My Tarlac Food Tour

Tarlac is one of the provinces that is located in the north part of Metro Manila.  It seems one of the places that Filipinos have heard so much about, thanks to our President, who hails from this province, but still a place that not everyone knows much about, much less know about the gastronomic gems that it hides in its interiors.  So it is with curiosity and excitement that I joined the Tarlac Food Tour last July 05, 2014. 

The Tarlac Food Tour is one of the projects that the province of Tarlac is promoting to encourage more visitors to the province and also a way to showcase the different towns in the province and each town's specialty.  We went to two towns in this tour to visit some establishments that produce some delicacies worth-noting. 

The first stop was Mary Ann's Kitchen located near the Provincial Capitol of Tarlac.  Here we were treated to spicy chicken prepared ala Bon Chon-style with a little twist that suits the local taste buds and with each piece ideally cut to local preference.   The one thing that I appreciated in Mary Ann's Kitchen is the customer-friendly price. 

We had a quick stop to see the beautiful ruins of Camiling Church which got burned but has since been rebuilt.  However, the ruins were retained for tourists to admire.  The ruins make a good backdrop for photo sessions.  It looks kind of eerie and dramatic with the wide-spreading branches of trees giving just the right amount of shadow and shade. 

The next stop would be the home of organic and gourmet lemongrass chicken and tomato and tuyo pasta.  The place is aptly called Good Earth Farms and Foods.  Most, if not everything that is used in the dishes prepared here are planted and raised in their backyard.  It is best to call or make reservations if you intend to have lunch or dinner here so that they can catch and pluck fresh ingredients from their backyard for cooking.  You  just simply have to arrive on time to enjoy the food. 

Good Earth farms also produces their very own lemongrass juice which they also commercially sell for P25 each.  I think it is a reasonable price for something healthy.  I have never tasted lemongrass juice as delicious as theirs.  By the time I downed the last drop of the lemongrass offered me, I gave Good Earth  the thumbs up.  

 I'm sure this looks so familiar and why not, it is the almost ubiquitous 'lechon kawali' but in Camiling, they call it the 'chicharong Camiling.'  A thick slab of pork prepared the way Tarlacenos would to produce this dish.  I think the pork meat is young and tender because the skin is crispy and not chewy.  What makes this special is that, this is prepared only in the market of Camiling.  No other establishment prepares 'chicharon Camiling' and I heard, because the demand is high, it sells like pancakes so better get them early as they are off the stands by mid-day. 

Urdu Restaurant is a restaurant and a pastry-house too.  It is one of the pioneers in Tarlac City in bread and pastries, having been established in 1972.  Judging from the flow of customers on this particular day, I could tell that Urdu house has been a part of many people's lives in Tarlac City and a birthday is not complete without a cake bought from Urdu House.   I particularly enjoyed their empanaditas.  If you  ever find yourself in Tarlac City, don't ever miss Urdu house and buy some of their pastries for pasalubong for friends and family.

Capping the entire experience was a visit  to the most popular maker of native cakes in Central Luzon, Betty's.  Aside from the usual bibingka, maja blanca, sapin-sapin, pichi-pichi, cassava cake and the like, they have added to their products the "putong kapit." It looks so salivating from this photo, but I would rather you try it yourself and find out why it is called "putong kapit."

In case you want to embark on this journey and discover Tarlac's gastronomic gems, do visit: http://www.visittarlac.com/.  Hope you enjoy Tarlac guys just like I did.