Yes to quiet birthdays + Gallery Menu of Bale Dutung

My mom recently celebrated a milestone birthday. But nope, no party.  We didn't organize one for 2 reasons:

Reason #1:    No one in the family likes to host parties. 😬    I am an introvert and just the thought of  entertaining guests already drains my energy. 😨😰😱  I did attempt to organize a surprise for her in an earlier milestone birthday but I made a mental note not to do it again.  Actually, it might not even qualify as a party coz there was no program, not even a single speech... it was just a plain get-together lunch for about 50 pax. That's what happens when an introvert organizes a party.  😂 😂😂  

Reason #2:    You've probably heard of several incidents wherein celebrants who are given parties in their milestone years pass away within the same year.  We don't believe in superstitions at all but this occurrence may have some scientific basis. I remember reading an article (or was it in a book or a conversation with a doctor? Can't quite remember ...) which mentions that when one is given a party (especially a surprise one) at an old age, it could take a toll on the person's heart because extreme emotions are triggered when one sees family members and friends he/she hasn't seen for years, or even decades such as high school or college friends.    Even if the party isn't a surprise one, the anticipation alone could cause anxiety for the celebrant too.

This is also what I learned from doing volunteer work at a home for the aged.  According to the nuns who manage the institution, when talking to elders, you should avoid asking about a person's birthday coz once he/she realizes that his/her birthday is coming soon, the person won't be able to sleep well until the day arrives.  There's not even a party to anticipate in this case.  Just the thought of one's birthday arriving causes restlessness and anxiety among the elders.

Thus, given the 2 reasons above, we told our mom that because we care about her so much (and for selfish reasons because don't like to entertain guests 😜 ), she should not expect any birthday party from us in her lifetime. 😂😂😂   Good thing she doesn't like parties either as she doesn't want to be the center of attention.  So she's also an introvert! Whew! 😅😊

So what did we end up doing for her birthday?  Because I know she reads the newspaper column of Chef Claude Tayag and Ms. Mary Ann Quioc-Tayag, I thought it would be a great idea to have a private lunch at Bale Dutung, the couple's residence in Angeles City, where they accept guest reservations.  I had to double-check if Chef Claude and Ms Mary Ann would be there on the date we we were eyeing as it would make it more special if she gets a chance to meet them.

What does Bale Dutung mean?  "Bale" is the Pampanggo word for house and "dutung" means wood so Bale Dutung means wooden house.  It's a house which Chef Claude built and designed.  Some of the materials came from old houses and churches.   Check these out -

Notice the lighting fixture above? Can you guess what Chef Claude used to make it?  Carabao neck braces.  Amazing, right?!

Did you notice the beautiful collection of bottles at the end of the table?   The big bottles (as tall as 2 feet high) contain various kinds of vinegar for aging.    

Here's one of the oldest marked bottle - vinegar from 1999!  Wow...

There are lots of antique items around the house too like these metal tools on a frame.  Can you guess what they are?

Antique egg beaters.

How about these metal contraptions below?  What do you think they are?

Ice crushers to make halo-halo.

And how about the animal-shaped sculptures below?  I actually thought they were just animal sculptures but are apparently they are antique items with a function.  

Give up?  They are coconut meat scrapers!  Just put a blade in the head of the sculpture, put a bowl on the floor right below the head (to catch the shredded coconut meat), sit on the sculpture and start scraping the coconut meat.

How about these wooden sculptures beautifully put together in a frame?   What do you think they are? 

Antique cookie molds! 

Such beautiful and intricate designs.  😍

Bale Dutung has beautiful greenery too.  It would make you forget that you're actually inside a city subdivision.  Check these out - 

And now for the most important highlight - the food! 😋    

We had the 6-course Gallery Co-Op 2 Menu (with slight changes on the menu based on the availability of ingredients). Why is it called the Gallery Menu?  Coz usually it's served in the Gallery Room but on the day we booked, Silong (the main dining hall) was available so lunch was served there instead.     

