Food adventures in the mountains

Family lore has it that when Teresita Reyes or Mama Sita — for whom the famous mixes and sauces were named — was still alive, she loved to go on trips to sample an area’s favorite specialties. The tradition of food outings has since been kept alive by her descendants, and excursions are regularly organized so that participants can experience and enjoy local flavors in out-of-the- way places like the Reyes matriarch once did.

Although the lowland air has turned a bit chilly, a weekend jaunt to Mountain Province organized by Marigold Commodities Corporation, maker of Mama Sita’s mixes and sauces, proved irresistible. We were unfazed by the 10-hour road trip, lured as we were by the prospect of nippy mountain air, crisp, sweet and freshly harvested vegetables as well as good company.

Leaving Metro Manila at dawn, most of the group had time to catch up on some shut-eye before reaching Baguio. And to fortify us through the final leg of the trip, lunch was served at the quaint and picturesque Tomay Farms of lawyer Damaso Bangaoet and wife Bing. Attorney Dammy is known in Baguio as the man who conceptualized the widely popular Baguio Flower Festival and, fittingly, the salad served for lunch featured bright orange nasturtiums.  

It would have been tempting to linger in Tomay, La Trinidad, but there was still a long way to go. The air-conditioning units of our vehicles were turned off, the better to conserve power for the constant uphill climb. With the windows wide open, the odors helped to signal our location. At Shilan, for example, known to locals as the “chicken dung capital,” the cloying odor of fertilizer wafted through the open windows and threatened to gag the uninitiated.

 A pit stop at Sayangan, Halsema Highway’s highest point, late in the afternoon introduced us to the bracing wind as the afternoon fog moved in. Shivering despite our parkas or jackets and nursing steaming cups of coffee, we were charmed by the sight of a rosy-cheeked child selling unusual yellow calla lilies in front of her mother’s store. Calla lilies are used to border vegetable gardens to prevent soil erosion and the regal white blooms that grew haphazardly elicited exclamations of appreciation. However, what we missed most on this trip were the fragrant Benguet lilies clinging to rock walls, and the red, tart wild raspberries that were so common in the Mountain Province of our youth.

We reached Mt. Data Lodge soon after the sun had set. And although we thought ourselves too tired to eat, the tasty dishes cooked with Mama Sita sauces and seasonings proved difficult to resist.

Up and about bright and early the next day, we explored Mt. Data’s garden. Aside from the hollyhocks that were once a mainstay of Baguio City’s public parks, wild trumpet flowers and purple morning glory, we discovered white and pink- flowered varieties of foxglove. The plant is used in the manufacture of digitalis, a drug used by heart patients. Our morning constitutional allowed us to appreciate the tranquility of the place and we would have been content to sit in a quiet corner and watch the multi-hued butterflies all day.

However, the Mama Sita crew wanted the group to visit the vegetable farms. One can simply stir-fry broccoli, snow peas, asparagus or other vegetables with the brand’s excellent oyster sauce for a superlative vegetarian dish. Alternatively, there is a sauté powder that one simply adds to a mix of vegetables for a light and tasty viand.

The destination was Sitio Pactil in Barangay Monamon and our skillful driver named Marcial maneuvered the sturdy vehicle through steep tracks and rutted mud paths. The omnipresent odor of chicken manure used as fertilizer bothered us, but the locals seemed unruffled. “That’s the smell of good harvest and money,” they said. We looked around us to see lush cabbage, lettuce and other vegetable patches that seemed to stretch endlessly and thought, “With Mama Sita sauces and mixes, we certainly could eat healthy here.”