In the past years, with industrialization and modernization, Cavite has been one of the most diverse provinces in terms of its people. Many of our fellowmen from different parts of the country flocked to the Metro to take advantage of all the opportunities that Manila has to offer. And when it was too crowded in Manila, the people from different provinces trickled down and decided to stay in the neighboring provinces—and Cavite is one of them, being one of the closest to Manila. Soon after, Cavite has industrialized as well, and had attracted more people from other provinces.
Cavite has become a melting pot of different cultures and influences, and so this has helped evolve Cavite delicacies. Known as one of the 8 provinces which participated in the Philippine Revolution, Caviteños are known to be brave and palaban. One major thing we should know about Caviteños is that we work up quite an appetite also. If you would go around the province, just in the main thoroughfares alone, you would see small kiosks and stalls of different food offerings. If you would turn to your Caviteña officemate, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if she knows someone who sells delicacies in Cavite.
Given the wide range of influences and cultures that has permeated in the thread of the Caviteño culture, it would be a chore to have to trace which dish came from Cavite or which is passed on as an influence. Being foodies and food enthusiasts and just being generally gutumin, every Caviteño (myself included!) has their own favorite dish from the wide array of food and delicacies which has grazed our beloved province.
Let’s run down 10 (possibly more!) popular Caviteño dishes and by the end of the article, I’m sure you’re be more than willing to try one or more of the items on the list.
1. Menudo
Historically, this dish is known to be one of the longest-standing influences of the Spanish as they occupied the Philippines. The saucy savory sweet-saltiness of the tomato sauce marries well with the par-fried potatoes and carrots as well as the tenderness of the meat. Throughout the years, this dish has taken on different forms and revisions, but every Filipino striving to stay true to the essence of this ‘landmark’ of a dish. In the city of Imus, the Menudo game has been very, very strong. Anabu and Malagasang, two different barangays are gunning for the best Menudo in Imus, if not the whole of Cavite. While it’s a bit subjective to select one over the other (I’m from Anabu and I would definitely say my lola (the recipe now survived by my Tita) has the best menudo), it is a trip to experience the best of both—or all—worlds.
Jump in the menudo bandwagon and make sure to try a few different versions: chicken menudo, menudong giniling or the classic pork menudo. While the jury is still out if raisins should be in menudo, this is for sure going to go well with just-cooked white rice, and believe me, and this is definitely worth the carbs.
2. Morcon
Another saucy, savory dish is the morcon. How the morcon tastes is quite simply the summation of its parts. For me, this was a treat growing up. We only had morcon during special occasions, like weddings, or 60th birthdays. It is definitely one of those dishes you’re feel very lucky to have tried, and not only because it’s rare to come by, but also because it’s really, really good.
Anatomically speaking, its outer layer, the beef, is flattened to almost like a sheet. This houses all the beautiful flavors inside, and soaks up the tomato-based sauce it is poached in. The morcon I grew up seeing had a sausage, half a boiled egg, and cheese, carrot and celery cut into sticks. This is carefully rolled in the beef sheet, almost like a burrito. This is then secured with a string, and then poached in a tomato-based sauce. When the beef rolls are done, they are removed from the sauce and the sauce is further reduced to the right consistency. When serving, the strings of the beef roll is removed, the roll is then sliced and some sauce is poured over top. Most definitely best served with rice, this is surely one of Cavite’s most famous delicacies.
3. Hamonado
If you’re not a beef person, this dish is for you. Similar to the morcon, some variations of this delicacy is in roll form. As the morcon is poached in a tomato-based sauce, the hamonado has a pineapple-based sauce. This provides a sweet-tangy profile to its taste. Instead of a beef ‘sheet’, the hamonado is a pork ‘sheet’. Some versions have just chunks of pork meat, carrot chunks, and cut-up sausages instead of the rolled version. Some people also add pineapple chunks as well, to further strengthen the pineapple flavor, and balanced with a fish sauce as salt enhancer so all your taste buds are ‘on their toes’ as you take on this gastronomic experience.
I don’t know why but as the morcon feels like a luxury, the hamonado feels like a comfort food. Maybe it’s because of the brighter flavors of the hamonado compared to the deep profile of the morcon; or maybe because beef feels rare and a luxury, while the pork is easily available any day. At the end of the day, though, the special experience of eating hamonado makes it a favorite in the Caviteño cuisine.
4. Sinampalukang manok
There is nothing more relaxing than a bowl of chicken soup to comfort the proverbial lost soul, but Caviteños definitely love taking it up a notch. Like a warm hug on a bad day, Caviteños love their sinampalukang manok with lots and lots of ginger that soothes the throat and the asim-kilig feel of tamarind. This is specially made with chicken, because if you ask any true-blue Caviteño, we don’t have sinigang na manok out here. The main difference of sinigang and sinampalukan is the base of the broth: sinigang is made with garlic, onion and tomatoes, while the sinampalukan has ginger and onions only, both using tamarind as the souring agent.