Presenting the Gallery Menu (brace yourselves for mouth-watering dishes) -

Hors d'oeuvre:  Basil leaves, kesong puti, toasted pili nuts and tomatoes (left), 

Aromatic duck pancake with hoisin sauce (center) and

Sisig cup (right)

1. Creme of Tinapa - Smoked milkfish chowder with guava and smoked tanigue

2.  Seared Tuna Salad -  pepper-crusted tuna loin topped with mango chutney 

and fresh pineapples, accompanied with local greens.

3.  Bringhe Cakes - Adlai rice cakes topped with crabmeat and crabfat aioli 

4.  Pork Belly Adobo Confit - slow-cooked belly served with

grilled eggplant and mango salsa

5.  Duck and Onion - Pan-seared duck breast with onion puree,

pickled onions and onion ash.

6. Pastillas Cheesecake - light cheesecake topped with

pure carabao's milk pastillas and caramel sauce.

Everything was yum!  I don't know how many times I said "manyaman" and "kanyaman" (Pampanggo words for "delicious") throughout the meal.  Haha... But if I were forced to pick the top 3 among the 6,  I have to say that would be the Creme of Tinapa, Pork Belly Adobo Confit and Pastillas Cheesecake.  Just thinking about them now makes me drool. 😋😍  Haha...

Ms Mary Ann and Chef Claude are the most gracious hosts.  Ms Mary Ann even joined us for lunch - that made my mom's birthday lunch more special! 😊    And in addition to the 6 courses, Ms Mary Ann had extra dishes served -  Pitichian (home-cooked chicharon), taba ng talangka with rice and tibok-tibok made from carabao's milk with HBD formed by the latik for my mom.  How nice! :)   Super, super yum!!!  😋😍  Burp, burp, burp...  😍     

Pitichian - home-made chicharon

BTW, this is my third time in Bale Dutung  (I tried the Kapangpangan menu and the Anthony Bourdain menu before).    But I have to say that in all my 3 visits there, what always makes it special (other than the great food) are the conversations you have with the gracious hosts of Bale Dutung.  This time around, I didn't just learn about food, Pampanggo culture, but also life lessons as Ms Mary Ann shared a lot of inspiring personal anecdotes.

My mom was super happy and so were all our tummies! 😊   It was a stress-free, quiet celebration for an introvert celebrant organized by an introvert.  😂😂😂

Where to go in Pampanga: Prado Farms in Lubao

If you're looking for a place to visit less than 2 hours' drive from Manila, you might want to check out Prado Farms in Lubao, Pampanga.  I stumbled upon this place while I was researching online for a place where we could celebrate my mom's birthday. :)

The place where Prado Farms is used to be an LPG refilling station - check out how unique their gate is - it's made up of empty LPG tanks in various sizes.  Nice piece of functional art. :)

Even inside the farm, you'll see traces of its LPG history like this nativity scene. :)

By the entrance, Prado Farms has a store selling assorted home stuff and antiques.   Here are some of the photos I took inside the store.

The store also sells food items like organic longganisa, tsokolate, kesong puti, etc.

BTW, if you intend to visit, you need to pre-book because sometimes the place is booked for retreats, seminars or corporate training.

There are 2 packages you could avail - (1) Hacienda Day which is their day tour package or (2) if you wish to stay longer, you could opt to stay overnight.

What's in store at Prado Farms?

Hacienda Day, the day tour package (11am to 5pm), covers AM snacks, lunch and PM snacks.

The meat and veggies they serve are all organic - right from the farm.  Here's what we had for minindal (AM snacks) -

Ground organic pork with longganisa and pandesal with kesong puti

Fried suman and tsokolateng batirol

Merienda is served in this aquamarine-themed veranda just near the entrance.

Opposite the dining area is the fishing pen.  Yes, fishing is one of the activities you could do while at Prado Farms.  

Fishing pen

From veranda, you could start exploring the farm. It's a total of 5 hectares but I think only half has been developed so far.

