30. BETTY ANN BESA-QUIRINO’S LIST OF 18 FAVORITE KAPAMPANGAN SWEETS AND DISHES FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

A KAPLISTORIAN EXCLUSIVE! Award-winning foodie writer, Betty Ann Besa-Quirino shares with us her list of must-serve Kapampangan holiday fare. She writes: "Pampanga is a neighbor to my home province, Tarlac so a lot of the Christmas treats we enjoyed in my childhood were inspired by our neighboring Kapampangan friends and family. It is a fact, that every Pampango host ends every meal with a great dessert – these Petit Fortunes, a classic example. These gastronomic tiny treats were regular fixtures of our holidays."

PETITE FORTUNE. Tiny, bite-sized sweet pastries made of casuy nuts (cashew) eggs and butter.

BIBINGKANG NASI. Sticky rice cake made from malagkit rice, with sweet coconut cream topping. An all-time favorite kakanin!

HALEYANG UBI. For my “ube haleya” (ube jam). I buy fresh purple yams at the Asian markets when they’re in season the last months of the year from October to December. The tuber is peeled, boiled, then mashed, mixed and cooked with milk, sugar and butter. Some recipes call for mixing it with coconut cream or grated coconut meat. In all these ways ube is utterly delectable.

BOBOTU, or TAMALES. Our version of the Mexican tamales makes use of a seasoned mixture of rice flour, coconut milk, fish sauce and annatto oil. A large dollop of the tamales mixture is topped with slivers of chicken, slices of boiled egg, ground peanuts, wrapped in banana leaves then cooked in a steamer.

BIBINGKANG CAMOTENG DUTUNG. Good old fashioned cassava cake. Made with grated cassava, milk, coconut milk and cream, sugar and eggs.

PUTUNG LASUNG. The ubiquitous putong puti are steamed rice cakes that can be found in almost any pasalubong center in Pampanga. The original putung lasung makes use of ground glutinous rice, and are a perfect match with sopas, tidtad and any kind of pancit.

SUMAN INANGIT. A quick-fix kakanin simply made from from malagkit rice and coconut milk, flavored with salt. The mixture is cooked and stirred until almost dry over low heat, and covered with banana leaves to give it a nice aroma. Portions of the cooked mixture are then wrapped in banana leaves to become suman inangit!

CAPAMPANGAN ENSAIMADAS. The Capampangan Ensaimada prides itself in using NO LESS than 24 and up to 36 egg yolks. Anything less would be a major offense.

TAISAN DE PAMPANGA

A classic sponge cake loaf,  similar to mammon, but heavily buttered on top, then sprinkled with sugar, and sometimes with fine grated cheese. So-called because the slim, rectangular load often wrapped in cellophane, is shaped like a whetstone—a “taisan”.

TOCINO DEL CIELO. Small, cup-shaped Spanish flans, purely made from egg yolks, water and sugar. The creamy caramel desserts are a specialty of my late mother-n-law Remedios Pineda Quirino, who was from Sta. Rita, Pampanga

BICO CULUBASA. Sticky rice combined with squash, which gives this kakanin its trademark  light brown color.

CHICKEN GALANTINA. Chicken Galantina is a stuffed, deboned chicken dish popular during the holidays. It takes patience and time to concoct this dish, as it involves the laborious preparation of the stuffing (made from ground meat, sausage, hard-boiled eggs, spices, pickle relish, raisin, carrots,etc.), as well as the long steaming process. But the flavorful results is certain worth the wait.

KALAME DUMAN.  Duman, a fragrant green rice variety,  is only in season during Christmas, so it is prized by many Kapampangans, who often store duman in their refrigerators, to be taken out for making their special “kalame duman”, or for dunking  into a steaming hot cup of tsokolateng binatirul, until the grains bloat.

KALDERETANG KAMBING– Goat stew, a favorite entrée of my late dad; the spicier the better.

BANCA-BANCA. Boat-shaped pastry tarts in cellophane wrappers,  are always a welcome treat, some topped with whole cashew nuts, or swirls of merengue.

HALEYANG GATAS DAMULAG. Pure carabao’s milk with added sugar is cooked over low heat while stirring, until its water evaporates, and milk assumes a jam-like consistency. Favorite as pan de sal filling, or eaten by the spoonfuls as pastillas jam.

SANICULAS. Panecillos de San Nicolas, or simply saniculas, are crumbly, arrow-root based cookies that features an imprinted the saint owing to a wooden mold specially used to make these treats. Designs of heirloom molds are unique to a specific family descriptive of what their profession was. For example,  the longer, oval shaped molds belonged to the Lansang family, who dabbled in music, thus the harp carvings.

DULCE PRENDA. These pastries use the same batter of saniculas, but they are filled with sweetened kundol. Dulce Prenda are also decorated with floral imprints with the use of a wooden mold, said to replicate the ones on the Virgen de La Naval’s vestments.

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ELIZABETH ANN “Betty Anne” BESA-QUIRINO is a New Jersey-based Kapampangan from Tarlac, Tarlac. She is a two-time winner of the Plaridel Writing Awards for best in journalism, given by the Philippine-American Press Club in San Francisco, CA. Her  essay “A Hundred Mangoes In a Bottle” has won a Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award. She was an awardee of the FWN Filipina Women’s Network 100 Most Influential Women of the World in 2013.

A journalist, food writer and correspondent , she is also a blogger of Filipino recipes on her popular site Asian in America (www.AsianInAmericaMag.com). 

Her works have appeared  on Positively Filipino; FOOD Magazine by ABS-CBN Inc.; Rustan’s Sans Rival Magalogue; and Quirk Books Community blog (Philadelphia, PA). She has appeared on the TV network KACL- LA 18’s “Halo-Halo with Kat Iniba” which aired in California and Hawaii.She is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the Culinary Historians of the Philippines. She travels often to the Philippines and Asia in search of recipes and stories about culture and personalities.

Other works: Author,"How to Cook Philippine Desserts: Cakes and Snacks." /  Co-author,  “Statesman and Survivor Elpidio Quirino, 6th President of the Philippines. / Illustrator and publisher,  “Color and Cook Food Coloring Book” on Filipino food art. 

All books are sold on Amazon.com.

PHOTO SOURCES:

BIBINGKANG NASI: Fernando Santos FB page

BOBOTU: Alex R. Castro

DUMAN, CHICKEN GALANTINA: Robby P. Tantingco FB page

PUTU LASUNG: Samantha Mallari Bucu FB page

TOCINO DEL CIELO, MANG SALUD CAPAMPANGAN ENSAIMADA: Ivan Anthony Henares FB page
TAISAN, BIKO KULUBASA: Mrs. Emelita Galang's Kitchen FB page
KALDERETANG KAMBING: Mangan Tana!  http://kapampangankitchen.blogspot.com/
BANCA-BANCA: Pampanga Delicacies FB page
DULCE PRENDAS: The Saga of La Naval. Triumph of a People's Faith, 2007
ALL OTHERS: Photos courtesy or Betty Ann-Besa Quirino, www.AsianInAmericaMag.com