This is easily a favorite since it’s fairly simple to prepare and quite delicious to eat. Some recipes though, are much more adventurous than the others, including chicken innards, chicken blood and chicken feet and cooking them with the meat for a more sumptuous meal. At the end of the day, it is still that heart-warming and tangy home-made bowl of soup you would want to eat after a long day’s work.
5. Halaya
Among the different halaya dishes in Cavite, these two are the most favorite. For starters, we have the halayang ube. Made with milk, coconut cream, shredded boiled purple yam or ube and sugar, this tedious but extremely rewardingly delicious dessert is a sure-fire famous Caviteño delicacy. Together with my sister and my cousins, we would watch our parents prepare plates and plates of this dessert all day long. Early in the morning, my father and uncles would prepare a wood-burning stove and a pot with water to boil the purple yam in, while my mother and our aunts are washing the yam and peeling them off. The yam gets boiled and the talyasi (tulyasi in some areas), or the giant pan gets prepared for the vital role it will play in this process. The coconut gets shredded and the coconut milk is squeezed from the shreds. The milk and coconut milk gets mixed with the sugar, and as the yam is finished boiling, it is shredded and mixed into the milk mixture. This now gets poured into the giant pan and set onto the wood stove. While being heated, the mixture slowly thickens—then the real work begins. The mixture has to be constantly stirred, non-stop, until the right consistency is achieved. This takes all day, literally 6-7 hours is spent mixing the purple yam mixture, while making sure that the heat is sufficient by constantly placing chops of wood into the embers so the fire doesn’t run out.
While the conversation is flowing, so the mixing is continuing. The women now prepare the plates that would contain the ube halaya. Margarine is spread on to the plate using a portion of a banana leaf so it doesn’t stick as much. Once the halaya is cooked, it is carefully ladled to the plate and is smoothened by spreading a thin layer of margarine using a small piece of banana leaf.
This dessert is given around to family and friends mostly during Christmas or New Year’s, or sometimes, instead of plates, we use microwaveable containers to give to friends or family who are moving out of the country, so they always have a little piece which will remind them of home.
The next one is the halayang sampaloc. This one is a little rarer than the halayang ube. This delicacy is one that doesn’t need a special occasion; you just need lots of ripe tamarind. It is usually prepared during tamarind season when there is a surplus of ripe tamarind because kids nowadays rarely eat the ripe sampaloc off the pod. Cooked in coconut cream, milk and sugar, this sweet and tangy treat is sure to make you feel homey and cozy. While this is not as readily available as the halayang ube because of the seasonality of the fruit, one can usually see this in public markets, sold in cups, or from friends who prepare in bulk and give them away.
6. Halo-halo
The ultimate summer dessert, the halo-halo is probably the single most favorite sweet treat. This is something you can do with absolutely no holds barred. It’s basically a bunch of fruits and root crops mixed together, topped with shaved ice, milk, and ice cream or leche flan or halayang ube, or all three if you like. In Digman in Bacoor, Cavite, there is a store entirely dedicated to arguably Cavite’s best halo-halo. For many, the halo-halo is filled with cut-up fruits like jackfruit, saba banana, kaong or nata de coco, some red or white beans, and cubed root crops like sweet potato, sweetened with sugar. Caviteños do it a little different and cook the fruits in sugar to caramelize the fruits’ natural sugars with the added sugar. It is such a treat to eat this as summer is fast approaching, kicking back and relaxing under a bright sunny day.
7. Samala
A kind of glutinous rice cake topped with sweetened coconut cream, the Samala is a delicacy native in Cavite City, which has grown to be loved all Province-round. Many local tourists who pass by Cavite City often drop by a local store to bring home this rice cake, even those from nearby provinces, and Metro Manila. They have already stepped it up a notch by putting on different toppings like pinipig on the cakes for a more varied dining experience.
8. Buco tart
Usually, we hear of Laguna’s best buco pies from many brands claiming to be special, the best or the original, and while we do agree that the buco pie is great-tasting, sometimes the whole pie can be too much. From this, we introduce Tagaytay City’s buco tarts. If you look at it, it’s simply a single-serve buco pie, but this is a little more dressed with cheese toppings, with the classic crispy tart shell and slices of coconut meat inside in a creamy custard “sauce”. Best for an idle afternoon merienda with friends and family, it is simple yet satisfying.
9. Seafood
It cannot be denied that Cavite is known for its seafood, with almost half of the provinces living by the sea. Mussels, oysters, shrimp and crabs are only a few of the most common products harvested from the Caviteño seas. The mussels may be quickly steamed, oysters may be eaten raw, and shrimps and crabs may be just butter-sauteed with garlic. Cooking the seafood into amazing dishes to any direction you may wish takes another level of talent, but it is extremely note-worthy that the best and the freshest seafood is one of Cavite’s delicacies.
While we know that many of these dishes did not really originate from Cavite, we do appreciate that Caviteños have personalized their takes on these Filipino favorites. It’s indeed a family thing to enjoy and share these delicacies, and that’s another thing that’s purely Caviteño, purely Filipino. I sure hope this article made you hungry, because I am already halfway through with ordering my next meal.
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