There are a handful of old houses that were transported and reconstructed in the farm (which would remind you of the houses at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bataan).  Check these out -

Here's how the house looks inside - it's an open space layout.  

And here's the Farm's library -  

Here's how it looks like at the ground floor.  Nice color and interiors. :) 

You'll find the library at the second floor - 

Anyway, since we knew that lunch was going to be buffet, we had to starve ourselves. Haha... What better way to burn calories than to swim! :)

They use saltwater for the pool.

Lunch is served in a restaurant called Mangan Yaman.  In Pampanggo, "mangan yaman" means "masasarap".

Dishes are all organic!

What's for lunch?  There's salad (I don't usually eat patis but I love their patis with honey salad dressing!), pork rendang, chicken steamed in lemongrass, daing na bangus, steamed kangkong and steamed alugbati.  All healthy and yum!  For dessert, coffee jelly was served.

BTW, you could also pre-order an organic arugula-fed lechon for Php7,500 (good for 15 pax) but nope, we didn't have one.  But we saw the place where they roast lechon when the staff gave us a farm tour  -

Roasting spot for their organic lechon

After the buffet lunch, chances are you'll feel sleepy.  Guess what?  They have a room called "Kera-kera" where you can lie down, relax and take a nap.  "Kera kera" in Pampanggo means "pahiga-higa". Don't you wish all the buffet places have a room like this?!  Haha...

Other things and activities you could do -

The farm has a chapel if you want some quiet time for reflection -

You could also feed the pigs - 

Enjoy a carabao ride or go biking (yes, they have bikes you can borrow) - 

Or if you're game to learn how to make kesong puti or tsokolateng batirol, you could also pre-arrange it with the farm staff. 

Tsokolateng batirol-making

For more info about Prado Farms, you may check out its website at http://pradofarms.com/.

Anthony Bourdain Menu at Bale Dutung

If you're a homegrown Pampanggo, you usually don't splurge on Kapampangan food for a good reason because you have it all the time at home especially if your mom is a good cook (and my mom is!). 

An example of a food splurge and probably one of the most expensive Pampanggo culinary experience you can have is the degustation at Bale Dutung.  "Bale" is Pampanggo for house and "dutung" means wood.  

The first time I went to Bale Dutung was more than 10 years ago.  At that time, there was only one set of menu (Kapangpangan Menu - the original menu) and one long table for diners.  Today, you can choose from 4 different menus and the ground floor has several sections and tables to accommodate more diners.

I had friends visiting from the US and Bale Dutung was part of their target list.  I joined them for an afternoon of fun, delicious Pampanggo food and great conversations. I said "afternoon" because the degustation takes 4 hours - it's from 12noon to about 4pm. :)

This is the gate of Bale Dutung - still the same gate I remember a decade ago.  Wood really looks better as it ages.  

And this is the Silong - the main dining hall of Bale Dutung.

The most valuable in the culinary experience, other than of course the food, is that the owners themselves are the ones entertaining the guests.  The lady of the house, Ms. Mary Ann Quioc, would explain the dishes, or give some historical background, tell a trivia or share anecdotes from her childhood.  She jokes that the reason why the degustation is expensive is because of her. :) 

The first dish that we tried is actually unofficial. It wasn't part of the menu.  Ms. Mary Ann let us try their newly-cooked tamales which she says has secret toppings.  I am not a big fan of tamales but this one is really good! :)  I even ordered some for take-out.  :)

For appetizers, we had crackers and dips - pesto using pili, crab fat and shrimp buro (fermented rice). All yum!  You can try each one with crackers or try a combination but I love it when you put all 3 together.  I just had to control myself from eating a lot because the degustation was a 10-course one.  :) 

The menu we signed up for was the Anthony Bourdain one.  Here's the photo of the man/chef of the house, Claude Tayag, with Anthony Bourdain during his trip to the Philippines. 

Brace yourself - here's the 10-course degustation. 

