BAGUIO CITY — As a salute to the millions of farmers especially of rice, the Hotel and Restaurants Association of Baguio (HRAB) gave a treat of more than a thousand kilos of fried rice of many varieties Thursday at the atrium of SM City Baguio.

HRAB president Anthony de Leon said that Rise and Shine 3.0 is one of the highlights of the opening of the 17th Hotel and Restaurant Tourism (HRT) Week. He disclosed that the said event was planned for months to give the best tribute to the rice farmers.

He said that they served around 1,600 kilos of rice capable of feeding 15,000 to 16,000 people. 

According to De Leon, the event is a bid to promote Baguio City as also the culinary capital of the country. He said that during the 16th HRT week last year, they promoted the city as the premier wedding destination of the Philippines where they served the biggest cake at SM City Baguio.

Baguio Tourism Council chairperson Gladys Vergara said that the serving of fried rice is a great opportunity for food establishments to feature their specialty. She said that aside from highlighting the staple food of the Filipinos which is rice, it is also a chance for the culinary experts to open the eyes of the Filipinos on the different varieties of fried rice.

HRAB chairperson Jeff Ng said that some of the fried rice (FR) varieties are Vietnamese fried rice, Adobo, Salted Fish Fried rice, Paella con Carne and Yang Chow, Pinuneg (blood sausage)  and kiniing (Igorot smoked meat) with a Japanese twist, Tinapa FR, Jambalaya fusioned with Cordillera flavors, Smoked meat FR, Longganisa, Beef Pares, Binagoongan with daing na bangus, Tuyo FR and Lechon Kawali FR.