TASTE TEST. Batchoy is one of the traditional Ilonggo dishes. A study that will look into the batchoy industry in Iloilo will be undertaken by the University of the Philippines Visayas in collaboration with the Iloilo City government. (PNA file photo)
ILOILO CITY – The University of the Philippines will look into one of Ilonggo’s treasures – batchoy.
A study that will look into the batchoy industry in Iloilo will be undertaken by UP Visayas in collaboration with the local government here.
“They want to look at the batchoy industry because nobody has really delved into their value chain, their history,” Lea Victoria Lara, Director of the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibits (MICE), said in an interview on Thursday.
“I’m sure there are a lot of versions because it originated from a family business, so there are different recipes,” she said.
The city government and UPV signed the memorandum of agreement Tuesday for the Project Namit Gid: A Multi-Stakeholders’ Collaboration for llonggo’s Batchoy under the Panay Weaving and Culinary Heritage Program.
Signatories included Mayor Jerry Treñas and UP Visayas Chancellor Clement Camposano along with UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (CIDS) Executive Director Dr. Rosalie Alcala-Hall and Center for Western Visayan Studies Director Frances Anthea Redison.
“We have not examined the situation of our batchoy, and it’s a good start for us. Looking forward, there might be next. These are academicians, and they are offering us a way of preserving our heritage dish,” Lara said.
In the agreement, the study will focus on the history and cultural significance of the well-known soup in Iloilo City, and explore the origin, evolution, and role in shaping the gastronomic identity of the city.
“What the study aims to do is determine if they have challenges. If there’s a danger of, maybe, losing their authenticity, availability of ingredients. UP is also into food technology, so they want to take a look maybe into packaging, how else can we innovate on the traditional thing,” Lara said.
The first stakeholders meeting is set this month for the needs assessment session.
Since it is the first time for batchoy houses to gather, Lara said they hope they can create industry standards among themselves.
“Hopefully, the study will influence them to agree on the standards, although they won’t be sharing their recipes because that makes their products unique,” she said.
Batchoy is a concoction of noodles with beef stock, crushed pork cracklings, and innards, among others. (PNA)
