Paras: The Tayag Touch
By Mina Paras
Spectrum
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
THE Tayags of Angeles City share three things: they all love good food, they all play tennis, and they all study at UP. Thus, many of them are involved in either food production and/or retail (Mother Earth of Abong, the restaurant of Carmen “Meng” McTavish in Clark (now closed), Doren’s cakes. They also produced a chef in the family, Claude. Let’s not forget that the long running most popular restaurant Trellis in Quezon City has Abong’s cousin Dan Tayag for a partner, and Dan and Vina’s (Ocampo) two children are also now chefs.
My classmate and barkada through high school, Doren, used to bring me home for lunch when we were in Grade 6. We just had to cross the street from Holy Family Academy to their house by the brook, aptly named Brookside. This was later donated to Angeles City where the library now stands. Their mother, Adoracion (Doren’s namesake) was probably used to having friends of her children over for a meal. And the table was always full with various dishes, and that’s how I got my first taste of the Tayag touch.
Are you short of coins? Check out Sun.Star’s multimedia special report on coin circulation.
Mang During, 90, passed away last week after a lingering illness, most of the time at the ICU of the Philippine Heart Center, where, komareng Ely Narciso (a former director of the CDC) said, half in jest, that the family already had one post of the hospital in their name.
Doren related that, though there were plenty of offers for the siblings — all 12 of them — to stay at their brother’s house, very near the hospital, and other friends’ houses in Quezon City, the siblings declined all the offers and opted to stay close to their mother during her confinement.
Doren told me that they got the room next to the ICU, where the ones from Angeles City could take showers, change clothes and rest, like in a hotel. Except that this was not a hotel, and the only way they could get a room was if someone among them was, ah, confined for a checkup.
Do said it was Atching Meng (married to Bruce McTavish and you all know who he is) who opted to be the one. “Sometimes they would look for her and she’s out,” Doren smiles. “The nurses had to get her vitals every so often during the day.”
I got to know many of the children in later years, when the family had moved to Villa Gloria, where some of the best tennis players play.
Most of all, I came to know Claude when he was just starting to paint. I’d tell friends from Manila, ‘Oh, I knew Claude when he was in short pants.’ It’s true, though. Claude, who’s become not only a noted painter, but also a sculptor and furniture designer, chef of the first caliber, author and food columnist. I remember Claude saying that his father, the late Renato ‘Katoks’ Tayag encouraged him to try writing; the first published piece he wrote was about his father. Now Claude has a book to his name.
Used to be, Claude’s wife Mary Anne (from the Quiocs of Mabalacat) told me that eating at wakes was not encouraged. Before, and even now, only the barest was served: hard candies, coffee, juice in tetrapacks, cupcakes, and the ubiquitous butong pakwan. Customs and traditions change and people started serving real food. “I think it started in Bacolor,” Maryanne says.
Now, especially among the well-heeled, food is catered.
It’s funny, but if I ever do a food article on the best dishes, I’d include some I tasted in wakes. Like the super yummy bibingka and puto bungbung which I sampled during the wakes of Chichos’ mother Mrs. Leonor Luciano, and komareng Tessie Villarama’s mom. Were I not overcome with hiya and a waistline that was bulging out of my pants, I would have gotten second helpings of everything.
Then there’s Claude’s arroz caldo or lelot, where you ladle the rice broth in your bowl, then pile on the ingredients that you like — mine was chicken and some tokwa’t baboy — the toasted garlic and the thinly sliced parsley. I was about to put some patis on my bowl, but Claude stopped me. “You must try this,” he said, pouring on a suka with garlic “which is first press,” he added “and it’s called tulo”. The effect was fabulous. Refreshing broth with bits of chicken and tiny crispy pork. Toby de la Cruz, a cousin of Maryanne, remarked: “I may never be satisfied with any other lelot again.”
Back to Mang During, Claude long ago told me that his late father told his children that the best thing that he did for them was choosing their mother, the former Adoracion Suarez. That is the sweetest thing one can ever say of a loved one.
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/opinion/2011/06/08/paras-tayag-touch-160084
Traffic along the North Expressway NLEX from Manila to Clark is always light and the new Subic Tarlac Clark Expressway ScTex takes visitors straight into Clark Freeport without going through any towns and cities along the way. This makes Clark the most accessible and convenient wedding destination in the Philippines.
Many wedding guests like staying at Clearwater Family Inn Hotel Room in the picnic grounds of this resort in Clark Pampanga. Some like the trees in the resort camping grounds. One can stay in other hotels in Angeles City but it is not often one finds amenities and ambience like Clark, not like Clearwater Resort in Angeles City Philippines.
Those who are lucky enough to get a room at this lake resort in Clark Philippines will be able to enjoy the magical sunrise across the lake of Clearwater Resort at dawn. This is the only hotel in Clark Pampanga that guests can really enjoy viewing sunrise.
For reservations, comments and inquiries,
www.philippinesweddingvenue.com
Philippines Wedding Venues Service Center
Creekside Road corner of Centennial Road,
Central Business District, Clark Freeport Zone,
Pampanga, Philippines 2023
Tel: (045)599-5949 0917-520-4403 0922-870-5177
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 Rea or Chay
For any assistance in planning and organizing a wedding ceremony, indoor or outdoor garden reception or to find other wedding service providers, Click here to contact us click here
Email: Wedding@Yats-International.com
For assistance in hotel and resort bookings in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines, log on to
http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com
To inquire with the highly recommended beach resort hotel in Clark Pampanga visit http://www.ClearwaterPhililippines.com
For more information about Clark, Pampanga, Philippines log on to
http://www.ClarkPhilippines.com