DID you know that sisig—yes the Pinoy’s favorite pulutan-cum-ulam—is actually a Kapampangan term that means “to eat something sour” or “to give a dish a sour flavor”?

Such was one of the many gastronomical discoveries The Manila Times made when it joined Samsung Electronics Philippines’ food trip to Pampanga, which turned out to be one delicious, informative, and visually exciting outing—especially with the latest Samsung Galaxy Camera in hand.

The Samsung Galaxy Camera is a “smart” device running on an Android operating system. Its most feted feature is its WiFi capability that allows posting of photos to social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram right after shooting.

Everybody’s Café
Leading the tour through the highly calorific day was foodie Poch Joloran of Pinoy Eats World, a company involved in arranging food trips to different cities both locally and abroad.

For this trip to the North, the first stop was breakfast at Everybody’s Café. Our tour guide also works at the Joloran family-owned restaurant as operations manager and is proud of its history that dates back to the 1940s.

The aroma of freshly baked pan de sal and its classic partner tsokolate welcomed the “tourists” as soon as they walked through the door. The sweet beginning was then given a salty follow up with a serving of authentic kilayin, which is Pampanga’s own version of dinuguan minus the pig blood. More flavors were laid out in a single dish when the Joloran family’s prized recipe of morcon with quezo de bola and chorizo emerged from the kitchen after slow cooking for many hours. The more common, yet delicious choices comprised of longganisa, scrambled egg with tomatoes, and tapang kalabaw, with endless garlic rice.

The most photographable dish, however, has to be the adobong kamaro or ricefield cricket, which according to Joloran is a staple delicacy at Kapampangan households.

Everybody’s Restaurant is located in the town of San Fernando.

Heirlooms and hidden treasures
After breakfast, the next stop of the food trip was at ç’s kitchen in Mexico, Pampanga. Borromeo is one of the few Kapampangans who still whips up the heirloom recipes of San Nicolas cookies and dulce prenda. In fact, her kitchen is most famous for offering cooking lessons of the sought-after sweet treats.

“The San Nicolas cookies were first taught to Kapampangans by the Chinese as early as the 16th century,” Borromeo revealed. She also showed that to this very day, she makes the cookies from the traditional ingredients—lard, butter, uraro flour, coconut milk and dayap rind—and bakes them in wooden molds that bear patterns of the Virgin Mary’s clothes.

Dulce prenda, on the other hand, is the Kapampangan mooncake. It also made from San Nicolas dough only it is filled with minatamis na kondol, or sweetened wintermelon.

Come lunchtime, Jorolan brought the group to a hidden paradise in the heart of Sta. Rita’s rice fields, the Alviz Farm. There stood “Bale ng Juan,” a wooden house with capiz accents and truly a sight to behold. Originally meant to serve as the family’s rest house, Bale ng Juan became an events venue, which is said to serve the best home-cooked Kapampangan cuisine. To prove this, the Alviz family served fresh labanos and tomato salad, nilagang manok soup, pork asado and grilled tilapia. Of course, all the ingredients for the entire menu were sourced from the farm.

Homegrown delicacies
As in every Filipino outing, pasalubong shopping capped the trip. Not far from Alviz farm, the group went to the house of the original Ocampo-Lansang Delicacies. The family business now owned and ran by Ramon Ocampo sells turrones de kasoy, pastillas and sansrival, among others. The most famous among all its pasalubong products is the turrones de kasoy because like the San Nicolas cookies, its recipe also has a rich history.

According to Ocampo, the recipe of turrones de kasoy (rectangular nougat with cashew nuts wrapped in white wafer) dates back to the 1920s. His aunt was among the first locals taught by Spanish Dominican sisters how to prepare the delicacy. Among the few students, it was only the Lansangs who were able to continue the tradition of the original turrones de kasoy.

“My aunt, who knew that I would be the one continuing the family business told me before she left us that no matter what happens, I should keep the quality of our turrones de kasoy. Because of this promise, I never changed the ingredients of the treat, even if they’ve become quite expensive, and I’ve followed the original procedure in making them,” Ocampo shared.

Meanwhile, at the neighboring home of May Mercado, The Times tried its hand at making barquillos using a traditional and manual pan. Mercado’s home is famous for the best barquillos, barquiron and patku in town.

With lots of pasalubong ready to bring home, Jorolon took the group for one last stop at Robinsons Starmills for a taste of Cabigting’s halo-halo. According Jorolon, their halo-halo is creamier than others because of its special ingredient, the pastillas de leche.

Don’t forget the sisig
Of course, the group also had Kapampangan food’s star, the sisig, with the halo-halo at next-door Mely’s. To be sure your hot plate has the authentic kind, check for a mix of grilled pork and liver seasoned with vinegar (remember the “sour flavor” and lots of onions and chili pepper. When possible, wash down with ice-cold beer.

And that’s what you call a complete experience of Pampanga’s cuisine.

For more information on Kapam-pangan cuisine, log on Pinoy Eats World through its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages /Pinoy-Eats-World. For the specs of the Samsung Galaxy Camera, visit www.samsung.com/ph.