My All-Time Faves: Torta de Cebu

Here's a quick post on my all-time fave pastry from Cebu, the torta, which is a home-made version of something akin to ensaymada w/o the excess cheese.

I remember snacking on these every time my Mom would come home from her usual trips to Cebu. My relatives from my Dad's side of the family used to always send these as "pasalubong" to us here in Manila, alongside the sweetest mangoes and the freshest crabs!

Now that I've grown up, I make sure I get my torta fix every chance I get. Last year, I went to Cebu for work but right before I landed, I made sure to send word to my cousin there to order me a box of torta. True enough, she delivered the box to my hotel a day before I was set to leave for Manila.

I still don't really know what ingredients went into this delicacy, and I sure don't care now. All I know is each bite I make makes me feel real good. It tastes like heaven!

I'm sure not everyone will take a liking to it, but who cares? Its a home-made delicacy, though I'm not sure who's home it was baked in. All I know is I just order a batch from my cousin and she makes sure it gets to me, freshly baked!

I've tasted a local (Manila) version a couple of years ago. It was at the weekend pastry fair at Rockwell's Power Plant mall. I saw one of the stalls selling a familiar-looking pastry and noticed that it somewhat looked like the torta I love. I bought a couple of pieces and took a bite on one, but noticed that it didn't taste the same. The consistency was different; it felt like a bit more "refined" and processed than the real one. It was more like mamon than torta, a lame representation if ever there was one.

I knew that the best and only torta I should look for is the one from my hometown of Cebu. No imitations whatsover.

Recently, my Mom went to Cebu and I made sure to tell her to bring a stash of the delicious torta for me! And so she did, along with Cebu chicharon and the famous lechon de Cebu! Hooboy!

I've been snacking on my rations this past week, warming a couple of pieces in the oven toaster and finishing it off in the car on the way to work.

Now I'm down to my last piece, and I'm not sure when I'll get a new batch again. I don't mind, coz the brief moment of bliss I experience each time I take a bite all the more makes up for the long time between the next "shipment."

I'm so glad my wife and kids are not too keen on it, yet, so I don't need to share it with them. Yeah, I'm selfish when it comes to my torta!