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Filipino Tablea Chocolate: How One Woman in Iloilo Is Reviving a Heritage Tradition
By Natalie U. Lim |
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Before I fell in love with tablea, I avoided chocolate like it was medicine. Growing up Tsinoy, I favored dikiam, kiamoy, and peanuts over anything sweet.
Chocolate was “heaty”—a Tsinoy belief rooted in traditional Chinese medicine that certain foods can raise the body’s internal heat. This supposed imbalance could lead to sore throats, fever, or skin breakouts. So in our household, chocolate wasn’t a treat; it was a trigger. But in Cabatuan, Iloilo, that changed.
Because there, chocolate wasn’t just dessert. It was memory. It was history. It was home—shaped into rolls, wrapped in banana leaves, and made with care.
Visitors at Balay Tablea try their hand at using the traditional metate y mano—crushing roasted cacao beans by hand, just as Catherine’s ancestors once did.
A Town Rooted in Cacao
Cabatuan lies about 24 kilometers northwest of Iloilo City, often known today as the location of the Iloilo International Airport. But beyond its runways and rice fields, it carries a lesser-known legacy: cacao.
Introduced by Spanish friars in the 17th century, cacao once flourished in this agricultural town. Back then, tsokolate was a luxury, reserved for the elite and often served thick (espeso) during merienda. While the cultivation waned over time, the memory of Filipino tablea chocolate—pure, ground cacao formed into tablets—remained.
In 2012, the local government officially declared cacao as Cabatuan’s One Town, One Product (OTOP) commodity, second only to the native chicken dish tinuom. That same year, a retired public school teacher named Catherine Taleon decided to bring the product—and the town’s pride—back to life.
Cacao pods in varying shades of yellow, orange, and red—each holding the seeds that will eventually become rich, earthy Filipino tablea chocolate.
From Classroom to Cacao: Catherine’s Journey
With ₱10,000 from her performance bonus, Catherine could’ve bought something for herself. Instead, she invested every peso into a dream: to produce Filipino tablea chocolate the old way—and make Cabatuan known for it.
She registered a small business and tried to name it Balay Tablea, but the Department of Trade and Industry rejected it as too generic. So she turned to something closer to heart: her childhood pen name, Sunburst.
And with that, Sunburst’s Balay Tablea was born.
“I didn’t want to just sell chocolate,” she explains. “I wanted to build a brand that uplifts a community—one that supports local farmers and brings pride to our craft.”
Chocolate by Metate
Instead of modern machines, Catherine chose to revive the metate y mano—a traditional stone grinder used to crush roasted cacao beans into paste. The metate, a concave stone slab, pairs with a handheld mano, working together to extract flavor through slow, patient grinding.
The smell of roasting cacao fills her workshop most mornings—smoky, earthy, and rich with nostalgia. Once ground, the cacao paste is shaped into rolls and wrapped in dried banana leaves, imparting a subtle fragrance and an unmistakable sense of home.
She even trained out-of-school youth to help wrap each roll, paying them per piece to give them income and purpose. “One wrap at a time, we build something together,” she says.
At Balay Tablea, visitors are welcomed with mangga at ibos paired with steaming hot tsokolate—a comforting merienda that honors Ilonggo hospitality and heritage.
Sweetness Earned
At first, sourcing beans was unpredictable. Farmers brought cacao in varying conditions—some under-roasted, some over-dried. But Catherine bought them anyway.
“Even if I couldn’t use the beans, I still paid. That sale might be the only money they brought home that day. I’d just teach them what to do better next time.”
One of those farmers was Mang Leo from Barangay Ayaman.“At first, I didn’t even know how long to roast,” he admits. “But she never got mad. She taught us. Now, my beans always pass.”
Over time, her quiet advocacy turned into a movement. Today, over 20 farming families supply cacao to Sunburst’s Balay Tablea, producing more than 500 kilograms of Filipino tablea chocolate each month.
From Cabatuan to the World
Catherine’s Filipino tablea chocolate has become a staple in Iloilo’s hotels and pasalubong shops. Since 2022, it’s been part of the LaMeza Ilonggo Degustation, a celebration of local flavors told through carefully composed tasting menus.
In 2024, she brought her products to the UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy Expo in Macao, where her banana leaf-wrapped rolls sold out even before the event ended.
One standout moment came from her collaboration with Chef Ariel Castañeda Jr., Executive Chef of Richmonde Hotel Iloilo. Together, they created a now-iconic dish: Tablea Cheesecake with Tultul, fusing native sea salt with dark Ilonggo cacao.
Richmonde Hotel’s Ilonggo Tiramisu layers local coffee and Filipino tablea chocolate for a familiar dessert reimagined with regional soul.
“I use tablea in my dishes because it’s more than just an ingredient—it’s a piece of our heritage,” says Chef Ariel. “It carries the rich flavors of cacao that’s been passed through generations. Tablea has this earthy, bittersweet depth that instantly adds warmth and soul to any dish—whether savory or sweet. It reminds me of home, of comfort, and of stories told over tsokolate.”
Since then, the cheesecake—along with the hotel’s Ilonggo Tiramisu—has become a signature dessert, showcasing how traditional ingredients can shine in modern cuisine.
This July, Catherine returns to Macao, this time bringing more Filipino tablea chocolate and reuniting with Chef Arieland Chef Panky Lopez of Megaworld Hotels & Resorts for two cooking demos that spotlight Iloilo’s evolving culinary identity.
Cabatuan LGU supports Sunburst’s Balay Tablea by organizing experiential farm visits—inviting tourists to see how cacao is grown, harvested, and transformed into tablea chocolate.
A Legacy, Wrapped in Banana Leaves
Today, Sunburst’s Balay Tablea continues to operate from its humble shop in Cabatuan. Catherine’s husband, a retired luxury cruise chef, and her daughter help run the business. The metate still grinds. The banana leaves still wrap.
And the dream keeps growing.
Catherine hopes to establish a Cacao Visitor Center in Cabatuan—part showroom, part community hub, part classroom. A place where visitors can learn to grind, wrap, and sip tsokolate the way her ancestors did.
“Some say there’s nothing more romantic than chocolate,” she says. “But for me, it’s seeing people come alive because of something you started. That’s the real sweetness.”
