FLAVORS OF THE PHILIPPINES
SM malls highlight Kapampangan cuisine

(MANYAMAN! Ceremonial mixing prior to serving of giant bringhe with (L-R) SM Mall Asst. Manager Jerwin Jalandoni, BM Rosve Henson, Mayor Edwin Santiago, chefs Lilian Borromeo and Claude Tayag, Tourism ARD Carolina de Guzman-Uy, provincial tourism head Arwin Lingat and SM Mall Asst. Manager Bong Garcia wielding the giant ladles. Photo by Bong Lacson)

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – SM malls hereabouts – San Fernando Downtown, Clark, and Pampanga – continue being showcases of Kapampangan cuisine, reaffirming the province’s uncontested claim to being the Culinary Capital of the Philippines.

Last year, it was the giant alualu sweet ice cooler concoction made distinctly Kapampangan with ale-ube and leche flan as additive to the distinctively “plain” ingredients of caramelized saba banana and red beans.

 The weekend just past featured at SM City Pampanga a giant bringhe prepared by renowned artist and Kapampangan Chef Claude Tayag and the esteemed “Guardian of Old Kapampangan Recipes” Atching Lilian Borromeo with hotel and restaurant management students of the University of the Assumption, Angeles University Foundation, and St. Nicholas College apprenticing.

Considered the Filipino version of the Spanish paella, the bringhe is a main staple in Kapampangan fiestas, usually prepared ahead of the other dishes because of the longer time it takes to cook it.

At Friday’s cook-out at the Sky Ranch of SM City Pampanga, 75 kilos of glutinous rice, 25 kilos of regular rice, 100 kilos of chicken breast, 30 kilos of coconut milk, 15 dozens of hardboiled eggs, 100 cans of chorizo de Bilbao, five kilos of chicken gizzard, 10 kilos of onions, five kilos of garlic, four kilos of turmeric, five kilos of bell pepper, two kilos of raisins, 10 liters of fish sauce, 10 liters of cooking oil, and 20 liters of water made up the bringhe cooked in a paellera 12 feet in diameter, using 12 sacks of charcoal.

It took eight hours – from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – to cook the bringhe which was served wrapped in banana leaves to guests led by Mayor Edwin Santiago, Board member Rosve Henson, Tourism Asst. Director Carolina de Guzman-Uy.

Rain Cervantes, SM City Pampanga PR manager, said the 1,200 to 1,400 individually wrapped bringhe servings were produced and served free to mall goers. On Saturday at SM City Clark’ The Meeting Place, celebrity Chef Jam Melchor of Unang Hirit, mall tenant Chefs Judy Uson of Caff e Noelle and Mark Pineda of Teppanya engaged mall goers in an interactive cooking demonstration of Kapampangan culinary delights.

Finally, on Sunday at SM City San Fernando Downtown, exotic Kapampangan dishes were presented through a cooking demonstration by Angeles University Foundation culinary instructor Chef Romz Mendoza.

Taking the centerpiece in Mendoza’s menu were betute (stuffed frog), paku (fern) salad, and adobong puklo (pork breast).

The triple weekend food event at the SM City malls in Pampanga was in line with Madrid Fusion: Flavors of the Philippines campaign.