This is how lunch is served visitors in old Capampangan households. Aside from the Christmas season, summer is usually the time we entertain the most, with the Lenten holidays, fiestas and the long vacation bringing in family and friends.

The kitchen is always a beehive of activity. The large pots and pans are taken out from where they are kept most of the year. Special recipes are lavished with all the love it takes to cook them.

Guests often leave fully satisfied and eager to come back. After all, Capampangans are known for their hospitality, as well as for the cooking that goes with it.

Each time I am asked where the best Capampangan food can be found, I am at a loss for words. There is no single place, nor a single town or even a district that has a monopoly over good cooking. Even towns that are famous for specific specialties (ex: tamales from Cabalantian in Bacolor) are most probably known for these because they are successful in selling them.

Many restaurants and chefs are also offering Capampangan dishes and these are very well-accepted but these have already been adapted to the mainstream market.

The best of Capampangan cuisine is served in private homes. This summer, several Pampanga houses are opening their doors to welcome visitors and introduce them to their specialties. One of the families are the Gosioco’s who still live in a large, vernacular house of around 150-years old (picture above).

Karlo the Sleepy Traveler and cultural tourism specialist Alquimista, Inc. are organising coordinating to organise the day trip. Yours truly will be one of the resource persons. E-mail Karlo (karlodeleon@gmail.com) to reserve a slot for the 14 April tour.

The days are getting sultry though the nights can still be cool. With summer’s bounty soon to be out in full splendour, I can’t wait to learn more about seasonal produce, recipes and other traditions – whether in and out of the kitchen. There are just so many interesting tidbits that are waiting to be re-discovered.

The summer sun is best for recipes that call for sun-drying. It will ensure proper dehydration that will prevent the growth of organisms that spoil food.

Today’s recipe involves leaves, specifically mustard greens or mustasa to us. This is an old recipe that most households utilised but is falling into disuse. Nowadays, burung mustasa may be found in Pampanga marketplaces but that’s also fast becoming a rarity. The salted mustard greens found in supermarkets and groceries are almost always imported, thanks to globalisation.

Burung mustasa or quiamse comes from the Hokkien ‘kiam’ (salted) ‘chai’ (vegetables, but in this instance refers to mustard). It must have been introduced to the country by Chinese settlers and then the process adapted to our conditions.

Quiamse is best eaten chopped with tomatoes as a side dish or salad to fried fish and meat. The Chinese however, have different ways of eating it such as with congee (lelut) and in soups. The fermenting liquid can be used for sigang as it is very sour.
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In a bookstore, if I had to choose between a cookbook and a volume on ecology, I would usually take the latter. Between food and current affairs magazine, my instinct is to take the latter.

Food blogging has been changing my reading habits slowly, however. Now and then, I tend to look at the different magazines available in the newsstands. I now look forward to each month and see what’s available in the glossies, hoping that they feature more Filipino food.

This month, Yummy Magazine has its maiden issue. It looks like a cooking magazine, albeit for fast and simple recipes. Although I would like to see a bit more in-depth articles, what I appreciate about Yummy Magazine is how it is meticulously organised, such as step-by-step pictures for a tricky procedure and a recipe index by category.

Overall, it has awakened my curiosity as to what lies ahead. More Filipino food features, perhaps?