Davao Local Customs

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the sweet and yummy mangosteen candies which are derived from the mangosteen fruit. the mangosteen fruit is a tropical fruit endemic in south east asia and has a hard shell but a soft and fleshy interior and a hard seed too. It is a sweet fruits and also is a favorite in davao but is not in season when we visited so we had to settle for the mangosteen candies, made from pureed mangosteen and skimmed milk and are available everywhere specially in souvenir shops and they costs 35 pesos per small plastic pack.

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the local davao biscuits. In the National Filipino Dialect, Patatas means potatoes but here in davao city, in the local dialect, they mean the square and small tasty biscuits made from wheat flour, milk, eggs, sugar and some margarine and these patatas cookies are sold in the local groceries or bakeries and are not that visible in souvenir stores or shops. A small patatas plastic bag will cost about 40 pesos and are tasty and sweet but has a crunchy consistency.

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this is another innovation to the Hopia or the Philippine version of the chinese mooncake this time instead of mongo fillings, it is filled with durian and is what I termed an exotic delicacy and the Durian Hopia is available is 4 pieces of buns at the assorted stores and souvenir shops all around davao city and it costs 50 pesos per order or the 8 pieces pack which costs 100 pesos per order. go ahead and try this delicacy.

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most chicharonnes or chicharon (as it is called in the philippines) is made from pork cracklings but here in davao, they have a beef crackling version of the popular chicharon made from the beef skin so that the local muslim population can savor the savory cracklings of chicharon (pork is forbidden for muslims). This local delicacy in davao is available in the stores and souvenir shops of davao and has local vinegar as dipping sauce and costs 50 pesos for a small pack and 100 pesos for a big pack.

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you can put this durian jam to your favorite bread and make it taste better? but again it depends if you are a durian lover or not heehehe. the durian jam is made again from pureed durian bits and is stewed in sugar and you can add pectin or careegeenan to make is jelly like and the durian jam is available in shops and souvenir stores all around davao city and cost 80 to 100 pesos for a small bottlle so buy one now when you are in davao city.

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again, assorted sweets mixed with the king of fruits, the durian as the main flavor, the macaroon is a type of small cake which uses egg whites instead of egg yolks as the base ingredients and pureed durian is added to it. It is available everyhere in davao city and sell for 50 pesos a small pack. the pastillas is a creamy and chewy cake that has condensed milk as it's base and again durian puree is added and it costs 35 pesos for a small pack and is available all around the souvenir and candy shops of Davao City.

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as in Malaysia and in Thailand and Singapore, Davao City has it's own version of the durian chocolate and there is only one brand here and one styleof Durian Chocolate wherein the chocolates are molded into curly tops with pureed durian flesh inside the chocolate tops and they come in 4 pieces and larger 12 pieces packs and costs 50 pesos per 4 pieces and 150 pesos per 12 pieces and are available everywhere and also in the Airport (but the Malaysian Durian Chocolates are more creamy, pls see my kuala lumpur page).

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a more sweeter version of the Durian candy due to lots and lots of dulce de leche or condensed milk is added into this very sweet and very creamy soft and chewable candies and the yema candy also has egg yolks (the egg whites are not part of the yema) and finally you add the pureed durian bits into the mix and let is cool and viola! durian yema and the best durian yema are made by Lola Abon's and they will cost about 45 to 50 pesos per 10 piece balls and are available everywhere in Davao City. Try them and you definitely ask for more!