Ilocos: Land of bagnet & so much more

MILLIE: My mom, Imelda Albano Reyes, is a GI. No, not the GI in military parlance but a “genuine Ilocana,” as my Dad was fond of calling her. Upon the invitation of our gracious host, Governor Imee Marcos, Karla and I suddenly found ourselves in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, for four days and it was our most exciting trip in recent months! Karla and I thought it was just going to be a working visit but it turned out to be a virtual food trip, and Gov. Imee made it so thrilling and educational for us in so many ways: food-wise, tourism-wise and otherwise. We were blessed with good weather all throughout our stay in Laoag and were billeted at the Plaza del Norte Hotel and Convention Center.

KARLA: Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to go to Ilocos, maybe because it stuck in my head that my lola was from there. Every time my lolo would look for my lola, he would refer to her as “Ilocana.” So when Gov. Imee invited us to check out the Plaza del Norte Hotel and Convention Center, we immediately moved our schedules around to be able to accommodate the trip. Arranging the trip was no trouble at all since Philippine Airlines has flights to and from Ilocos once a day. Mom and I decided to take the plane because the bus ride would have been nine hours. It was my first trip to the province of Ilocos Norte because I had never gone further than Baguio up north. Mom said we might have time to check out the beach so I also didn’t know what to expect; I brought so much stuff. I brought casual wear, evening clothes and my beach bundle, including a whole bag full of sunblock, after-sun spray, goggles, etc.

Original creation: The Pinakbet Pizza of Herencia Café in Paoay, Ilocos Norte

The whole trip was more of a gastronomical adventure rather than work time. On our first full day, we started off with breakfast at the hotel before heading out to the city. Given the choice between a continental or Filipino breakfast, naturally we both ordered Ilocos longganisa with garlic fried rice and sunny-side-up egg. After a little sightseeing, Gov. Imee and Mark Chua met us for lunch at Herencia Café in Paoay, which sits opposite the St. Augustine Church. While going through the menu, I was taken by surprise as I read “pinakbet pizza” and “crispy dinuguan.” Herencia Café is known as the innovator of the pinakbet pizza served with Ilocos bagoong — which was like liquid anchovies — and the crispy dinuguan, which is actually dinuguan sauce over crunchy fried bagnet. Yum! If lolo were with us, he would have definitely enjoyed the dinuguan and would have looked for some puto to go with it. We also tried the chicharon with KBL — kamatis, bagoong and lasuna (onion) — which was bagnet all over again.

Herencia is not a fancy place; it’s a homey café with capiz windows and batibot chairs. For sale at the counter are homemade taro chips and bottled sweet sorghum vinegar. Instead of dessert, Tita Imee bought super-sarap thinly sliced banana chips that she, Mom and I devoured. As we were lunching I learned from Tita Imee that ukoy was an Ilocano invention. I learned, too, that chicha-corn was invented in Ilocos and the original brand is named Nana Rosa. Tita Imee had a bag bought for us to try. Mom kept popping it into her mouth and the next day could not walk and I think it was a bout of arthritis. Haha!

Another original: Kaiti, an Ilocano version of fondue with banana and kamote chunks dipped in panucha with bilo-bilo by Saramsam Cafe in Laoag, Ilocos Norte

Mark toured us around the famous Paoay church, the Malacañan Ti Amianan and Paoay Lake, the Marcos Museum in Batac, and Museo Ilocos Norte near the Capitol. We stopped to have a bite of the famous Ilocos empanada, whose crust is made from rice flour with achuete, giving it an orange color. The filling is made with Ilocos longganisa, monggo sprouts and chopped egg and is best eaten with black vinegar.

Right after that, we dropped by Saramsam, a local cafe in the heart of Laoag, to try their kaiti or Ilocano fondue, which consists of fresh banana and kamote chunks dipped in melted panucha with bilo-bilo.

