3 By: Meriam Reyline Alo In the heart of Negros Province, Visayas lay Bacolod City also known as the City of Smiles. It is famous for its Masskara Festival and home to famous delicacies such as Piaya, Napoloenes, and Chicken Inasal. What are known to most peo- ple are only the well-known places and delicacy and only few would no- tice the things that carry not only a part of the culture but also a piece of history of the Bacolodnons. What I’m talking about is Cansi at Sharyn's Cansi House, Php 270 per serve not a place of worship or a painting of beauty but rather a taste of mouth-watering, steaming hot, bursting with flavour CANSI. What is Cansi, you might ask. For those who love bulalo or sinigang I assure you this is one dish you would not want to miss eating because this is a combination of both. It is a soup dish made of beef’s bone, bone marrow, langka and batwan boiled to perfection to attain a perfect combination of sour and beefy taste. Its flavoursome broth together with its tender beef makes you forget about the cholesterol and urges you to eat some more. The most famous Cansi house is Sharyn’s Cansi House located at C-58 Nar- ra Ave., Capitol Shopping Center, Ba- colod City or commonly known as “shop- Sharyn's Cansi House during the busiest store hours ping”. The place is very simple and not intimidating. Sharyn’s Cansi House started at 1985 and has been on business for 31 years. The Cansi House is owned by Mrs Delia Perez. She is the one who started the business in 1985 and until now she is still managing the restaurant. She is very hands on in managing the Cansi house in fact she even serves the customers es- pecially during the busiest store hours. The name of the cansi house was tak- en from one of her daughters, Sharyn. When I asked her if she happens to know where Cansi originated, she told me it was just her own recipe. There was really no origin it was a matter of tri- al and error of mixing the ingredients to make a perfect taste that is her style. Upon tasting cansi, customers would notice the right amount of sourness and rich beefy taste of the broth and the ten- Mrs. Delia Perez, owner of Sharyn's Cansi House derness of the beef. It makes you wonder what the secret to this mouth-watering taste is. Mrs. Perez said there was no se- The family business and reci- cret to the flavour of cansi just add a lot of pe is passed down from generation to batwan for the sour taste, cook it slowly so generation. Throughout the years the that the beef would cook well and do it with Cansi House continues to be a suc- love it is also important that the ingredients cess and one of the most sought out are of good quality. She added that cook- restaurants in the city. Mrs Perez said ing with love makes you inspired and when that the secret to success is the qual- you’re inspired it reflects to the food you ity of the cansi and the service to the are cooking, as a result people like the food. customers are maintained. Since food is a basic commodity they have a non- stop business. The cansi house lasted for 31 years not only because of cansi but also because of perseverance and patience in running the restaurant. What sets Sharyn’s Cansi House apart from other cansi houses is that it is the “original”, the one that started the cansi business. Other cansi hous- es just followed and formulated their own versions of cansi. She said, “This is why others compare which is better”. Signage outside Sharyn's Cansi House At present, Sharyn’s Cansi House is well known not only to Bacolodnon’s but to tourists as well. In fact it has been featured in magazines such as Yummy, Cebu Pacigic, Pinaka, and Food. It ranked number two in “50 Things to do in Bacolod” which is a part of Bacolod City tourism. Numerous blog posts can also be found in the internet about their experience in eating cansi. The first article written about the cansi house was back in the 1990’s in the Star Newspaper. The Cansi house also received an award from So Pinoy for being one of the country’s best restaurants in serving bulalo. The cansi house is visited by people from all walks of life such as politicians, celebrities such as Isko Moreno, basketball players like Ateneo blue eagles, foreigners during the Masskara Award given to Sharyn's Cansi House by So Pinoy Festival, and of course the Bacolodnons. Informant's Information Mrs Delia Perez Owner of Sharyn's Cansi House Sharyn's Cansi House C-58 Narra Ave., Capitol Shopping Center, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental Telephone No.: 433-1374 About the author Meriam Reyline Alo is a 19 year old college student living in Bacolod City, Negross Oc- cidental and currently taking up Bachelor of Science in Food Technology II at The University of The Philippines Visayas. She enjoys travelling, reading books , and is a food enthusiast. You can contact her on Twitter @Awesomeriam or e-mail her at [email protected] .