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Lunch at Bale Dutung in Pampanga

Bale Dutung (Wood House) is a restaurant within artist Claude Tayag's house-cum-studio. It specializes in the regional cuisine of Pampanga or Capampangan food. It's located in Angeles City, long known for being home to Clark Air Base. Nowadays, it's known as one of the Philippines's gastronomic centers, a reputation that has elicited many a trip through the bustling province. I've had lunch there several times and it's quite an experience each time. It satisfies gastronomically and intellectually. While Claude (pronounced "cloud") stays mostly behind the scenes in the open kitchen, Mary Ann Quioc, Claude's wife, puts on a show. She tells a story behind each of the dishes. It may be a dish's history or an anecdote, and it provokes the intellect or whets the appetite, or both.
Mary Ann graciously started us out with an ideal blend of dalandan juice and muscovado sugar ice cubes. Because of the nature of muscovado sugar—or inuyat as Capampangans call it—when the ice melted, it gave the cold juice just the right amount of sweetness. Then the multicourse lunch started and went on for close to four hours. Worth every centavo.
Some of the highlights: a trio of appetizers: crab fat, balo-balo and pesto. Mary Ann suggested we taste each one separately, then try different combinations to see how complementary and opposing flavors tasted in our mouths. It was a delightful exercise. Next came an amuse of cold sotanghon which, to me, cooled down my palate from the hot excitement of the dish that preceded it. The mudfish "sushi," a deconstructed, then reconstructed version of a traditional dish composed of fish, balo-balo and a bitter element (mustard leaf for this one) completely transported me. What a fun dish!
Below, fern salad with quail eggs. Mary Ann related the history of the fern as traditional food for house help, but which is now a trendy green in high-end grocers even in the US.
Roasted quail; the sushi with crab fat and mustard leaf mudfish rolls.
Sisig atop eggplant.
DIY sinigang pork and (huge) prawns.
Claude is also a famous collector of furniture and wooden antiques (the name of the place refers to this collection). If you get a chance, ask for a tour of the house. He's an accomplished sculptor and painter, as well, and a lot of his work is visible through the grounds, but some of it is hidden. It's quite a marvel.

Lunch only and only by reservation. There's no wine, but feel free to bring your own; there's no corkage and they'll provide you with wine glasses. It's about PHP 1800 per person, but check on the web site for current price and payment details. It's worth every centavo.

Read the article on Claude Tayag on the Wall Street Journal.
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