The Provincial Cooperatives and Entrepreneurial Development Office (PCEDO) continues to live up to its mission of providing livelihood opportunities to the marginalized sector in Pampanga as it recently implemented innovative training strategy to enhance the knowledge and skills of small entrepreneurs in the province.
PCEDO Head Mamerto Gatus said that the provincial government sponsored a one-day cooking seminar for more than 20 small entrepreneurs from different barangays of Porac, Minalin, Lubao, Magalang, Guagua, Macabebe and Apalit.
He explained that Governor Lilia G. Pineda specifically directed his office to come up with effective strategies to further enhance the skills of Negosyo king Panyulung Program (NPP) beneficiaries, the livelihood flagship program of the province.
“No less than Lillian Borromeo, the famous Kapampangan culinary expert, conducted the hands-on cooking training right at her kitchen in barangay Parian, Mexico town,” Gatus said.
Fondly called Atching Lillian, Borromeo shared with the participants her techniques in whipping-up San Nicolas cookies, Gurguriang Kapampangan and Tejadang Kamatis, a few of the old Kapampangan native delicacies which she has been promoting to local and foreign tourists frequenting her family’s century old ancestral house to sample the cuisine Pampanga is known for.
“We must share our talents and skills in cooking old Kapampangan recipes unless we would want to be buried with them,” Atching Lillian advised the participants.
She also encouraged them to research and to revive original recipes of some native delicacies which are dying and to some degree have become non-existent like the “buldit silyo” of Minalin.
She shared that one of the top hits in her kitchen is the “Dulce Prenda”, a sweet delicacy which she has revived through the help of Erlie Mendoza, a noted Kapampangan researcher-writer. The said delicacy, according to Mendoza’s research, was the product of the collaborations and contributions of the Kapampangans to the feast of La Naval held in Manila centuries ago.
The one-day training was made more interesting as Atching Lillian interspersed her cooking demonstrations with historical nuggets of the province especially during the Spanish period.
“Our ancestors would recite the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be to estimate their cooking time as there were no timers yet then,” Atching Lilllian shared.
Gatus said that the participants brought along samples of their home-made food products such as araro cookies, pastillas de leche and peanut butter for Atching Lillian’s comments and recommendations.
“Always make sure that your food products are healthy and sanitary and they should also be packaged properly to attract the buyers,” she advised the budding entrepreneurs.
Board Member Monina Laus joined the hands-on cooking demonstration together with Provincial Librarian Bessie Makabali and Public Employment Services Officer Luningning Vergara who shared with the participants the various programs and services of their respective offices. (Erlinda T. Yutuc, Pampanga PIO)
