Now, the biggest calamay

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur — After the biggest strawberry cake in Benguet, now comes the biggest calamay (glutinous rice cake) in this city.

"No, we are not waging a battle for the biggest cake," Candon Mayor Grace Singson said. "We are only promoting our city’s pride from among our food products."

The biggest calamay was a delightful feature in the city’s fiesta celebration the other day. No less than Vice President Teofisto Guingona presided over the slicing and distribution of the rice cake to the public.

Mrs. Liza Abaya, president of the Candon Calamay Vendors Association, said her group spent P58,000 to whip up the rice cake which measured five meters in diameter.

Used to make the giant calamay were 40 gantas of glutinous rice, 400 pieces of coconut, and 240 kilos of brown sugar.

Bagar, a village north of the city proper, is famous as Candon’s "calamay capital." Almost every household in the barangay, which has over a thousand residents, churns it out daily. – Teddy Molina