‘Puto’ is star in Pangasinan town’s festival celebration

THE MARKET is ready for “puto,” shaped to form the cinematic characters, “Minions.” PHOTOS BY WILLIE LOMIBAO/CONTRIBUTOR

CALASIAO, Pangasinan—Characters from the animated films “Despicable Me” and “Minions” and other figures made of thousands of pieces of puto (steamed rice cake) took center stage in Calasiao town in Pangasinan province on Wednesday for this year’s Puto Festival celebration.

The festival is an annual event that celebrates this town’s native delicacy, one of its leading revenue earners.

Maricris Soriano, who chose to display two snowmen with a blue sky backdrop, used 4,250 pieces of puto to complete her display.

Rudy de la Cruz, president of Calasiao Puto Producers Cooperative, said his display, consisting of five minions, took his family more than a day to build.

“I lost count of the number of pieces of puto that we used. We just kept on putting them on the frame,” he said.

This year, De la Cruz was no longer competing in the contest, having won every year since the festival was revived in 2008.

FILIPINO kitchen scene made of hundreds of “puto.”

Verliza Abila, municipal tourism officer, said the puto construction and design contest attracted only eight entries this year.

Abila said puto remains the town’s top product.

Agnes Cruz, also a puto producer, said on ordinary days, each of the 40 stalls fronting the town plaza sells at least 100 kilograms of puto.

An ordinary white puto and kutsinta (another variety of rice cake) sells for P80 a kg, while flavored puto sells for P100 a kg.

Cruz said the white puto is still the bestseller, followed by the white puto with cheese.

But the town’s most successful puto producer is De la Cruz, who owns Bella’s Puto. He said his family’s stall sells about 50,000 pieces of puto every day. Sales increase during the Christmas season, with 80,000 pieces sold each day.