A Taste of Ilocandia

I am reasonably sure there are many articles written about the Ilocos region on the island of Luzon, Philippines. You can find them in travel books, travel magazines, travel brochures, Philippine history books, Philippine geography books, and even in so many travel articles on the internet. 

The Ilocos region had received an intense promotion by the country’s ministry of tourism. Interestingly, the region is not hard to visit as traveling has become easier and convenient. 

My goal for this article is to provide information about the Ilocos region that I always craved to visit since I was a child. Even though I had first gotten there when I was only 5 years old, the craving and the nostalgia of being there again and again never dies. 

So the result is, I have unraveled a different view of Ilocos based on facts and tradition adding my personal touch on it. Let me offer you in this article a tangy, spicy, exotic, and sumptuous taste of Ilocandia.

Ilocos Region: The Facts

My grandmother is from a barrio in Santa Lucia, Ilocos Sur. My mother was born in my grandmother's barrio and was raised in Manila. I once asked my grandmother what was the common transportation during her younger years. She said that there had been buses during those times going to and fro Manila. Air-conditioned buses were not common. The North Expressway hadn't been developed yet. Only until the Marcos presidency, many things had started to change.

Former late President Ferdinand Marcos partitioned all the provinces consisting of the Philippines into 11 regions as a part of his Integrated Reorganization plan on September 24, 1972. During the years that followed, other regions came to be in existence and some provinces were juggled from one region to another. The end result now is 17 regions of the Philippines. This now will take us to Region I known as the Ilocos region.

Ilocanos refer to their region as Deppaar Ti Ilokos while the Pangasinenses Rihiyon na Sagor na Baybay na Luzon. The Ilocos region is located on the northwestern part of the island of Luzon. Surrounded by the South China Sea to the west, bounded by the Cordillera Administrative Region and Cagayan Valley to the east, and bordered by the Central Luzon to the south. Driving from Manila, when you reach the Pangasinan border arch you are already in the Ilocos Region.

The Ilocos region consists of four provinces which are Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan. Urdaneta, Alaminos, San Carlos, San Fernando, Candon, Vigan, Batac, and Laoag are considered to be the component cities in the region with San Fernando in La Union as its regional center. Statistics says 66% of the region are Ilocanos, 27% are Pangasinan people or Pangasinenses, and 3% are Tagalogs.

The Ilocos region is home to many prominent people in the history of the Philippines such as late Former President Ferdinand Marcos, Former President Fidel Ramos, Gabriela Silang, Fr. Jose Burgos, etc. No wonder there are many historical venues that abound in the region. Strong Roman Catholic heritage is also evident in the region. From the ancient Roman Catholic churches to the municipality names, one can see how enduring the Spaniards in the past centuries had been in proliferating the Roman Catholic religion.

Getting to the region is an easy drive by car or bus. You can also reach the region by air. Passenger bus lines like Partas, Farinas, and Florida offer a better traveling experience and fares are expectedly higher than other passenger bus lines bound also for the region. 

Non-air-conditioned passenger buses are also available and their fares are much cheaper than those of the air-conditioned passenger buses. Commuting from one place to another within the region is uncomplicated. There are smaller passenger bus lines, compared to the main passenger bus lines, available that operate during the day. 

However, these small passenger buses often operate only within the vicinity of the region from the province of Ilocos Norte to the province of Pangasinan. Funny though, once we had mistaken a utility truck for a passenger bus because they look just the same from afar especially at night. 

Traveling time varies depending on the speed of the passenger bus and the road traffic. Traveling by night can be faster than traveling by day. If you enjoy seeing places and you are not in a hurry, traveling by day can be convenient. 

For people who do not enjoy long tedious hours in a passenger bus, riding an airplane can be an alternative. Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines can fly you to Laoag City in Ilocos Norte in just less than an hour. The newly opened airport in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur already caters trips from Manila to Vigan City and vice versa.

The Taste of Ilocandia

One can never have the full experience of Ilocandia without trying its distinctive cuisine. 

Some may hate and some may like and even love the pungent smell of bagoong isda and bagoong alamang. The piquant odor of sukang iloko can rouse or exasperate one’s sense of smell. We never leave the region without having these things in our luggage as our baon to be pasalubong. 

Canon City’s kalamay is exceptionally good too along with tinubo and Ilocos suman. 

Tinubo is a glutinous rice delicacy cooked inside a chopped bamboo shaft. You need to crack open the bamboo shaft first before you can enjoy the delicacy inside. The tinubo is close to suman which is also a glutinous rice delicacy but wrapped in banana leaf. 

The region’s bibingka shouldn't be missed. A bibingka is a mixture of ground glutinous rice and coconut milk cooked in a lump of live coal which is on top of the mixture. It may seem odd for some people but it is one of the unique delicacies in the region. 

The vegetable medley, Pinakbet, is really sumptuous and tempting. Diningdeng with saluyot and kardis is delectable, especially for vegans. The well-known Longganisang Vigan of Ilocos is also a must-buy for pasalubong. 

A friend of ours who is a parish priest drove us once to Vigan City. He told us that we should never leave Vigan City without tasting empanadang Vigan and the rich noodle soup Vigan miki. 

We had our lunch in a rustic restaurant named Cafe Leona in Vigan City that offers an array of Ilocano dishes and delicacies. We ordered bagnet, pinakbet, sinigang na tanggigi, and empanadang Vigan. 

Bagnet is a slice of crisp deep-fried pork usually served with bagoong alamang and sliced tomatoes.

Distinctively Ilocano

Truly, Ilocano cuisine is so unique and diverse and only the person who has an adventurous palate can savor the full nag imas exotic taste of Ilocandia.

Have you been to Ilocos? What was your experience like? You can share your experience down below in the comments. 

If you found this article informative, feel free to share it with your friends! 

About the Author

Jayrald is a freelance writer, virtual assistant, digital marketing professional, and web designer. He specializes in general virtual assistance, freelance writing, social media marketing, email marketing, SEO strategy, eCommerce support, graphic design, and other business-related support tasks. He helps business owners and professionals save time and become more productive. He had helped businesses across the world particularly in the US, UK, Hong Kong, and the Middle East. You can contact Jayrald for his services at [email protected].