This is the second of a series of posts about my latest food adventure with Electrolux Discover-E in Pampanga. If you haven't read the first part, I suggest you read the first Pampanga series part about Atching Lillian Borromeo's breakfast feast! This is the cookie making demo that followed where she showed us how to make San Nicholas cookies using her family's special hundred-year-old mold and traditional heirloom recipe during this part of the tour.
Electrolux's Discover-E Kitchen Campaign is "a nationwide initiative designed to promote culinary discovery and enjoyment of Filipino cuisine." They brought us to Atching Lillian's kitchen for this Pampanga trip =)
I liked the lightness and moderate sweetness of the San Nicholas cookies or Sanikulas. The taste was oh so familiar but I believe that the story behind it made it more special in my eyes.
She showed us how she makes them. It's a simple mix of egg yolks, butter, third-class flour, coconut milk, baking powder and cornstarch.
She said that the best tools are our hands. While she was doing that, she gave us a history lesson too.
The cookies were made as a result of the abundance of egg yolks during the construction of churches. Some churches like the Miag-ao Church, a UNESCO heritage site, in Iloilo and like those in Pampanga were made of egg whites and they just throw away the egg yolks. The nuns created the Sanikulas and eventually, some families made their own cookie recipes with their own molds.
I'm a little overloaded with info. I think this was either an old egg beater or mixer but they use it to make the cookies =) Looks like a tennis racket, huh? Haha.
San Nicholas is also the patron saint of bakers, of the sick and many other events.
She used the tancha method to make the rest of the dough.
She also said that the hands are the best kitchen tool.
All I can say is it looks simple to make and it's so easy - to eat haha. It was truly a labor of love. Even getting the dough off the moulds was a sticky challenge. It used to be that only guests of a wealthy family could get a hold of the Sanikulas. Today, we are lucky that there are keepers like Atching Lillian who keep this tradition alive. I am very thankful that she has opened up her home and kitchen to strangers and fellow Pinoys like me. I hope she gets more visitors after this Electrolux Discover-E campaign =)
Want to know more about Atching Lillian's Sanikulas cookies? Read more here for a more detailed account!
Want to know more about Atching Lillian's Sanikulas cookies? Read more here for a more detailed account!
Pampanga Food Trip, San Nicholas Cookie Making at Atching Lillian's!
Kabigting's Unique Halo-Halo, a Very Special Food Trip in Pampanga!
Everybody's Cafe in San Fernando and Nepo Mart Angeles Pampanga!
Kabigting's Unique Halo-Halo, a Very Special Food Trip in Pampanga!
Everybody's Cafe in San Fernando and Nepo Mart Angeles Pampanga!
Hope you can find your way to Atching Lillian's soon!
Details:
Details:
Lillian Lising-Borromeo
174 Jose Abad Santos St.,
Parian, Mexico, Pampanga
+63-915-773-0788
+63-45-966-0211