Pako Salad

According to Ms Mary Ann, during the time of our grandparents, it was common for houses in Pampanga to have pako plants in the garden.  Thus, if you have visitors, it's a no-no to serve them pako because it means they are not special as you're not making an effort to prepare something special for them.  

Chicken Inasal and Talangka Sushi

The chicken inasal is super yum!  From what I remember, it was marinated with lime.  We have a local lime in Pampanga called dayap and food really becomes yummier when you put dayap even in desserts like tibok-tibok, leche flan and buco sherbet. 

Here's a close-up shot of the Talangka sushi.  Sinful but oh so yummy!  

Adobong Pugo

Super, super tasty!  If you want to dip it in sauces, there are several sauces on the table but noteworthy is the vinegar.  They age vinegar at Bale Dutung.  The one that was served to us dates back to 1998.  Check out the huge bottles of vinegar they have - 

Ampalaya with buro (or balo-balo)

Hito at balo-balo sushi

This is a unique way to eat Hito, balo-balo and mustasa.  Tip from Ms Mary Ann - ask your local vendor to filet the hito. 

                               

                                                                         Pata Humba

Lechon Taco

This is fried lechon flakes wrapped in a tortilla.  This is the most memorable dish for me.  The green sauce you see is called Oriental Sauce. It tastes weird - sweet, salty, sour with a taste of cilantro - but I super love it. I bought bottles of this sauce. A bottle costs Php150. 

For those who want to even go a notch higher in the degustation, at this point, you could also enjoy a small platter of crispy lechon skin for an additional Php300.   Chef Claude himself would masterfully slice the lechon and serve you. 

And since it's cholesterol loading already, you may want to reach out for the frozen towellete the attendants gave you earlier and put it on your nape or forehead.  My friends and I named this our First Aid kit. Haha.... 

At this point, you might also start feeling a bit full so to burn some calories, you can go up and down this staircase.  The degustation is just half- way through! Haha...

This is bulanglang na tiyan ng bangus, tadyang ng baboy and ulang.

Usually, when this is cooked in a Pampanggo home, it's just bangus, or hipon, or pork but not all together in one dish but since it's degustation, it's all 3 together.  The consistency of soup also depends on your preference. The way they serve it in Bale Dutung is super thick guava soup and Ms Mary Ann explained that this viand is best eaten with a salty sauce (bagoong, toyo and patis are on the table).  But my personal preference when it comes to bulanglang is watery soup which I put on my rice. :)

Pork Sisig

You have an option to put pig's brain and chicken liver - which I did.  Yum!  After this, time to reach for the First Aid kit again (the frozen towelette! Haha....)

Seafood Kare-Kare

Isn't this the prettiest and most photogenic kare-kare ever? 

This is the individual serving of the kare-kare.

                                       
                                Before you know it, it's almost 4pm, time for dessert! 

Tibok-Tibok

Made from carabao's milk so it's super creamy and malinamnam. And yes, it has dayap! Super yum! 

As another bonus, Ms Mary Ann let us try another dessert - I think they serve this in the other menu (Lechon and Kapampangan menu) they offer. 

This is called Paradiso.

It's like creme brulee and the 3 mounds that you see at the center are macapuno, ube and pastillas. Super duper yum!!! One of the best-tasting desserts I have ever tried! :). This and the lechon taco were the best for me. :)

That capped our degustation.  Happy tummy. Haha....

At the end of the degustation, you can also buy bottled goodies like sauces, taba ng talangka, pastries, etc.  

Btw, I noticed that there were plastic bags filled with water (and a coin inside) hanging around the dining area and my friend said that they are used to shoo away flies.  Maybe they are effective because during the entire meal, I only saw one fly.  

Lastly, Ms Mary Ann mentioned they have a newly-opened restaurant in Angeles City called Downtown and some of the dishes in the degustation are available in the restaurant.  She said that the average price of dishes there is Php300.   This means, if you want to have a similar culinary experience without breaking the bank, you can consider Downtown.  (But I haven't personally tried it yet.) 

For more info on Bale Dutung, you can check out its website at http://baledutung.com.