Santa Maria , Bulacan Culinary and Heritage Tour part 3

Santa Maria , Bulacan

 Torres- Reyes  ancestral house

 Ms. Carmen Torres Reyes is the great grand aunt of Ms. Margaux Salcedo ( former GMA channel 7 reporter ) and Congressman Alfred Vargas who were relatives.  The house was built during the late Spanish era but was renovated in the 1960’s  .

Famous Chocolate and Culinary Icons :

Nana Meng’s mother served food to President Manuel Quezon and other prominent members of the community . Nana Julita ( sister of Nana Meng)  would also be best remembered for her beef asado and ensaymada.  Nana Meng herself also had occasion to prepare a meal for then President Joseph Estrada . While another aunt,  Ka Tage  have wrote down some.  We were told that Nana Meng ‘s family is also a culinary icon of the place. People would remember her preparing foods especially during town fiesta .

Unfortunately, most of the family recipes like kesong puti, chicharon, sinigang sa bayabas, lumpiang sariwa and dinuguan, among other Bulacan recipes have never been written down. Instead they have been passed on from generation to generation but only to those who labor in the kitchen. It was Nana Meng and Ka Tage who managed to pass some of the recipe to their descendants .

Fortunately , We were fortunate to sample some of the family famous tsokolate , tinumis ( dinuguan ) .  The chocolate were named after the aunts Nana Meng and Ka Tage .

 Margaux Salcedo website: http://margauxlicious.com/

The house is located just a few meters from Banda 88 and Buenaventura Ancestral House

.participants enjoyed the hearty buffet meal

After the hearty mid morning day brunch , We went to tour some of the interesting ancestral houses, historical spots and we ate a Kamayan style

( Buffet in Banana Leaves) or Boodle Fight  Meal consists of  Java rice topped with deep fried egg plant, pancit papaya, chicken menudo , salted duck egg with chopped tomatoes, ginisang munggo  and chicharon.

Kilawin Papaya 

Kilawin Papaya is also called Pansit Papaya, The kilawin papaya is finely julienne, with chopped onions prepared by the HRM ( Hotel and Restaurant Management ) students and was cooked with vinegar , ground black pepper and some spices. At first glance , You can easily mistake this dish for acahara or puso ng saging. It is also good that they were able to prepare this dish considering that it was the papaya harvest season.

Artists Guilt of Santa Maria or Santiago Art Gallery 

The group toured the Artists Guilt of Santa Maria Gallery or Santiago Art Gallery . The gallery host to about a dozen or so artists from the town.

Bust of Dr. Teofilo S. Santiago

We toured the historic Santa Maria Elementary School . The school is known for its Gabaldon– style architecture . The main building was built in 1915 and the school had a mini -museum within its premises. Aside from the architectural value , It is also were 2 prominent people  – Dr. Teofilo Santiago bust that was made by National Artist for Visual Arts– Abdulmari Asia Imao and President Ramon Magsaysay

group photo

We were given certificate of attendance courtesy of the president of the school and tourism officers which initiated the heritage tour. We also got souvenir group photos with the students and participants from different cause oriented groups,  heritage advocates and our guides.

I have enjoyed the tour and would really recommend this to those who wanted a different travel experience .

Link to previous article:Santa Maria , Bulacan Culinary and Heritage Tour part 2                                       Santa Maria , Bulacan Culinary and Heritage Tour part 1

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