MILLIE: The succeeding days found us going further north. We stopped by Cape Bojeador to see the famous 19th-century lighthouse established during Spanish colonial times and climbed about a hundred steps to enjoy the breathtaking view from the top. We then visited the giant windmills of Bangui that provide an alternative source of energy for 40 percent of the province.

As we took pictures of the 15 wind turbines installed along the shore of Bangui Bay, we posed for jump shots and enjoyed the breeze. From there we found ourselves in Pagudpud, at the tip of the island of northern Luzon, in a hidden cove at a beautiful beach called Blue Lagoon, where the water is a refreshing light blue green. As we stopped for a photo op, Karla, beach bum that she is, could not resist rolling up her pants to wade and I quickly followed!

KARLA: After Pagudpud, we had a late lunch at Berg Blick, owned by German chef Detlev Cotte and Pinay wife Marithes, who originally hails from Boni in Mandaluyong. Their cute love story began when they both met in the Maldives, where Detlev worked as a chef and Marithes was a computer engineer. They lived in Munich for 11 years, and have two kids. They came to the Philippines, visited Ilocos and fell in love with the place, opened the restaurant in Pagudpud in October 2010 and are here to stay.

We ordered pinakbet ravioli and classic bagnet. They also had other bagnet variations like lemon-pepper, garlic-chili, sesame, and barbecue. We would have tried them all but figured we’d be eating too much bagnet and it was only our third day there. We also ordered an assortment of Ilocano items presented to us in a wheelbarrow, which was very cute. I almost took it home with me.

Last stop before heading back to the hotel was the Pasuquin bakery, which sells the famous biscocho and Ilocano bacutia.

Ilocano invention: Wafer-like crunchy ukoy made from a light batter with tiny dried shrimps

The next day, we went to the fishing town of Currimao and saw the quaint and beautiful Ilocano houses of Dr. Joven Cuanang, one of my Lola Meldy’s doctors, which were uprooted piece by piece and put together. The resort had a beachfront but the waves were high and the sea was rough that day. We also checked out a new Balinese-inspired beach resort called Playa Tropical owned by my friend and tennis mate from DLSU, Toni Carag, who also happens to be the tourism officer of Ilocos Norte.

The next stop was the impressive Juan Luna Shrine in Badoc, where reproductions of some the national artist’s fabulous masterpieces were on display. It made me realize that despite the two whole days we spent going around Ilocos Norte, there still are many more things on my list to see and eat.

MILLIE: We had a late lunch with Lily Palafox at La Preciosa, where we finally tried the popular poqui-poqui made from tomato, onions, eggplant and egg, which I truly enjoyed eating. It was simple, refreshing and healthy. I can eat it with fried fish or shrimps. I remembered my late mom as we ate typical, simple Ilocano fare of inabraw (dinengdeng), a soupy dish made with garlic, onion, tomatoes, eggplant, jute leaves and bagoong. We also got to try another Ilocano dish called imbaliktad, which is stir-fried beef, ginger and onions spiced with fresh peppercorns, hot chili or sukang Iloko. Adobo addicts that we are, we ordered the specialty dish of the house, chicken adobo cooked with potatoes. Karla’s friends Toni Carag and Kenji Numano joined us for coffee and dessert of carrot cake, a La Preciosa bestseller.

After lunch, we were set to return to our hotel to finish packing but first decided to stop by the San Nicolas market to buy bagnet and Ilocos longganisa to take home. The next problem was how to pack the goodies and manage the excess weight! Hahaha!

Author Millie Reyes with Gov. Imee Marcos and Mark Chua

We had a couple of hours before departure and decided to go see the sand dunes as Karla was nagging me since the day we arrived, wanting to try to go sand-boarding or drive a 4x4 along the rugged, desert-like landscape. This National Geographic monument was just awesome and it stretches from Currimao to Pasuquin!

Karla and I were both happy to have made the whirlwind Ilocandia trip and know that we will be back sometime. We are proud of our roots!

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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@ gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook and read articles you might have missed: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.