BACOLOD City – The City Government of Cadiz in Negros Occidental will hold a one-of-a-kind cooking competition featuring the local delicacy “buriring” (pufferfish) as the main ingredient on Friday, September 5, at the Cadiz City Park.
The culinary showdown, which kicks off at 9 a.m., will highlight buriring as one of Cadiz’s unique and sustained blessings. Contestants will present dishes in two categories: traditional and innovative.
Cadiz’s 22 barangays were clustered into eight groups, each composed of five to seven members, who will showcase their creativity in preparing buriring dishes expected to deliver an “explosion of taste” for visitors and tourists.
City tourism officer Julie Grace Dominguez, who is overseeing the event, said that in the traditional category, contestants are required to use either libas leaves or santol fruits as souring agents, along with butter or margarine for added flavor. In the innovative category, participants are free to prepare buriring dishes not commonly known to Cadizeños.
After the judging, spectators will be treated to a free tasting of the entries.
Buriring is regarded as a seasonal blessing for Cadiz as it appears in abundance in local waters every tiempo muerto (the dead season in the sugar industry), which begins in July. Dominguez noted that while its link to tiempo muerto remains “mysterious,” the bounty has long been celebrated as part of Cadiz’s food heritage and Negros’ slow food culture.
Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. expressed excitement over the event, saying he hopes to attract more visitors from other towns and cities to discover and enjoy buriring cuisine.
“Believe me, just come and eat our buriring. It tastes like heaven,” Escalante said, assuring the public that the variety of pufferfish found in Cadiz is safe and non-poisonous.
Winners of the cooking competition will receive cash prizes: P10,000 for the grand winner, P7,000 for second place, and P5,000 for third place. Non-winning groups will each receive a P1,000 consolation prize./PN
