Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival on October 18-20, 2013 at the MarQuee Park, Angeles City

Prrrttttt!!!! Food Fest alert!!! Food Fest alert!! Check out this BIG BITE! The biggest and first ever Northern Food Festival here in the Philippines, the big bite event will be on October 18,19 and 20, 2013 and this will be held at the Marquee Park in Angeles City, Pampanga. A total of 100 food booths and original Filipino cuisine from the North side of Luzon, Philippines will be here at the food capital of the Philippines – Pampanga.

It’s a big event for food and the main star here are our Filipino food favorites that comes from all the way from Ilocos up to Bulacan, and if you count how many food, you might lose counting because you will start to forget the first food you mention and the only thing that comes to your mind is to eat and digest those yummy food from the North. I’m sure we people who lives in the South are already jealous and we just hope that we can have a Southern Food Festival in the Future…hey! we people who lives in Cavite, Laguna, Quezon and Bicol deserves a southern version, so pls..make one for next year..pretty..please!!!

Anyway. The Big Bite! is just a start, and this will really mark the province of Pampanga, as the culinary capital of the Philippines, I also dreamed of joining those Pampanga culinary tour, and I got depressed last time after I missed two invitations in the past for the food tour, I hope there will be another tour and I’m willing to pay just to try those food!! But since there’s Big Bite! already all set for this coming weekend ….I’m going to attend this first, I might even book a hotel just to observe and try those food of the North. I know it’s hardcore to do that, but I super love the food in the Northern side of Luzon, all of my all time favorites are in there…omggg!!! I’m food geeking out na!!

Here’s some info about Big Bite!

MarQuee Mall will hold Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival from October 18-20, 2013 at the MarQuee Park, Angeles City as a special food and dining attraction this month. This will be the biggest culinary celebration of Luzon this year. Big Bite's Food Market will have over 100 vendors representing Pampanga, Metro Manila, Baguio, Bataan, Bulacan, Cagayan, Ilocos, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan and Zambales.

Over the course of three days this October, people will enjoy all the great offerings from all these provinces in just one destination. Big Bite! will be host to a number of exciting events like cooking demos, a cooking competition amongst culinary schools, the best heirloom recipe contest, food eating contests, food sampling and so much more.
MarQuee Mall’s Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival is staged in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Department of Trade and Industry, Manila North Tollways Corporation, Asian Food Channel, Cignal Digital TV, and Mercato Centrale Group.

If you would like to participate as a vendor, please contact +639177527071 or email: bigbiteMarQuee@gmail.com. Like and follow MarQuee Mall’s social networking sites: www.facebook.com/MarQueeMall , @MarQueetweets, and instagram: @iloveMarQueemall.
When I hear “Pampanga” in my ears.. their food always comes into my mind, the yummy Sisig, the pakbet, the deep fried cricket insects, the Kabigting’s halo halo and many more. I’m a super fan of Aling Lucing’s sisig, it’s the best ever sisig in the country for me, back in the past, I even ask our driver to buy a set of lechon manok and sisig at Aling Lucing’s store in Angeles City. And when I saw sisig was served to us at the media event, I didn’t blink and ate two plates of it hhahaha.. Super love the sisig here in Pampanga.

Here are some food that are featured at Big Bite! expect more food coming from different provinces in the North of Luzon.

Tibok Tibok - like a leche flan, but they used carabao’s milk in creating this yummy dessert
Betetu - deep fried stuffed FROG!!

Menantikilyang Ema aka Buttered Crabs
Lemongass Tea

Pinakbet – veggies and bagoong
Litsun Pata – crispy pig’s knuckles

Camaru – fried cricket insects
Kabigting’s halo halo – hmm how do I describe this? – they used carabao’s milk and a mashed kidney beans and pastillas

Palabok
Buko Pandan

What to expect if we will attend Big Bite ?
1. It’s the biggest food festival here in the Philippines

2. 100 food stalls coming from different parts of the Northern Region

3. Marquee Mall will host the Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival, you will feel at home because this mall will take care of you. I always stay there during the Philippine hot air balloon festival every year.

4. Cooking demos with the food masters – featuring chefs and celebrity cooks - Chef Rolando Laudico, Chef Sau del Rosario, Sabrina Artadi and Mrs. Lillian Borromeo of the famous Kusina ni Atching Lillian

5. Big Banquet shopper promo – for every Php500 receipt, you get a chance to taste bite size food at the event for FREE!

6. Big Bite! Culinary Cook Off – its like a battle of culinary school, participants are from Philippine Women’s University, System’s Plus College, Angeles University Foundation, NorthPoint Culinary Academy and Bulacan State University. The cook off sched is 3pm-5pm.

