My favorite kakanin for the holidays

“KAKANIN” or native delicacies are the uniquely Filipino desserts derived from glutinous rice “kanin” or malagkit. More than the delicacy itself, kakanin embodies a culinary culture that defines the Filipinos’ love for the intricate and meticulous cooking process in its preparation.

I consider myself privileged for having a rich childhood steeped in our grandparents’ love for food and its preparation. festive

occasions then, be it a fiesta, birthday celebration and the holiday season, meant a

cornucopia of kakanin at the dining table. The assortment had different kinds of puto (steamed rice cake), kutsinta (brown rice cake flavored with lye), sapin-sapin (layers of flavored ground glutinous rice), maja, tibok-tibok (Kapampangan maja made with carabao’s milk) and suman (sa ibos, sa lihiya, sa antala). Interestingly, the wrapper distinguishes the varieties of suman. With suman sa ibos, preparing the wrapper is more challenging than the cooking itself. Here, buri or palm leaves are swirled over a mold to make individual containers. The simpler ones use banana leaves. The staples of “Simbang Gabi”–Bibingka and Puto Bumbong—were then available in stalls near the church during the holiday season.

Native delicacies are easily available in Metro Manila. But given the opportunity, I will not hesitate to embark on a quick trip to enjoy the authentic and original specialties. Since we have been frequenting Tagaytay in the South every time I make a trip to Manila, my son Jason, decided to drive north to

Angeles, Pampanga for a change. It has been years since I motored to the north passing the North Luzon Expressway. Angeles City is just over 70 kilometers from Manila so it was a leisurely one-hour drive on a Sunday afternoon without traffic. As soon as the majestic Mt. Arayat dominates the horizon amidst the rice fields, I know we are in Pampanga, the culinary capital of the Philippines. Entering Angeles city, the tarpaulins of the recently concluded Northern Food Festival held at the MarQuee Mall last October greeted us. I was told that this was the biggest food festival

ever participated by several provinces from the north.

MarQuee Mall is now the culinary center of Angeles City where most of the native stalls that lined the public market have relocated. We were earlier looking for a more rustic setting to get the kakanin but a nephew, Raul Baron, who hails from Angeles City,

directed us to the new mall. I was not disappointed since the glorious display of the glutinous delicacies was a feast to behold. I was lost in sweet translation moving from store to store. We finally settled and enjoyed Sapin-Sapin—layers of ground glutinous rice with

different flavors (plain, langka, kutsinta, ube);

velvety and wiggly Tibok-Tibok; a cup of the popular Nathaniel’s Buco-Pandan Salad with the distinct flavor of carabao’s milk. Even with satisfied sweet cravings, we had to get more of the kakanin, all attractively packed for taking home.