Culinaria Santa Maria

It was already lunchtime and the cacophony inside the dimly-lit school theater grew even louder not because a celebrity entered the room but student-servers buzzed in holding servings of a special dish the town is so much proud of.

Lumps of pansit-looking strips with vegetables served on paper plates of mercurial lamination arouse everyone’s palate.

The texture and flavor resemble the traditional pansit but the experience of eating it is entirely different. And true to the stories attesting to its quality, this one-of-a-kind pansit dish made from papaya is definitely a surprise, a culinary masterpiece, if one can describe it.

They call it pansit papaya or kinilaw na papaya, made from grated unripe papaya sauteed with onion, garlic, pepper, salt, seasonings and pork fat. It is used to be served during special occasions such as wakes and Lent but has since been part of the regular table fare of the town.

The dish is inviting, quips one of the guests, as Nanay Lucila Blanquita Hernandez, its famous cook, prepares it in a documentary shown in a big, white screen in front.

Gastric murmurings have already been built up by the timeh the cultural and environmental film festival ended past noon. Lunch was thus served.

The food is simple — a buffet of sisig, Santa Maria-style, with lots of chicharon bits and tofu and valenciana, a rice dish similar to the bringhe of the neighboring province of Pampanga.

But unlike the bringhe and the valenciana of the Hiligaynon and Kiniray-a areas of the country, this type of valenciana is made not from sticky rice but from the common kind, sometimes mixed with glutinous rice.

There’s not much fanfare in terms of ingredients but it is exquisite with its non-sticky, annatto-colored rice cooked together with pieces of chicken.

Likewise unique in this chicharon-producing town in Bulacan is pakam, a chicken dish similar to the adobo that uses roosters defeated in cockfights.

For merienda, pan de sal with kokosirup, a spread made from coconut milk and sugar like the coco jams of Bicol region but different in terms of consistency, color and taste, drew much interest.

A meal is best paired with tsokolate de batirol de Santa Maria made from grounded cacao beans and peanut.

Note: The author wishes to thank and congratulate the Immaculate Conception I College of Arts and Technology in Santa Maria, Bulacan, Prof. Jaime Corpuz, and his students for the successful staging of the DokyuPamana 2 and Pugay Kalikasan short film festival. “Pansit Papaya: Kalutong Yaman ng Santa Maria” is one the entries of the documentary film festival together with “Bahay San Luis: Tagong Yaman ng Santa Maria, Bulacan;” “Parroquia San Miguel de Marilao: Dambana ng Kaluwalhatian;” “Kokosirup: Pamanang Palaman ng Bayan;” “Escuela de Santa Maria: Lulukan ng Karunungang Hitik sa Kasaysayan;” “Kalikasan: Biyaya ng Sanlibutan;” “Sarah Basurera;” “Delusion;” and “Ligtas Kalikasan.”