Goto Mo?

In Tagalog, "gusto mo?" is something like "(you) like it?"  In Bisaya (Visayan) or Cebuano, we would say, "gusto nimo?" or "gusto ka?" Hmmm... anyways... a dotting mother who wishes her tot would understand her would say... go'to mo?" I really don't know where goto got its name. And I did not know that goto (Php35 per bowl as shown) was all meat soup as far as Quezon Province is concerned until I had the chance to have a taste of it when I went there last August. 

In a number of Pinoy flicks, goto would be more often mentioned especially in scenes where laborers or drivers taking their snacks. Goto afterall is poor man's fave snack. I learned later that there are various goto preparations depending on the region in Luzon where it is more popular. 

In Mindanao where I live, balbacua is probably the nearest kin of goto although Balbacua (consisting of tenderized beef meat and cow's hides) is more viscous. Again that entirely depends on the cook because there are balbacua preparations that are more or less similar to this goto. I happened to eat in a number of occasions in one eatery near GSIS Matina whose specialty is similar to goto. But it was spicy than I had in Quezon Province. Ok, since it is spicy it is popularly known as "hinalang" which comes from the Cebuano word "halang" to describe the burning chili or "sili". Hinalang is a soup preparation dumped with all spicy powers, that is it. It is tenderized carabeef or carabao meat.  

But what is an outright difference with goto and balbacua is the way they are eaten or enjoyed, let me say. Goto in my experience is taken with or without bread or rice while balbacua, considered a fave viand, is eaten with steamed rice. Hmm... my stomach is rumbling. Guess time to take my lunch... Goto mo?