MarQuee Mall's Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival, is the biggest culinary celebration of Luzon, that showcases almost 150 food vendors and entrepreneurs. A gastronomic celebration that people can enjoy from October 18-20, 2013, at the MarQuee Park, Angeles City of Pampanga. A one stop shop for foodies that can dine, learn to cook and purchased food and products that will come from almost all provinces of Luzon.
Recently, I was one of the fortunate media who were invited for a preview of what's in-store for next week. We traveled almost two hours to Pampanga and we arrived at the venue perfect for lunch. We learned that this festival will not only offer breakfast,lunch and dinner delicacies but mostly cooking demos,cooking competition, best heirloom recipe contest, food eating contests, food sampling and so much more exciting food related activities.
After which, we had our festive lunch, started with the cooked dishes like Kare-kare, Pepalukluk Manuk, Sisig, Suam Mais,Hito Fillet, Betute, Camaru, Nilasing na Hipon and more. There's a saying that "you should always have room for dessert" when eating, so we are all ready for it. Desserts are called one-by-one like Halo-Halo, Leche Flan, Puto Calaciao, Tocino bites, empanada, Buko Pandan and more. Yes, we conquered it all hehe:))
The event was hosted by Mercato Centrale's RJ Ledesma and introduced Pampanga's pride, culinary expert and food historian Atching Lillian who also shared a Kapampangan delicacy (Baked Adobo Chicken Pastel)and teach us used the traditional equipment in cooking. She uses a traditional wood molder in making San Nicolas biscuit and it really taste good.
Activities, Contest and More:
Live Cooking Demos
Top Chef and Culinary Experts: Chef Rolando Laudico, Asian Food Channel's Sabrina Artadi, Food Historian Atching Lillian
Big Banquet
For every 500Php receipt from MarQuee Mall entitles you for a delectable treats in a wide selection of stalls across the festival with a free sample here and there, every day from 6-8PM.
Cooking Competition
Culinary schools like Philippine Women's University, System's Plus College, Angeles University Foundation, NorthPoint Culinary Academy and Bulacan State University will compete on stage with their cooking skills every day from 3-5PM.
Heirloom Recipes
Kitchen enthusiasts with their classic recipes can share to everyone and pass it generation to generation and can be rewarded with 20,000Php.
Eating Contest
If you have a big appetite which can finish a big bilao of kakanin, big bowl of halo-halo and the like, well this part is a must for you. You can be awarded as the Big Bite...r? :)
So, if I were you save the date (October 18-20) and bring your whole family, relatives and friends for you to enjoy the food and have a culinary experience like no other. Big Bite! is the glorious Filipino food celebration that promises to surpass all food fests before it. You can also read my privious post about the Big Bite! HERE :))
