ideas and concepts provided they followed the guidelines and that the dishes showcased Bol-anon taste or palate.
The ingredients were provided by the organizing committee, but the participants brought their own materials for presentation and cooking wares.
Out of the 15 participating barangays, Barangay Taloto emerged as the grand champion of Kumbira sa Tagbilaran 2025.
Siblings Jurat Vincent Ragusta (cook) and Jury Christian Ragusta (assistant cook) from Purok 2 Taloto took home P15,000 cash prize, a gas range and a certificate.
This is the second time the brothers joined the cooking contest in which they also placed third place last year.
“Og unsa lang ang ingredients ang naa didto ug gihatagan ra gyud nako og oras aron molasa,” said Jurat when asked what was his secret ingredient for his winning dishes.
(I only used the ingredients that were provided and I just gave the food enough time for the flavor to develop.)
Jurat is a graduating student of University of Bohol taking up Hotel and Restaurant Management.
After graduation, he hopes to work as a chef in Panglao. (ECB/PIA7-Bohol)
