Eating Around When your primary emotion is hunger... I'm with you!

Sagada is a small municipality in the province of Mountain Province approximately 270 kilometers north of the Philippine capital where a small population of indigents and their ,most of the time, interracial families choose to live a quiet life close to the mystical forests of Mt. Ampacao, Marlboro Mountain, and Echo Valley, the caves of Sumaguing and Lumaguing, the falls of Bomod-ok and Bokong while looking over their heritage found in the hanging coffins and their rice terraces. Being able to witness such breath-taking scenery from a cabin porch on one of the higher points of the village during the foggy early mornings, the cool afternoons, and the cold evenings is amazing but hey, I can look at the scene and all but my stomach does divert my mind from the scenery holding an internal riot chanting 'feed me'.

Don't get me wrong I was anything but deprived of any food during the 12-hour journey that is thanks to the efforts of innovative entrepreneurs who hops on the bus whenever there are bathroom breaks or traffic jams to selling sandwiches, beverages, and little pick-me-ups to the weary traveler. It's interesting to see that these merchants through one way or another had studied their target market well offering boiled peanuts, hard boiled quail eggs, boiled corn and much more that does not only fill up the traveler's tank but also helps them pass time making the trip seem shorter.

As I go from one establishment to another to pacify my protesting stomach, it is clear that the road food of quick bites is a contrast to the food that establishments in Sagada offers as they are more hearty, more rustic and not so much for fast food. Although the municipality of Sagada is a tourist destination, the atmosphere remains that of a town where land and house on a mountain village is passed on from generation to generation that is roughly translated to the servings and the cooking techniques and methods that is leaning towards a hearty rustic meal of wild vegetables, topped with a bit of cured meat and a plate of the staple rice served piping hot at the table. As the interracial marriages influenced the menu with sparse offerings of pasta, noodles, and sandwiches to cater to the tastes of the unadventurous; a larger part of the cuisine reflects the influences of the ecology, the indigenous heritage, and the history of Sagada.

No guide can tell an accurate story of a place. But we can fill in the gaps by closely listening in the gastronomic story of its cuisine.