April 20, 2023
I set out for the cabalenan town of Floridablanca in upper Pampanga, where they supposedly serve the best “Bagkat”. For just P299, you can enjoy an unlimited variety of litsung-kawali, ligang-baka, kilayin, kari-kari, suwam-mais, tidtad, balatung, adoubung balut, and atchare, to name a few of the many dishes on offer at the “Bariotik” buffet restaurant. Katrina Monseratt Siat-Roque is the brains behind Bariotik, a restaurant that brings back the nostalgic feeling of eating in a kawayan-made structure in the heart of the town plaza.
However, Kat’s Bagkat is the most unique “pagmayamu (dessert)” she serves because the recipe was passed down to her from her mother.
“I cut ripe but still firm bananas into diagonal slices, then add sugar, water, and pandan leaves to simmer. Kat explained that the sago is added halfway through the cooking phase of the “bagkat,” when the bananas are soft but still firm.
As a working mother, she had a busy schedule. Being the oldest and only girl in my family meant that I had to start learning how to cook when I was eight years old, she said.
Bariotik, a Kapampangan eatery that started over a decade ago, is now a household name.My mother’s kitchen is where I learned to cook. As a working mother, she had a busy schedule. Being the oldest and only girl in my family meant that I had to start learning how to cook when I was eight years old, she said. Kat also let slip her secret adobung-balut recipe, which is the one that most piqued my interest.
“Just prepare them like you would any other balut. One to two hours of boiling time, depending on the stove’s heat. The fluids should be saved while peeling. Then, melt some margarine in a pan and sauté some garlic and onions. Toss in some balut juice, oyster sauce, and cream of mushroom soup that has been diluted in water. Then add some salt and some chopped bell peppers and leeks, as Kat suggested, and finish it off.
I grew up in a kubo just 100 meters from the beach in Calapacuan, Subic, Zambales, which explains my affinity for seafood, but it was my maternal grandparents’ barrio in ancient Paguiruan, Floridablanca, that inspired my lifelong passion for the kitchen. As we were cleaning up from lunch, Kat exclaimed, “That makes me very Kapampangan. (end)