7. Php20,000 prize for sharing your heirloom recipe, the best of the best heirloom recipe will take home that big bite prize! There might a treasured recipe kept in your grand parent’s vault that might need to take off and be the next favorite food

8. Eating contest!! – I want to join this hahaha

9, Live entertainment – live music and bands to power up our appetite

10. Entrance is FREE!!!, but I suggest you bring lots of cash if you plan to attend this food fest, because in every corner of the food fest is a food that is waiting for you.

Food legends will take the stage. – Chef Rolando Laudico, Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition’s famous judge, has had diners gushing over Bistro Filipino’s traditional and modern Filipino cuisine. Chef Sau del Rosario, a proud son of Pampanga, has had Pinoys salivating since creating a unique decadent flavor for an ice cream line.

Sabrina Artadi, beauty queen and star of TV’s Sabrina’s Kitchen, keeps it real and tasty on her show, now on its third season on Asian Food Channel. Mrs. Lillian Borromeo of the famous Kusina ni Atching Lillian, has been wowing visitors with authentic Kapampangan cuisine since she opened her ancestral home to visitors in the 1990s. These are just some of the icons who will heat up the stage in live cooking demos during the festival.

Here are some photos from the press and media event last week…omg.. I ate a lot here

Big Bite!!!!

RJ Ledesma hosted the media event of Big Bite!

Bulacan Chicharon
I took a small bite only..it’s the yummiest chicharon ever!! but its deadly ahahaha

Tibok Tibok
I tried this before in Cabelen, it’s the most best seller dessert here at the event.
naubusan kami eh hahaha

Buko Pandan Salad
I didn’t know that the Buko Pandan Salad originates here in Pampanga, that’s why my aunt’s buko pandan salad is the best, because she’s from Pampanga..awesome!!

Sweet Ham
I missed the trivia here.. why so special ?

Kabigting’s halo halo
I tasted this for the first time during my 1st coverage of the Philippine Hot Air Balloon, I remember that Marquee Mall sponsored my trip there and they gave us a voucher to claim this yummy dessert…and its one of the best halo halo!!! it even beats our Digman halo halo here in Cavite.

Puto Calasiao
It’s the best version of puto and only made in Calasiao, Pangasinan. I visited the puto factory years ago, and Bella’s puto is one of the best puto makers, you can check my story here at http://azraelsmerryland.blogspot.com/2011/12/travel-and-food-tripping-in-pangasinan.html

Tollhouse’s club sandwich

Empanada

Leche flan

Cabbage roll with Sisig

Betute
that’s a body of a frog

Camaru
can you spot the crickets ??

here are the foodies of the day here in Marquee Mall
spotted: Enzo’s contributor at www.juanmanilaexpress.com, Joy of http://www.gastronomybyjoy.com/ and a lady from Sun Star newspaper Pampanga

Enzo and his team mate at www.juanmanilaexpress.com

Ann of www.WheninManila.com , Kathy Kenny of www.lifeiskulayful.com and her brother Kirk and the star of my day – Edgie of http://pinoyfoodillustrated.blogspot.com/

I’m a big fan of Edgie Polistico’s blog - http://pinoyfoodillustrated.blogspot.com/
sorry.. I silently fanboying here.

I also met Mrs. Lillian Borromeo of the famous Kusina ni Atching Lillian, I saw her on tv and I’m fascinated on how she works in front of the kitchen at her home.

Monitor Lizard Egg!!!
Here’s a new exotic food that I haven’t tried before..I wonder what’s the taste of a soft boiled eggs of a monitor lizard or bayawak.

Here’s Ann and Kathy’s moment of trying to eat the lizard’s egg hahahah.

Because I don’t know the inside of the lizard’s egg, so I just squished all egg content to this paper plate and started eating it. And then I tried also sipping it straight, I didn’t finished the egg content, because I’m super stuffed already, its like tasting penoy and milk in one egg.

The weird part is that this egg is soft boiled and best served after chilled in a ref.

Here we watch Mrs. Lillian in making the famous cookie called Panecillos de San Nicolas, she used wooden tools in molding and shaping the cookie and also embed it with a design. The wooden tools are from her ancestors which she inherited. The style and cooking are pass on to the next generation.