Bocaue, our town

(1)     Pancit luglog was a staple for many church-goers at the old St. Andrew Kim Tae-Gon Parish (Lolomboy) Church. There was a nearby open-kitchen luglugan, just feet away from the Morales St. side of the Church, where your plate of fresh and hot luglog could be made as you ordered. Preparing the luglog is simple – first, a handful of thin, white pre-cooked noodles were placed in a wooden strain, then dipped (hence the name, ni-luglog) for a few minutes into a pot of boiling water. Then, the noodles were drained and transferred into a plate, where it would be “dressed” with golden savory palabok sauce. To finish, it’s garnished with finely crushed chicharon.  You could have it either to-go or for-here. As for the latter, you could go through the adjacent narrow alley, and share a table with fellow happy parishioners.

Photo above: Not the actual Lolomboy luglog. Photo Credit: http://www.pancitcenter.com/menu/70s-pancit-luglug, retrieved on April 28, 2020

(2)     Francisco Bakery’s bonete is the quintessential pastry of Lolomboy. It can be bought any time of the day, but it’s always almost sold out because of its popularity. The bakery itself is located along McArthur Highway, so it’s pretty accessible even to nearby barangays and towns. Bonete is a dome-shaped, tennis ball-sized bread with margarine glaze. It is chewy outside, but soft inside. It is best served fresh off the oven. It goes with any hot beverage.

Photo above: Not the actual San Francisco’s bonetes. Photo Credit: Geriel German’s Face Book account, retrieved on April 28, 2020

(3)     While we’re on the subject of bread, Mang Johnny’s Bakery is an institution. Mang Johnny’s bestselling hot and pugon-fresh pan de sal is an all-time favorite of many Lolomboy residents, especially for breakfast. Who can resist the golden-brown bread that’s crusty outside, but soft and moist inside? An important side note: Mang Johnny’s carries the Tatang Bernas inipit – a favorite merienda option of residents!

Photo above: Not the actual Mang Johnny’s pandesal. Photo Credit: https://www.lutongbahayrecipe.com/snacks/pandesal/, retrieved on April 28, 2020

(4)     A few steps from Mang Johnny’s is the breakfast carinderia of Ka Pablo. His selection of spaghetti, sopas, champorado, and pancit is a hit among hungry Lolomboy residents. Like the luglugan sa simbahan, you can have the food either to-go and for-here. Drinking water is free for those who dine in!

Photo above: Not the actual Ka Pablo’s spaghetti. Photo Credit: https://pinchofyum.com/filipino-spaghettiretrieved on April 28, 2020

(5)     Touching upon merienda, Lolomboy residents have lots of local options to choose from whenever they feel like eating mid-afternoon. One of those is the famous Jejetlog. Everybody in the village knows –  or has heard – about this great Lolomboy gem, hugely because the woman who peddles this announces her coming with a melodic whoop of “je-jet-looooog.”But what is jejetlog? It’s boiled chicken egg, fried in thin batter until it’s brown in color – it’s an egg tempura, like tokneneng, only better. An order of jejetlog comes with a homemade vinegar mixture, with bits of onions and siling labuyo. You can have the jejetlog a la carte, but the vinegar adds a certain kick. Jejetlog can also be partnered with rice

Photo above: Not the actual jejetlog. Photo Credit: https://aussietaste.com.au/asian-cuisine/south-east-asian-cuisine/filipino-cuisine/tokneneng-battered-hard-boiled-eggs/

(6)     Another merienda option is Tutay’s barbeque. Tutay’s barbeque place was along the Mendoza St. side of the old Lolomboy Church. Preparation of the barbeque is straightforward –marinated meat is skewered with a thin bamboo stick, then grilled in charcoal. Tutay also had homemade vinegar, which improves the delicious barbeque. Like jejetlog, Tutay’s barbeque can be eaten with rice.

Photo above: Not the actual Tutay’s barbeque. Photo Credit: https://www.angsarap.net/2013/01/22/pinoy-barbecue/

(7)     The final item on this list is Aling Benny’s (Bene’s) peanut butter putok. What is putok? It’s a dense bread roll with a “fissure” line in the middle. Aling Bene’s variant (she does not bake it) looks like the roll has an “armpit,” probably as the name playfully suggests. Unlike what’s on the internet, this putok is neither sweetened nor dusted with sugar. And when broken along the fissure line, a single putok can yield two separate rolls. Cut each roll in half, fill it with a local peanut butter spread (Aling Bene does not make them), and then you’ll have two pieces of peanut butter putok. Aside from the taste, this merienda option is sulit.

Photo above: Not the actual peanut butter putok. Photo Credit: https://filipinodelights.com/bakery-menu

The above list is non-exhaustive. Current and former residents of Lolomboy are more than welcome to expand and share it on the internet. This way, we could create an informal record of what makes Lolomboy a truly unique community in terms of its cuisine. As Lolomboy urbanizes and prospers, it becomes important to pay attention to its local cuisine and culinary traditions – Lolomboy’s least obvious gems – in the hopes of their full appreciation and eventual preservation. 

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POST-SCRIPT in view of the COVID-19 pandemic:

I’d like to send everyone my well-wishes amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The world is one in the face of this unprecedented global public health crisis, which continues to alter humanity’s ways of life. 

As many of us are aware, facing the pandemic is even more difficult for some people – the sick, the minimum wage earner, and the street vendor, among others whose situations have been adversely affected by the implementation of necessary measures to curb the spread of the disease. 

For this reason, it becomes incumbent upon the rest of us to remain generous in the littlest ways we could do to help – staying at home, or sharing verified information to our loved ones, or making donations within our means.