EXPERIENCE BUDBUD AND SIKWATE AT “PAINITAN”, DUMAGUETE CITY

EXPERIENCE BUDBUD AND SIKWATE AT “PAINITAN”, DUMAGUETE CITY

I took in a fast trip to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental last week. Since It was merely an overnight trip, I didn’t have any chance to visit any tourist attraction which I can share with you. Instead, I just maximize my short time seeing some spots within the City which I will be sharing with you in the next couple of days.

One place I made sure to visit before going home is the city public market. My purposes for visiting the place is to buy “Budbud” to bring home and hoping to see an old friend.

Many years back, I had a friend named Lenuel who was a fruit vendor in that market whom I used to order for fresh mangoes. He   would send these  mangoes from Dumaguete via  bus to Bacolod City and sometimes he would send me some Budbud. That was the time when I was introduced to Budbud.

Budbud is Dumaguete’s famous delicacy that is made of sticky rice and wrapped in Banana Leaves. Another version of this delicacy is the Budbud kabog. Budbud Kabog is not the usual suman. It is made of millet  in lieu of glutinous rice.

Millet  being the main ingredient of Budbud Kabog belongs to a group of related plants that produce small pearl-like textures. Millet is low in essential amino acids and higher than most grains in fat content, 75 percent of which is heart-healthy polyunsaturated fat. Millet has been proven to be potentially beneficial in the management of diabetes. Local millet or “kabog” grows wild in the arid and barren hills of Northern Cebu (like those In Catmon), as good as on other Visayan islands (like Negros Oriental). It is collected by hand and is quite expensive. Hence the Budbud Kabog is also quite expensive as compared to the ordinary one.

Before getting to the fruit and another part of the Public market, we passed straight to a section on the market, popularly recognized as “Painitan”. Painitan is a long alley of stalls, all selling Budbud, Hot Chocolate, Coffee, and Puto. I have heard of this place before, but I didn’t realize how big and popular it is in the Dumaguete.

 

Sikwate, a native chocolate concocted from pure tablea

Upon reaching the place, I saw a variety of groups of people leisurely taking their morning hot chocolate or coffee along with the famous budbud or puto. I have seen some elderlies grouping together, some groups  were obvious local tourists because, like me they were taking many pictures, some were teenagers and much more.

As we were looking for a place to sit a group of elderly offered their table for us knowing that we are new in the place (they were done, by the way). Of course we refuse the offer, thinking that they might still want to stay for some good conversation. But one old man said,  “No, we want our visitor to enjoy this place, so please take this table”. “Wow, that was heartwarming”, I exclaimed.

Upon having the table, we ordered for the specialty of the place -the Budbud and Sikwate (Hot Chocolate) made from the local Tablea. I was asked by the vendor if I wanted my chocolate with milk, well, I don’t what’s best so I said yes. But I was a bit disappointed because I was expecting for a thick chocolate.  So, a piece of advice when visiting  the place order for a plain Sikwate.

Painitan is the place for an early morning spree of budbud and chocolate for early morning joggers and church goers.

I really enjoyed having my  breakfast at “Painitan”. The authenticity of the food that they serve, plus the sight of different types of people dining in the place and the beautiful conversations we had made that dining experience great.

So the next you visit Dumaguete City, do visit and experience the “Painitan” in the Public Market. Have a “Happy Trip”.