As a food writer, I attended a 7-hour progressive dinner in New Orleans; became a serial Fancy Food Show attendee since 2008 and a proud participant of the biggest food show in the world, that of SIAL, Paris. I even survived the 95-degree heat and humidity at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami tasting over fifty different mangoes. But I haven’t done one thing: a food safari which lasts many many hours and involves several restaurants, multiples dishes and a few extra pounds at the end.
Last week in Manila, Philippines together with several local and international food and travel writers, I embarked on a 15-hour food safari. The challenge? Nothing was revealed before the journey started. It felt like a blind tasting which in reality meant that I had to be ready to be surprised.
Here is the food safari itinerary that many will find crazy:
Starting time: 7:03 am
The entire gang of food writers departed from the hotel early in the morning.
8:03 am
Stop no. 1: Bulaluhan Sa España
Bulaluhan Sa España
This local popular karenderia was founded in 1998 by Mrs. Florenia Pineda. Since then it is a comfort food stop for students, vehicle drivers and everyone else who likes easy to make and eat comfort food. This iconic food establishment is known for its bulalo, a light colored soup that is made by cooking beef shanks and marrow bones. We also tried the following dishes: chicharon bulaklak, a popular deep-fried Filipino appetizer consumed with alcoholic beverages and best eaten with spicy vinegar; tawilis, a freshwater sardine tossed in flour and deep-fried; balat ng manok, the deep fried seasoned chicken skin and the tortang talong, an eggplant omelet wherein grilled eggplants are soaked in a beaten egg mixture and then fried.
Number of dishes: 5
Favorite dish: tortang talong
Pampanga, after 2.5 hours of driving
10:35 am
Stop no. 2: Atching Lillian Borromeo House
Atching Lillian is one of the most celebrated chefs and food historians who found her passion for food at the age of four. Today, continues to cook and to promote traditional Kapampangan dishes and desserts. Her book Atching Lillian's Heirloom Recipes is out of print and I am indeed intrigued by this elegant woman/chef.
Dishes offered:
Pistu: a morning dish similar to a picadillo made with scrambled eggs and veggies; pork tocino, the sweet cured meat usually served for breakfast; pork longanisa, the sweet native pinoy sausage; tidtad, the Kapampangan term for dinuguan which is a vinegar based blood stew of pork and pork innards; paksing demonyo, vinegar cooked fish and vegetable chili; pindang damulag, cured carabao meat; lagat hito, catfish in turmeric and special tamales, LiIlian’s own recipe.
For dessert we tried the tejadang kamatis which are candied tomatoes; brazo de mais, the “corn” made of meringue with a delightful custard filling; ensaymadas, a popular Filipino pastry made with egg yolks and cheese, fluffy and with a balanced taste. Atching Lillian also demonstrated her famous St Nicolas cookies using different molds.
Number of dishes: 8 savory, 4 sweet
Favorite dishes: pindang damulag and the St Nicolas cookie
12:15 pm
Stop no. 3: Taldawa
This casual dining place, really a hidden treasure, offers only three dishes from its early days to today and specializes in goat. It is also known for its take on adobo, made with duck instead of pork. Here are the dishes offered:
Kalderetang kambing, goat meat stewed in tomato sauce; sinigang na kambing, goat meat in sour broth with tamarind; adobong bibi, the adobo made with duck, vinegar, soy and garlic.
Number of dishes: 3
Favorite: the adobong bibi
1:15 pm
Stop no. 4: 25 Seeds by Chef Sau
The welcoming at 25 Seeds by Chef Sau was unexpected: young women were giving out towels to freshen up; a band of young children were playing music and waiters offering an impressive range of the Filipino Palamig, meaning refreshments, all in an open space terrace.
First was the sago’t gulaman, a beverage made with brown sugar mixed with tapioca pearls and gelatin slices that reminded of a kind of bubble tea; then, the ginumis, the shaved ice with coconut milk and unrefined sugar; sorbetes, or sorbet with mango, ube or avocado; the binatog, a street food made of boiled corn topped with coconut; puto’t kutsinta, the steamed rice cakes made with lye to become chewy and annatto extract for color and the taho, a snack made of silken tofu mixed with simple syrup and tapioca pearls. But the balut was one of the snacks that I wanted to try and was offered too so bravely enough I did it. The fertilized duck egg was tasty and not as difficult to eat although rather difficult to look at.
Then we continued to lunch where we observed Chef Sau making his famous sisig paella showcasing his modernized version of sisig using local ingredients and an excellent technique. This variation of the Spanish rice dish uses the loved dish sisig made with pork snout and neck and is mixed with liver, calamansi juice and salt and pepper. The dish was tasty and unbelievable light. Other dishes that we experienced: the seafood kare kare, a stew with peanut sauce; kamias with prawn, an indigenous dish to the people of Pampanga made with prawns or shrimp; pancit luglug, the noodle dish made with a rich thick ground rice sauce braised with patis or boiled shrimp head juice for added flavor. And the chicken galantina, a stuffed chicken with liver, a modernized take on the stuffed bird that was insanely tasty. The desserts came later with an amazing DIY set for the favorite Halo Halo and fried bananas.
Refreshments: too many to remember
Savory dishes: 5
Desserts: 2
Favorite refreshment: ginumis
Favorite savory: chicken galantina
Favorite dessert: Halo Halo
3:40 pm
Stop no. 5: Susie’s cuisine
This dessert place has a history since 1972. From the entrance, I could see long tables with colorful desserts ready to be photographed before being attacked by sweet tooth foodies. So here were our choices:
Tibok tibok: puddings made of carabao milk topped with coconut curds; sapin sapin, a multi layered rice cake made with macapuno, langka and ube; mochi, made with sticky rice and filled with sweet beans with coconut milk sauce; kalamay duman, the sticky sweet combining coconut milk, sugar and glutinous rice; kalamay ube, another type of the sticky sweet delicacy that uses grated ube. There was also flan, the known dessert with a European origin.
Dishes: 6
Favorite: sapin sapin
7:35 pm
Stop no. 6: Makansutra Manila
After nearly three hours of driving from Pampanga to Manila, we arrived at the Makansutra Manila, located at the SM Megamall, for a press conference announcing the World Street Food Congress 2017. KF Seetoh, the founder of the Makansutra street food concept in Singapore presented this year’s theme Re-Imagine Opportunities. The message? Celebrating humble street foods, heritage foods and the people who make them. As the country’s culinary scene is becoming increasingly popular and because of the diversity of its cuisine, Manila is once again the city to host the WSFC 2017.
Of course the food served was made by Makansutra Manila hawkers and it included international dishes of chicken satay, oyster omelet and braised beef among others.
10:10 pm
Stop no. 7: Zubuchon
The final stop was at Zubuchon for lechon! The Filipino specialty came last and despite the full stomach wasn’t to be avoided. The crispy skin, the soft fatness and the well roasted meat were all so good to skip.
Favorite dish: Lechon: amazing!
After ending the last dish, there was one thing remaining: the Food Frenzie diploma that proved that I was capable to survive non-stop eating for 15 hours. It was exhilarating.
The 15-hour food safari came to an end with a super full belly and happy heart. During the process I realized that the best food is the one made with simple ingredients recognizing local traditions and heritage foods. One thing is certain: as a food writer I have another “diploma” to put in my resume. But writing is definitely much harder than eating.
The food safari was organized by Makansutra and the Philippines Tourism Promotions Board.