solsona gameng festival 2015's exotic food feast

Solsona town in Ilocos Norte has just celebrated its annual Gameng Festival (gameng is treasure) that showcased among other products native food and delicacies which can be labeled kind of "exotic" because of their rarity and/or uniqueness in that particular Ilokano town.

We featured it here in Pinakbet Republic the other year and it's one of the most visited blog. This year, Ilokano journalist and writer Leilanie Adriano has graciously provided us again some mouth-watering photographs of the Ilokano food and dishes exhibited.

Enjoy!

Nalingta a native a paltat.

Silalalat a naadobo a tukak.

Naigisa/naikirog a tukak.

Nalingta a bukto.

Naigisa nga itlog ti abuos.

Nadengdeng a bisukol.

Nakilnat/ensalada nga aba.

Ginettaan nga aba.

Napaksiw a daludal (sagibsib) ti aba.

Nakalderata a pato.

Ensalada a pako.

Nadengdeng nga agurong.

Naadobo a tukling.

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• The 2012 Solsona Gameng Festival Ilokano food showcase 

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a feast of ilokano food exotica...

Of course, there's still a sort of exotica when it comes to Ilokano food, whatever being exotic means. And although these are common fares specially in the away or in the barrios/farming communities, it becomes a rare delicacy or exotic even, when these are featured for all the uninitiated world to see, taste,  or simply to be squeamish. And usually, it's being showcased during so-called festivals, like the recent Gameng Festival in Solsona, Ilocos Norte, an annual celebration which aims "to strengthen Solsona’s culture, promote its cultural products and designs and preserve and conserve its historical and cultural treasure and resources."

Our friend writer-journalist Leilanie Adriano of the Ilocos Times, has exclusively covered the festival, especially the food portion, and shared us these mouth-watering photographs to feast on (click on the photos for a larger view):

Eating insects is not really unusual because Ilokanos are used to beetles, grubs, crickets, and other edible bugs. And of course, ants! And this is kinda extreme--this is abuos (red ants) ukoy or fritter. I myself didn't yet try this one, and I wish I could have one soon!

Sauteed abuos eggs and pupae (with some juvenile ants in it, anyway), well, this is a milder abuos delicacy, I think. I love this one! [See a previous blog post about red ant's egg]

Ballaiba salad. [See a previous blog post about ballaiba]

Tabtaba (also called bakbakasi and barbaradio) salad. [See a previous blog post about tabtaba]

Ensalada nga aba. I miss and missed this one, really. Besides dinengdeng nga aba, we used to just boil aba stalks back in Nueva Vizcaya and garnish it simply with KBL (kamatis-bugguong-lasona) like this. I have yet to see anything like this here in Cagayan. Will try it soon! [See a previous blog post about dinengdeng nga aba]

Kinirog nga ararawan. Fried mole cricket. I haven't had the opportunity to have a taste of this for three decades! Ararawan is a rarity these days! [See a previous blog post about ararawan]

And this! Birabid! This used to be a usual farmer's innapuy pair when I was a child when birabid's still abundant. It's almost extinct nowadays it really became a true exotica! I haven't seen this in 4 billion years!

Dinengdeng a bisukol! But of the Taiwanese variety, though. What I miss are the native ones--the black shelled ones I used to pick in the fields as a small child. Like the birabid, black bisukol is extremely rare.

Adobo a bisukol. Perfect pulotan!

Dinengdeng nga agurong. [See a previous blog post about agurong cooked in coconut milk]

Pakbet a saluyot. [See a previous blog post about  pakbet a saluyot]

Dinakdakan a pakak! Boiled pakak and prepared/seasoned like a pork dinakdakan. [See previous post about dinakdakan]

Marunggay flowers salad (with tender leaves). [See a previous blog post about dinengdeng a marunggay]

Ilokano vegetable salad medley: marunggay blossoms and leaves, sabunganay (banana heart/blossom), and bunga ti rabanos (white radish fruit). [See a previous blog post about susop or sabunganay]

Adobo a tukak! Missed this! [See a previous blog post about tukak]

Tukak barbecue.

Nilingta a kuskusleng. Of the bunog (freshwater goby/mullet) family.

Nailingta a palileng! Now, I can't help but to just imagine the last time I got lucky to partake fat palilengs, that was perhaps about 10 years ago in Gonzaga, Cagayan. Palileng is a tasty freshwater fish, it's so rare, and of course expensive, nowadays.

Still of the goby/mullet family, this is called ilek and which we generally label as bunog.

Nilingta a bukto. Bukto or birut, also commonly called as bunog. [See a previous blog post about bukto/birut/bunog]

Inasar a native a paltat! [See a previous blog post about native paltat]

Tinenneb a dalag (attasi, buntiek). [See a previous blog post about dalag]

Tinola a native a manok.

Dinardaraan a pato.

What a feast!

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