If you’ve ever toured Pampanga, you know that there’s no shortage of places where to eat. Sisig, morcon, buro, bulanglang, bringhe (native paella), and tocino (which are traditionally sour in taste!) are just a few of the delicious tatak-Kapampangan dishes you shouldn’t miss out on since they are easy to find in the city.
We asked Kapampangans what their favorite pasalubong is from their hometown. Here’s what you should buy when you are on your way back from Pampanga:
LA Bakeshop’s Cheese Bread and Spanish Bread
One of the famous bakeries in San Fernando, Pampanga that locals and tourists add to their itinerary is LA Bakeshop. They are famous for their Cheese Bread that is extra cheesy and their Spanish Bread that has a sweet buttery filling inside. Nothing compares to eating it when it’s freshly baked, but these are great for pasalubong because you can keep it in a freezer, pop it in the toaster, and it will still be as soft as the freshly-baked ones!
LA Bakeshop is located at Valencia Bldg., MacArthur Highway, San Fernando, Pampanga. For more information, follow LA Bakeshop on Facebook.
Ocampo-Lansang Delicacies’ Turrones De Casoy
Like most of Pampanga’s famous dishes, their desserts are also influenced by the Spaniards. Turrones De Casoy, inspired by the turron, is a sweet crunchy nougat that’s made with honey, sugar, egg white, and cashew nuts (hence the casoy!). Ocampo-Lansang Delicacies, located in San Jose, Sta. Rita, Pampanga is known to be the famous maker of the original turrones de casoy. Amiel Cruz, a local from Bacolor, Pampanga says that the wrapper is edible and that “As in 10/10, [I] would eat it all day!”
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Ocampo-Lansang Delicacies is located at Ocampo, Santa Rita, Pampanga.
Allies Wonder Peanuts’ Garlic Peanuts
According to Spanky Enriquez, a Kapampangan from San Fernando, a legendary pasalubong you can find in his hometown is the Allies Wonder Peanuts. For more than 60 years, they have grown to be the popularly go-to shop for their Garlic Peanuts which are dry roasted nuts with toasted crunchy garlic. They have been around since World War II, which explains the Captain America-esque packaging.
Allies Wonder Peanuts is located at 24 Capitol Blvd., San Fernando, Pampanga.
Susie’s Cuisine’s Tibuk-Tibuk
Susie’s Cuisine has been around in San Fernando, Pampanga since 1972 and is known to be a one-stop shop for proudly-Kapampangan pasalubong. One kakanin Susie’s Cuisine is known for is the Tibuk-Tibuk. This delicacy is a Kapampangan pudding made with carabao’s milk and it’s topped with toasted coconut. The word “tibuk-tibuk” comes from the Tagalog word “tibok” which translates to heartbeat. You can tell the pudding is ready when you notice bubbles slight surfacing, looking like it’s a beating heart.
Susie’s Cuisine is located at MacArthur Highway, San Fernando, Pampanga. For more information, follow Susie’s Cuisine on Facebook.
Pine’s Brownies and Delicacies
You can find Pine’s Brownies and Delicacies in Guagua, Pampanga. They are famous for their assorted boxes of delicacies, including their chewy regular Brownies and Cappucino, Marble, Butterscotch-flavored Brownies.
Pine’s Brownies and Delicacies is located at Jose Abad Santos Avenue, Guagua, Pampanga. For more information, follow Pine’s Brownies and Delicacies on Facebook.
Granda’s Sweets and Delicacies’ Sans Rival
Sansrival is a dessert that you can find all over the Philippines. It’s a delicious buttery cake made with layers upon layers of meringue, French buttercream, and chopped cashews. When in Bacolor, Pampanga, you have to try Granda’s Sweets and Delicacies’ signature Sans Rival that melts in your mouth. Poch Jorolan of Everybody’s Cafe says that what he loves about this cake is that it is “the crunch and the creamy vanilla flavor.”
Granda’s Sweets and Delicacies is located at Don Honorio Ventura Street, Bacolor, Pampanga. For more information, follow Granda’s Sweets and Delicacies on Facebook.
Atching Lillian’s Panecillos de San Nicolas Cookies
Panecillos de San Nicolas is shortbread-like cookies commonly made with flour, cornstarch, egg yolk, oil, coconut milk, sugar, and butter. Atching Lillian Borromeo, who is a keeper of the traditional recipe, uses molds (some of them are century-old molds!) to give these cookies its distinct details. These cookies are believed to have healing powers because St. Nicolas Tolentino, who these cookies are named after, was healed when he had a vision of the Virgin Mary telling him to eat a small piece of bread dipped in water.
Atching Lillian Borromeo has a house-turned-restaurant called “Kusinang Matua ng Atching Lillian Borromeo” located at 2021, 174 Jose Abad Santos Avenue, Mexico, Pampanga.
With all of these delicacies, it’s no wonder why Kapampangans take pride in their cuisine. The only question on our mind is: Are you now considering a day trip to Pampanga? Because we are, too!
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- Allies Wonder Peanuts, Atching Lillian Borromeo, brownies, cheese bread, Granda's Sweets and Delicacies, Kapampangan food, LA Bakeshop, Ocampo-Lansang Delicacies, Pampanga, Panecillos de San Nicolas Cookies, pasalubong, peanuts, Pine's Brownies and Delicacies, sans rival, Spanish bread, Susie's Cuisine, Tibuk-tibuk, Turrones De Casoy
