And commenting here MAINLY, to say that the zubuchon at the prenuptial banquet last night did not disappoint! The puffed skin was still very crisp on arrival…..this after being shipped from Cebu and being served past 8:00 pm. The cargo was released past 5:30 p.m.on a 3:45 PAL flight and I did not reckon the crazy traffic during the holiday season. I sweated with the driver trying to get to the venue in time for a 7 PM event at the same time savoring the aroma that wafted from the back of the van and anxiously wondering what shape the pigs will be in after all the wait.

We still had to wait a while more for the lechon to be served. The caterers were not advised to have available, a cleaver knife and chopping board which had to be purchased somewhere in Serendra, the venue of the affair. Both principals of the wedding are US based and had a young relative take charge of the banquet.

While guests were looking for the sarsa ( Manila folks aren’t used to the Cebu lechon, I guess), the bride to be later approached me and said how delicious the lechon was . An American guest commented: “so pigs can fly?”

While waiting for the rest of the lechon to be served, one was placed in the middle of the table, the pig resplendent of its beautiful and uniformly browned puffed skin, its slightly upturned snout and nicely curled tail on its hind. Again, the unprepared caterers had to place one of the three lechons on the table in half the box it was shipped in, which was not necessarily a bad thing. The box with the beautiful zubuchon logo was decent enough to find a place on the buffet table.

Zubuchon is truly a designer pig, the skin carefully punctured so as to puff in the right places and did not look haphazardly done. And if it had come from a tanning salon, I’d say it was perfectly tanned!

I observed the guests, some taking off strands of meat from the young ribs, discovering perhaps that the closer the meat to the bone and the seasonings, the tastier it is.

MM, I admire and congratulate the work you have done to make zubuchon what it is, from the ordering process to the professionality of your staff, Joan, Beverly who promptly responded to my queries and concerns and of course Victor and the rest of the staff who shipped the lechons to arrive in the good shape they came in.

My personal comments: I don’t particularly care for the lechon meat ( I just like the skin) but zubuchon is tasty and delicious it can stand without the sarsa. One also appreciates the infused herbs and seasonings better in the almost melt in the mouth tenderness of the young pig.

But wait MM, zubuchon can not be that perfect!. The first part of the skin I tasted when I sneaked in the kitchen to get the first viewing of the unpacked zubu was a little bit salty for my taste…I think I got the part that had more of the coarse and grainier salt crystals, but that is me after being with my husband on a low salt diet and my taste buds getting something of a relative salt shock.

Anyway, IT IS STILL THE BEST PIG EVER!!!

Thanks MM!

and bettyQ……. I got to taste zubuchon first!!! And you have to come to Cebu as you promised.