The Best Pinakbet and Cassava Recipes at SM-Philippine Star Contest: ‘My City, My SM, My Cuisine’ Tarlac: A culinary melting pot

MANILA, Philippines - Tarlac is the melting pot of Central Luzon, a vibrant mix of Kapampangan, Ilocano, Pangasinan and Tagalog culture. While largely agricultural, it recently emerged as a major tourist destination and investment hub, as well as the site of a new SM Mall.

With its vast sugar and rice plantations, as well as vegetable farms and fruit orchards, Tarlac has an abundance of ingredients for food lovers. But what makes its cuisine distinct, bringing the best of the region’s specialties to the Tarlaqueño’s table.

Mall-goers had the rare opportunity to discover the diversity of Tarlaqueño tastes when “My City, My SM, My Cuisine” recently made a stop at SM City Tarlac.

A joint project of SM and the Philippine STAR with support from Homeworld, “My City, My SM, My Cuisine” Season 2 celebrates the flavors of Philippine regional cuisine through a culinary contest featuring two signature recipes from 10 cities where SM malls are located.

Held just in time for Tarlac’s holiday celebrations, the event was also highlighted by a cook fest that showcased two of the city’s signature dishes: pinakbet, a popular Ilocano dish; and cassava, a dessert made from a fibrous root crop.

Chef Eric Domingo and Regina Fajardo were adjudged winners for their versions of pinakbet and cassava recipes, respectively. Their delightful flavors and food presentation got the nod of the board of judges, which included celebrity chef Rosebud Benitez, chef Steven Silva, chef Benito Chua III, the Philippine STAR’s Elizabeth Lim, and Metropolitan Museum trustee Cora Alvina.

They each received P5,000 worth of SM gift certificates and Homeworld gift packs from SM vice president for marketing Millie Dizon and SM Supermalls vice president for operations Bien Mateo. The rest of the finalists received P1,000 worth of SM gift certificates and gift packs from Homeworld.

Two showcases with replicas of Ilocano and Kapampangan home interiors highlighted two of the major influences in Tarlaqueño cuisine. To be sure, their tables were filled with the province’s multi-cultural bounty: Bistro Garitoni’s Ilocano spread; Kart City’s Kapampangan and Tagalog food; Louie’s Native Lechon by Louie Lopez; Jayson’s Bihon; and Aling Nena’s special siopao; Tessie’s grills and roasters lechon manok; and Paseo’s pork sisig in wanton, suman bulagta, tamales, and lumpiang tocino.

Dessert lovers, on the other hand, couldn’t get enough of Terrace Café’s homemade cakes; Urdu Restaurant’s chocolate cakes and revel bars; and Lita’s yema and pastilles delicacies.

An audio-visual presentation showcased heirloom recipes from four of Tarlac’s most prominent families. Atching Linda Guiao Aquino shared Concepcion, Tarlac’s hometown specialty kilayin in the Aquino ancestral home where three generations of heroes lived: General Servillano Aquino, Benigno Q. Aquino, and democratic icon Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Kilayin, a stew of pork liver cooked in vinegar, garlic and chili, has Kapampangan roots.

Congresswoman Susan Yap cooked pinaryang manok, a favorite dish of her late father Congressman Aping Yap, using vegetables from their organic garden. Mel Cojuangco prepared rigatoni pasta delight, a comfort food and well-loved recipe of the Cojuangco family in their kitchen in Hacienda Luisita; while Terrace Café’s Teresa Dizon Tinio showed how the Ilocano staple pinakbet has its roots in peasant cooking — simple, basic, honest, but interesting.

“My City, My SM, My Cuisine” in Baliwag is the eighth destination in Season 2 of this exciting culinary road show, which was launched in April at SM City Rosales with the best bangus and tupig recipes. It later celebrated the specialties of the province of Rizal and the city of Marikina, and featuring a cookfest for the best binabaysan na alimango or alimasag and suman sa Ibos at SM City Masinag. Just in time for the Rizal@150 celebrations, foodies vied for the best lutong Instik entrée and buko pie dessert; while our national hero’s descendants featured their heirloom recipes at SM City Calamba.

The Golden Days of Coffee at SM City Lipa brought mall goers back to the halcyon days when Lipa supplied all the world’s coffee, highlighting the best bulalo and pinindot recipes. The food of heroes, on the other hand, was highlighted during the roadshow stop at SM City Baliwag, which featured signature dishes from the Mariano Ponce and Marcelo H. del Pilar families, as well as the best serkele and puto dessert recipes.

More recently, it celebrated the cuisine of the Cordilleras, as well as its bounty of fruits and vegetables at SM City Baguio with chefs of the city’s popular restaurants competing for the best salad and strawberry dessert recipes. “My City, My SM, My Cuisine”’s latest stop was at SM City Olongapo, where it showcased both indigenous and American influences, and the best Sinigang na Diana and pastillas recipes.

Last year, the campaign made stops in 13 stops all over the country, beginning in Santa Rosa where participants competed for the best puchero with lauya and puto maya with kilawing puso ng saging. Its last stop was in SM City Clark, where Kapampangan foodies showcased the best tidtad and tocino del cielo recipes.

“My City, My SM, My Cuisine” is a joint project of SM and the Philippine STAR with support from SM Homeworld and SM Supermarket.

SM shoppers and Philippine STAR readers can submit their recipe of their city’s selected entrée and dessert along with their name, address, and occupation to sm_starculinary@yahoo.com. They can also mail these to the Publicity Department, Building C, SM Corporate Office, JW Diokno Boulevard, Pasay City, or the Lifestyle Section of the Philippine Star at R. Oca Jr. and Railroad Streets, Port Area, Manila.

Ten finalists will be selected — five for entrees and five for dessert. Two winners — one for entrée and one for dessert — will be selected from each city during the culinary contest that will be held in time for the city’s festival. The two winners will each receive P5,000 worth of SM Gift Certificates, while finalists will receive packs from SM Homeworld.