SLOWLY EATING OUR WAY THROUGH CAVITE
Proba: Cavite Comida.” This was the name given to the two-day food crawl, which was organized by the San Miguel Pure Foods Culinary Center (SMPFCC) recently. The name calls to mind the strong Spanish influence that can be found, not only in Cavite’s heritage and culture, but also in its traditional cuisine.
The hook-shaped peninsula, which juts into the southern shores of Manila Bay, served as a port for the galleons that plied the ManilaAcapulco route during colonial times.
“Proba means ‘tikman’ or ‘to taste’ in Chabacano, the dialect derived from Spanish that is widely used in the province,” explains Llena Tan-Arcenas, SMPFCC culinary services manager. “We wanted to use this food tour as a way to promote the province as a great dining destination near Metro Manila. We want to show what is unique and compelling for people to want to try it out. These are places that are still not well-known outside the province, but are popular among the locals. More than that, we hope that it will make everyone appreciate and draw inspiration from the rich culinary heritage of Cavite.”
Bernie’s Kitchenette in Cavite City is owned and managed by Bernadita Rojas-Fontanilla, who specializes in classic Caviteño dishes using heirloom family recipes. She is the granddaughter of 1950s matinee idol Leopoldo Salcedo, who hails from Cavite.
The strong Spanish influence was evident in some of the dishes that she served, such as morcon, which is a popular dish at parties and gatherings, as well as bacalao, a salted codfish dish traditionally served during Lent. Also on the buffet table was crispy Lao Lao, a kind of local fried fish, as well as two noodle dishes: pancit puso, which is served with kinilaw na puso ng saging, and pancit
pusit, also known as Pancit de Choca or Pancit Negra. After the hearty lunch, chef Bernie gave a cooking demo, where she shared her own recipe for bacalao with black beans. Instead of olive oil, she used Magnolia butter, “which makes it tastier,” she said. For the pancit pusit, first cook the squid adobo-style. Use
bihon or sotanghon for the noodles, which will absorb the squid ink. The dish is topped with bits of chicharon, kinchay, fried garlic, and chopped green mango or kamias.
A short ride from Bernie’s through narrow streets takes us to Pat & Sam, a virtual hole-in-the-wall eatery famous for their bibingka Samala. Made of glutinous rice, coconut milk and sugar, it comes in two flavors: Malagkit and Pinipig. Packed in boxes, the local delicacy makes for ideal pasalubong.
Chef Chris Bautista, former culinary program director at the Lyceum of the Philippines in Cavite, gave a cooking demonstration at an ancestral house in Tanza, a coastal town where fishing is a major source of livelihood. Built in the 1820s, the house was owned by three brothers of the Abad clan: Dr. Moises, Atty. Cenon, and Judge Julio.
Using recipes shared by SMPFCC chef Martin Narisma from his grandmother, chef Chris prepared two dishes. Pipian is a chicken dish influenced by the Mexican mole. Pepitas, or pumpkin seeds, are a popular ingredient in Mexican cuisine. For the pipian sauce, peanuts or peanut butter is used instead. It’s much like kare-kare, without the bagoong. Chef Chris used Magnolia whole chicken for this dish.
The second dish, tinumis, is similar to dinuguan, except that while vinegar is used to make dinuguan, tinumis uses young sampaloc leaves as souring agent.
Monterey pork was boiled for 45 minutes to one hour. Then, using a Filipino method of cooking called “sankucha” (which is not the same as sautéing), the meat is made to sweat and cook in its own juices. The heat (rather than vinegar, as is the case in dinuguan) helps to coagulate the pig’s blood that’s added while cooking.
Dinner was at a roadside carinderia in Kawit. Mang Jose’s Rolling Kitchen started as a food truck until it found its permanent place just a stone’s throw away from the Aguinaldo shrine, where the Philippine independence from Spain was declared on
June 12, 1898. Owned by Jhing and Mimi Hernandez, its claim to fame is its original “puchon” (a contraction of pugonlechon), which is oven-roasted pork belly. “The pork, which was marinated overnight with herbs and spices, is steamed four to six hours until it’s super tender,” Mimi explains. The special pugon that they use is “proudly made in the Philippines.” They also serve chicken inasal fresh from the grill and inihaw na talong, crispy sisig, and their bestselling tahong.
On the second day of our food tour, at the breakfast buffet, we had our fill of bestsellingall-time favorites such as Pure foods Bacon, Corned Beef, and Chicken
Longganisa, served with fried rice, Kambal pan de sal, and Magnolia brown eggs cooked just the way you like it by SMPFCC chef RJ Garcia. And for your first cup
of coffee for the day, you had your choice of Essenso micro-ground coffee, San Mig Coffee Barako, and San Mig Coffee Strong.
“No matter what the food trend might be at the moment, whether local or global, you will always find our products that people have been enjoying for generations,” Arcenas remarked.
CAVITE REPUBLIC & THE COFFEE CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINES
It was a longish drive to Trece Martires located in the heart of the province. By the time we walked through the doors of Cavite Republic, whose architecture was purposely designed to resemble that of the Aguinaldo shrine, we were ready for lunch. A reincarnation of Town’s Delight, practically an institution in the province in the 1970s, Cavite Republic opened on Philippine Independence Day, June 12, 2002.
“We want to represent traditional Caviteño cuisine with a modern twist,” chef Matt Pacumio, grandson of Cecilia Pacumio, who started Town’s Delight, remarked. Again, we find the strong Spanish influence in the dishes such as the Paella Valenciana.
“In our version, we added San Miguel Pure Foods products such as chorizo, which gave it a deeper flavor and more umami,” chef Matt explained.
They used ingredients that they found to be abundant locally, such as jackfruit braised in coconut milk, in their version of Cavite Express. They used tamarind to marinate the chicken in their Grilled Sinampalukan Manok, a real winner.
The Pancit Estacion Negra is reminiscent of the dish served at the train stations in Cavite. Their version uses fettuccini with squid ink. “Our goal was to combine seafood flavors, which Cavite is known for,” chef Matt explained.
There was Crispy Pork Dinuguan as well. And for dessert, Lihim Ni Lola, an intriguing name for the tiny cups of kakanin stuffed with a pinch of salted egg and topped with bits of latik.
Southeast of Trece Martires isAmadeo, known as the “Coffee Capital of the
Philippines.” Olivia’s Coffee shop is owned by Olivia and Joselito Lansang. Olivia’s parents and grandparents owned several hectares of coffee plantations, so it was not unexpected that Olivia should find herself engaged in the coffee business as well. She was trading in raw beans in the 1990s until she left and lived in Canada for 10 years.
Shortly after returning to the country, she opened her coffee shop in February 2017. She developed her own blend of Arabica, Robusta, and Excelsa called Via’s blend, which they serve at the coffee shop and which you can buy in a pack as well.
At Olivia’s Coffee shop, we enjoyed our last cup of coffee for the day. It was a pleasant way to end the twoday food tour of Cavite, known as the land of the brave, and soon to be famous for its patriotic heritage cuisine.