Angeles City opens exhibit folks can gaze at, touch, smell and eat

ANGELES CITY—Food lovers have two Sundays more to treat themselves to authentic Kapampangan cuisine without hopping from one place to another. “Pamangan” goes public on Oct. 23 and 30 in the Museo ning Angeles, the old town hall in Angeles City that houses the “Culinarium,” the first culinary museum in the country.

“The perfect fiestang Kapampangan,” says Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan of Pamangan, which opened on Oct. 16. The museum is run by the Kuliat Foundation.

The word means food, and the buffet table heaved with so much, revealing the native, Chinese, Spanish and American influences in dishes churned out in the kitchens of Pampanga, dubbed by some as the gourmet capital of the Philippines.

Also on sale at the museum ground are Kapampangan delicacies from all over the province.

Feasting on Kapampangan food would not just satisfy the appetite. Portions of what one pays for every P800 ticket for the buffet are donated for the operation and maintenance of the museum.

Pamangan is not all about eating. It is one of the 42 events packed in the 31-day Fiestang Kuliat 2011, which is held in honor of the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of La Naval.

The monthlong celebration culminates in the “Tigtigan Terakan Keng Dalan,” a celebration that Pamintuan began in 1992 to rally Angeles folk to rise above the disaster brought about by Mt. Pinatubo’s eruptions.

Some parts of Pampanga were also hit by floods brought by recent typhoons and another festival could help Kapampangan get back on their feet.