IT’S all systems go for Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival at MarQuee Mall in Angeles City, Pampanga, this weekend of October 17 to 19, 2014. After the highly successful Maginhawa Street Food Festival in conjunction with the Grand 75th Anniversary Celebration of Quezon City last Saturday, October 11, 2014, attention shifts to Pampanga for Big Bite!, which is another huge celebration of good food from all over Northern Philippines.
This means Sisig (sizzling plate of pig’s ears and face), Betute (frog) and Camaru (crickets) from Pampanga, fresh strawberries and Strawberry Taho from Baguio, Empanada and Bagnet from Ilocos, bangus (milkfish) and Puto Calasiao from Pangasinan, longganisa from Cagayan, and sweets from Bulacan all to be found under one roof. Over 100 homegrown food merchants from Regions 1, 2 and 3 and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), shall be manning booths that sell their local products, including condiments, spices, coffee, jams, rice, baked products, native cacao items, chicharon and wines.
Acknowledging the important role that street food plays in the Philippines, Big Bite! has allotted a special aisle on the festival grounds to Street Food specials. The stalls here will be offering very affordable food delights that people flock to in street corners, including Ice Scramble (shaved ice with milk and flavorings), Binatog (boiled corn, salted and served with grated coconut), Isaw (grilled pig’s intestines skewered into barbecue sticks) and Sorbetes (homemade ice cream also known as ‘Dirty Ice Cream’ but isn’t dirty at all).
Highlights of Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival are a Food Art Installation mounted by Filipino visual artist Leeroy New and the Pampanga Arts Guild aimed at promoting the different regions’ specialty dishes through food art forms, a Culinary Cook-off among top culinary schools in Pampanga and Bulacan, and cooking demonstrations conducted by Lifestyle Network’s celebrity chefs Sharwin Tee (first winner of the Clash of the Toque-en Ones and star of Curiosity Got the Chef) and Sandy Daza (of Foodprints).
There will also be a Sisig Festival, as Pampanga, the venue of Big Bite!, is acknowledged to be the Sisig Capital of the Philippines and the quintessential Kapampangan dish has put the Philippines on every foodie’s map. So, for the Sisig Festival, people are going to find different variations of the sisig.
A project of MarQuee Mall, Ayala Malls, premier destination for shopping, leisure and entertainment in Pampanga, Big Bite! is now on its second year and is held in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Department of Trade and Industry, Angeles Tourism Office, North Luzon Expressway, Bank of the Philippine Islands and Lifestyle Network. MarQuee Mall shoppers with a minimum of Php1,000 purchase from any MarQuee Mall merchant get to avail of the food festival’s Big Buffet promo, which allows them to enjoy free food samples.
The three-day Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival kicks off tomorrow, Friday, October 17, 2014, with a marching band, fireworks display and a giant sisig cook-off. So, hie off to Pampanga and experience the biggest gastronomic festival!
