No Guinness try for Angeles’ sisig this year

ANGELES CITY — This city seems to have given up its plan, probably for now, to have its sisig make it to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Instead of the giant sisig festival launched two years ago, the city government is instead showcasing 176 ways of cooking the dish to mark its 176th founding anniversary in December.

Sisig consists of crispy roasted pork head, which is finely chopped and mixed with several ingredients, including chili, to enhance its taste. It is normally served on a sizzling plate.

"This early, we have contacted restaurants throughout the city and asked them to join the sisig festival by coming up with various ways to cook sisig. We want to have a total of 176 sisig dishes," said Irish Calaguas, head of the city’s trade and industry promotions office and sisig festival action officer.

Angeles was established 176 years ago as a barrio known as Culiat within the domain of San Fernando.

In May 2003, the city council passed a resolution declaring Angeles the "sisig capital of the world" in its bid to make it to the Guinness Book of World Records.

For two consecutive years (2003 and 2004), festival organizers aspired for a Guinness feat by cooking sisig on huge metal plates, which required hundreds of kilos of pork. The attempts went unnoticed, though.

Calaguas said this year’s sisig festival would be no less challenging.

"The basic ingredients of sisig are the same so it will take some imagination for the participants to come up with different versions," she said.

Calaguas said city officials are also preparing other activities for the 176th anniversary celebration, including body painting and dance competitions, and the usual night-long dancing in the city’s commercial and tourism district in Barangay Balibago. — Ding Cervantes