There's an ancestral house in Mexico, Pampanga where you can make reservations and enjoy authentic Kapampangan cuisine. Food is prepared by Pampanggo culinary personality Atching Lillian Lising-Borromeo ("atchi" in Pampanggo means older sister).
The meal is buffet style, al fresco.
When you make reservations, you can actually discuss the menu with Atching Lillian but since we're Pampanggo, we veered away from exotic dishes like batute (stuffed frog) and tocinong damulag (carabeef tocino). We picked some all-time favorites as well as requested Atching Lillian to include some unique dishes. So here's what we had -
Mushroom soup with chilli leaves.
Adobong Puti
Biringhe.
This is Pampanggo's version of paella. It is usually served during town fiestas.
Bobotung Asan.
I forgot to ask why it's called "bobotu" but "asan" means fish. It's milkfish cooked with tanglad leaves.
Chicken morcon with castanyas.
I thought this was a hot dish like the rest but when I took a bite, it was chilled. Haha... It was my first time to eat this dish. :)
Pritong hito (catfish)
Steamed veggies to go with the Fried Hito.
Buru or Tagilo or Fermented Rice.
Fried hito and the steamed veggies won't be complete without buru.
Kare-kareng iking baka (oxtail).
Atching Lillian shared with us that she got the recipe for this from the Hizon family of Pampanga. It has chorizo, mushroom, garbanzos and no peanut butter (ok, I am just guessing that it doesn't have peanut butter! haha...).
Fried Paro (Shrimps).
Tidtad.
This is the Pampanggo's version of Dinuguan.
Tuna Sisig
Although the tuna came from canned tuna, the blend was super yum.
Pandan water. Refreshing!
If you like any of the dishes, you can ask Atching Lillian about them and she will openly share and explain how she cooked them (except that I was too busy eating! Haha...)
While there, you can also visit Atching Lillian's kitchen of antiquities. I think this has been featured in several publications and shows.
Here are some interesting things you can find.
Brass pans.
Assorted ladles.
Claypots.
This is the spot where Atching Lillian usually holds her cooking demos. If I am not mistaken, she has (or had) a cooking show on a local cable channel and occasionally conducts cooking classes. Atching Lillian is also popular for her Panecillos de San Nicolas or San Nicolas cookies (in Pampanggo, we pronounce it as if it were one word - Sanikulas! Haha...). Atching Lillian's San Nicolas cookies are the finest, thinnest and the best I've ever eaten.
In her kitchen, you'll find century-old antique molds for San Nicolas. The molds are carved with various religious images.
Antique cookie mold for San Nicolas cookies.
Here's another antique cookie mold.
Here's how San Nikolas cookies look like.
San Nikolas cookies are baked in commemoration of St. Nicholas of Tolentino (a different St Nicholas from Sta Claus - that is said to be St Nicholas of Myra). According to historical accounts, when St. Nicholas of Tolentino was sick, he received a vision from the Blessed Virgin Mary to eat a specific bread dipped in water and after which, he got healed. He started giving away the same bread to sick people since then, some of whom got miraculously healed too. Fascinating story.
Anyway, Kusina ni Atching Lillian is located in Parian, Mexico, Pampanga - about 5 minutes away from SM Pampanga.
If you would like to make reservations, you can contact +63 915 7730788 or +63 45 9660211. Minimum requirement for reservation is 10 pax. Price per pax is Php500. I heard they also serve breakfast but I'm not sure if it's the same rate. Just call to inquire to be sure.
All the Popes we've come to know in our lifetime - Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis - exemplify humility.
My mom shared with me an article about another humble pope who served earlier - from 1958 to 1963. He is Pope John XXIII - newly declared saint by Pope Francis in July 2013 (but yet to be canonized in April 2014 alongside with Blessed Pope John Paul II). Pope John XXIII was the Pope who called for the Second Vatican Council which triggered all the reforms in the Catholic Church to make it more suitable to modern times.
That rang a bell because I remember seeing an incorrupt body of a Pope during a visit to St. Peter's Cathedral and all I could remember was that he was the one responsible for the Second Vatican Council. Here are some photos I took of Pope John XXIII during our visit to the Vatican two years ago.
Pope John XXIII was born Angelo Giusseppe Roncalli, the 4th child among 14 siblings. He came from a poor Italian peasant family. He was elected Pope on Oct 28, 1958 at the age of 77.
Just before he called for the Second Vatican Council, he shared:
It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.
Obviously, being Pope never got into his head because he even forgets he is the Pope! :)
He also wrote:
“Poverty has held me in its arms since my childhood and it has never let me down…We must not complain, because when we bear it with patience, poverty likens us to Jesus. We have never lacked what is necessary and never will. Riches, as you see around you, do not make men happy.”
He embraced poverty gracefully and seriously, and never used his power or access to resources to alleviate his family from poverty - even just a tiny bit. When he was suffering from cancer, the Vatican sent a telegram to his family so they could be with him and accompany him during his dying days. No one came until someone from the Church went to his hometown and found out that his surviving brothers were so poor that they did not have enough money to pay for a train ticket to Rome!
Pope John XXIII passed away on June 3, 1963 due to stomach cancer.
If ever you get to visit St. Peter's Cathedral, please don't forget to honor the humble Pope and Saint -Pope John XXIII. :)
It's All Souls' Day. What's more important than visiting our departed loved ones in the cemetery is saying a prayer for their eternal rest, as well as praying for all the poor souls especially those who have long been forgotten. Our prayers can help them reach heaven more quickly. And even if we think our loved ones are in heaven already, our prayers are never wasted since they benefit other souls in need. My daily prayer for departed loved ones and poor souls is just short - 1 Lord’s Prayer, 1 Hail Mary, 1 Glory Be Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. But since it's All Souls' Day, I googled for special prayers for the Poor Souls and found a couple of beautiful prayers. The first one is a Prayer by St. Gertrude, a Benedictine nun and mystic who lived in the 13th century. According to the article I read, God promised her that 1,000 souls would be released from purgatory each time it is said devoutly.
Prayer of St. Gertrude for the Poor Souls
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.
The second one is a Prayer to Our Lady of Mt Carmel. Prayer to Our Lady of Mt Carmel for the Poor Souls O Most holy Virgin, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, you are the joy of the Church Triumphant, and help of the Church Militant, and the comfort of the Church Suffering. Therefore, extend, we pray to you, your merciful glance on those numerous souls who suffer in the fires of Purgatory and free them, that they may be admitted to the beatific vision of God as soon as possible.
Remember, O Holy Virgin, to help especially those of my relatives, and those who are most abandoned and devoid of help. O most merciful Virgin, pour the merits of the precious blood of Jesus on the elect brides of Jesus Christ until they are comforted in the Heavenly glories.
And you, Holy Souls, O elect souls, who can do so much through your prayers to God for us, intercede, therefore, for us and free us from the dangers of body and soul. Protect our families until we have all been granted admission to eternal happiness. Amen.
Hope you can spend some time to pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Though they cannot pray for themselves, they can intercede for us. And hopefully, when it's time we need prayers, someone will say these prayers for us too. :)
