Mandaue City, Cebu’s most famous native delicacies are bibingka, budbud or bud-bud, masareal, and tagaktak.

The bibingka is a rice cake made of ground rice, coconut milk, buko strips, sugar, and either yeast or coconut alcohol. Many, who have tasted the Mandaue bibingka will swear it is far more delicious and tasty than the bibingka of the other regions in the country.

The masareal is grayish white in color and shaped into thin narrow wafers. It is made of grounded peanuts into the texture of powder, sugar, and other secret ingredients. The so-called secret ingredients are passed from one generation to another from the families of masareal makers in Mandaue. The oldest and most famous brand of masareal from Mandaue is Didang’s Masareal.

The budbud is Mandaue’s version of the popular Filipino snack of suman. There are three types of budbud and the most common type is the budbud kabog, which many say is the most delicious and tasty of the three types. The budbud kabog is made of glutinous millet, coconut milk and sugar, and wrapped in banana leaves.

The tagaktak is a crispy, thin, triangular-shaped cake that’s made of grounded or pounded rice, sugar and some water. People who have eaten the tagaktak said that it is almost similar in taste to the breakfast cereal of rice krispies.

Indeed, you will find yourself craving for more once you’ve tasted these delicacies.

*Images courtesy of http://www.ngkhai.net and http://en.wikipedia.org.