JANUARY 19, 2014

PAMPANGA: Where to buy Kapampangan TamalesWhat is the Kapampangan Tamales?The Kapampangan Tamales is a Filipino dish originating from the province of Pampanga. It is made of ground rice, peanut and coconut milk cooked into a paste and then wrapped with meat, usually chicken and egg, in banana leaves then boiled.This is a totally different dish from the Mexican tamales both in flavor and ingredients. The only similarity is the way it's cooked. The ingredients are wrapped in banana leaves and boiled in water.Where to buy the Kapampangan Tamales?Residents of Pampanga usually have regular suppliers in markets or from home industries. For tourists like us, here are three places I discovered where you can find a regular supply.

RAZON'S OF GUAGUA RESTAURANTMEGA CALTEX STATION at the North Luzon Expressway, Southbound Lane, after the San Fernando ExitIt's not Razon's restaurant who's selling the tamales.A vendor was allowed to put up a small stall/desk inside the restaurant and sell the tamales.My tip: Be there from 11:00 AM onwards. The vendor arrives at 11:00 AMViewCity of Sn Fernandoin a larger map

PRICE: 70 pesos per tamales (if you're one of the first buyers, they give it at 50 pesos per piece as "buena mano" price for good luck)

SUSIE'S CUISINEMacArthur Highway, San Fernando CityThis is the branch where we bought our tamales. I'm not sure if other branches sell tamales too.ViewCity of Sn Fernandoin a larger map

PRICE: 70 pesos per tamales

SAN GUILLERMO PARISH CHURCHThere's an ambulant vendor in front of the gates of the Church who's selling tamales. We found her there when we arrived around 1130 AM on a Sunday, but left before we finished visiting and exploring the Church. So we weren't able to buy tamales from her. Perhaps she sells the tamales when there's Mass.ViewCity of Sn Fernandoin a larger map

My tip:To me, the Kapampangan Tamales sold by the vendor inside Razon's of Guagua restaurant at Mega Caltex Station, NLEX tastes much better than the tamales sold by Susie's cuisine. This is not to say tamales sold by Susie's cuisine tastes bad. Susie's tamales tasted good too. I just prefer the tamales sold inside Razon's because it's less salty and more flavorful.

History in food

By Ambeth OcampoPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 22:20:00 08/03/2010

Filed Under:history,Food

THOUGH THEY have long passed away, my paternal grandparents are often remembered through the food we eat. Cholesterol-rich signature dishes served during reunions make people and generations bond together. The food is not spectacular, but the way these dishes are prepared and the memories they evoke make them special. Umba and nilaga with trembling pork fat, chicharon with laman? All these are poison to anyone on a diet, but on our Sunday reunions everyone over five generations digs in. My nieces even bring their own Tupperware containers to take some home.Certain foods come with certain seasons like suman or young green sticky rice, available during the Christmas season. These are pop-fried and placed atop thick Spanish chocolate for a healthy afternoon drink. Then there is the taba ng talangka, the crab fat that comes with the rainy season in July and August. Freshly squeezed out of hundreds of little crablets, one sack would fill only a small Nescafe diamond glass, everything cooked with garlic and dayap. When mixed with freshly steamed Milagrosa rice, or made into a pasta sauce, home-made taba ng talangka and not the diluted ones available from stores is a taste of heaven.I write about this because my annual ration of taba ng talangka has arrived. I also remember that I was asked to prepare a program for the state visit of the president of Mexico that included a trip to Mexico, Pampanga, and a lunch that would provide a taste of the Pampanga tamales or boboto. You can get tamales in Manila anytime from Milkyway or in the Sunday market in Quezon City. If you are southbound on NLEX, stop at the Shell station after the Angeles exit and look for the man peddling tamales from the town of Cabalantian.Since most of the so-called Mexican restaurants in the Philippines do not serve authentic Mexican food but an American variation known as Tex-Mex we only know chili con carne and margaritas. Mexican tamales is like a dumpling made from Indian meal, of course seasoned with chili, and wrapped in the husk of Indian corn and boiled in oil. It is nothing like the Pampanga tamales even in shape. Ours is square and made up of ground rice with chicken strips, egg and sometimes ham. The amount of filling determines whether it is special or not. More ingredients makes it special. Tamales are wrapped in layers of banana leaves and steamed.I doubt whether Pampangos saw and tasted real Mexican tamales during the time of the Galleon Trade, but aside from its name there is no similarity in taste between the Mexican and Kapampangan tamales.I have been thinking of foreign influences in Philippine food recently and wonder why people put the Pampanga tamales under ?Spanish influence? when it should be Mexican. Or why the Pampanga biringhi should be called yet another version of the Spanish paella when this rice dish in look, ingredients, and name might have come from India and the biryani. While the Spanish paella is made of saffron-colored rice with chicken and pork topped with bell pepper and lemon, biringhi is made of malagkit or glutinous rice instead of ordinary rice. It has chicken, pork and chorizo but instead of saffron, ange is used, which gives it a distinct green color. Sometimes gata or coconut milk is added to make it richer than the Spanish paella. It may not be as spicy, but the Pampanga biringhi could really trace its origins to the Indian biryani.Chinese influence in the food of Pampanga is not as evident and may be more deeply rooted than we think because the terms used for cooking and the names of cooking implements are Chinese.This we have yet to tease out from the food. Is there a Japanese influence somewhere? While the Japanese occupation was not as long as the Spanish and American periods, there were Japanese residents in the Philippines as far back as the 16th century, and one of the things they probably introduced into our food had something to do with shaved ice. Syrup on finely shaved ice that we know under the commercial name ?Snow Cone? is a summer refreshment in Japan. Then there are the sweet stewed beans on ice that we know under a Spanish name as mongo con hielo or even mais con hielo. The Japanese introduced the mongo and garbanzos in a thick sugar sauce. These form the basic ingredients for halo-halo. Whether you go to the halo-halo chain Razon?s of Guagua or the famous stall in Angeles called Corazon?s, ask yourself again about the origin of halo-halo.Turron de casuy from Sta. Rita is similar to the Spanish turron Alicante. The Spanish version is a long rectangular block of hard nougat with almonds and honey wrapped in an almost invisible but edible film. Turron de casuy must have been made to simulate turron Alicante, but since no almonds were available the cooks used cashew nuts instead. Instead of rectangular blocks or even the round ones, Pampanga turrones come in small finger-size bars made of a similar nougat. These are not as hard as the Spanish ones and not white but brown and wrapped with an edible paper of the same type used for hosts at Mass.Next time you eat Filipino food, take the time to relish the flavors and look back at the long history that made these what they are today.