Meet Rex at SM City San Pablo Mall and together head to Pamilihang Bayan ng Nagcarlan, a local market in Nagcarlan. Nagcarlan is a 1hr 15 min drive from Manila and is also accessible by bus which takes about 2.5 hours. Walk around the market with Rex and discover local ingredients and delicacies used in provincial Filipino cooking. Purchase a few ingredients at the market before heading to Rex’s home using public transport. Once you reach Rex’s home, his family will welcome you with a cacao drink made from cacao from the backyard. Enjoy your cacao drink and local rice cakes cooked in coconut milk as you pick produce from the farm that you will use in your cooking class.
Before you start your meal, enjoy a tasting of a few homemade wines and vinegars! The use of vinegar in Filipino cuisine is very traditional and Filipinos are known to make several types of vinegar. Your meal will be served in Rex's small hut, in an al fresco dining area just outside their concrete home. You will eat the traditional way on fresh banana leaves. Your menu might include dishes such as nilagang baboy (pork soup with vegetables) or sinigang na hipon (a Filipino sour soup dish with shrimp), ensaladang pako (fiddlehead fern salad), and ginataang carabao (water buffalo meat cooked in coconut milk). Your meal ends with a special stingless bee honey iced tea and fresh, seasonal fruit.
Rex lives in a simple, rural home in a farm community in Nagcarlan, Laguna with his family. Rex's family is very knowledgeable about Filipino cooking styles, ingredients and culinary traditions. Rex and his father make wine from local berries at home. Start your provincial Filipino cooking class by learning to make coconut milk by pressing freshly grated coconut. Next use freshly picked pako (fiddle head fern) to make a salad with a honey dressing using honey made from stingless bees around their home. You will learn to cook carabao (water buffalo meat) in coconut milk and green papaya, picked from their backyard. All of the ingredients used for cooking are fresh, seasonal and picked from the farm or procured at the local community market. You will cook local dishes, from traditional recipes of East Laguna, that Rex grew up eating - something you will not find in restaurants!
Please note that if you're coming from Manila there are many public and private buses from DLTB Bus Terminal Station that depart to Laguna. The buses will drop you off at SM City San Pablo Mall where Rex will meet you.
This is a true off the beaten path experience for those wanting to experience the Philippine countryside and to cook traditional dishes in a humble farmer's home. Please wear appropriate clothing and footwear as you will be walking through a working farm. If you're an adventurous eater, ask Rex about including in your menu, taro leaves with snails or snail sisig.
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
Sinigang na hiponEnsaladang pakoWine and vinegar tastingFresh fruit and honey iced teaGinataang carabao Rex grew up in the countryside south of Luzon in a family of farmers, local food artisans and passionate home cooks. Family recipes have been passed down from his grandparents to his parents and now to his generation. They have all worked in the fields and cook simple, fresh, local and seasonal meals. Rex and his family still use traditional cooking techniques and customs that they are proud of. Rex’s father is a cacao farmer and their home is surrounded by beautiful cacao trees. Rex and his family are excited to share their love for traditional Filipino provincial cooking in the countryside surrounded by nature. When asked why he would like to be a Traveling Spoon host, Rex answered, “What can be better than opening up our home to Filipinos and travelers from all over the world and laughing and sharing stories over good food with them!”
"This is not a luxury home but a simple farmers home. The family is very knowledgeable about their craft and you will see a lot of cacao trees all over their home. The market tour was perfect. It’s a small market but green and fresh and full of ingredients like carabao meat, which is very popular in that area. I really liked everything I ate – the cacao, homemade wines and vinegar. I really liked the pako salad because it was so fresh and the carabao cooked in coconut milk.
We also foraged most of the ingredients from their backyard farm, which was a delightful experience! I really love the exoticness of it! "
"This is a must do Just relax and enjoy the culture enjoy the food enjoy everything around
you and soak in the atmosphere this is a must do on any trip to the Philippines I will come
back here again and again and again it is just very relaxing and great fun"
