TALONG FESTIVAL

VILLASIS— This Vegetable Bowl of Pangasinan celebrated its bumper harvest on January 12 with the holding of its Talong (Eggplant) Festival that featured its famous Pinakbet sa Kawa.

Reynaldo Mundo, municipal agriculturist, said residents and visitors trooped again to the area fronting the municipal hall and gymnasium to partake of pinakbet, a popular Ilocano dish made of different vegetables like eggplants, okra, tomatoes, siling haba, ampalaya, among others.

All the 21 barangays cooked each their respective version of pinakbet at the town gymnasium.

Each barangay served their pinakbet to their respective barangaymates as has been the tradition here set by Mayor Nonato Abrenica and his wife, former mayor Libradita Abrenica.

The municipal government provided each of the 21 barangays 30 kilograms (kgs) of eggplants (long purple variety), 10 kgs of ampalaya, 10 kgs of tomatoes, 4 kgs of okra and 2 kgs of siling haba.

It was up to the barangays to add other ingredients and to choose whether they want to use meat or fish, depending on their recipes.

However, unlike in previous years, there was no competition this time for the best pinakbet.

Mundo attributed the bumper harvest in 2017 to the absence of any calamity throughout the year.

He said the price of their talong also remained P35 to P40 per kilo.

Based on the town’s record, the town harvested a total of 12,600 metric tons of talong in 2017, 3,360 MT ampalaya, 625 MT tomatoes, 375 MT okra.

It was in 2005 when Mayor Nonato Abrenica, with some friends, conceptualized Talong Festival and thereafter became an annual celebration following its successful presentation every year.

The town is known today as the Talong Capital of Pangasinan. (Eva Visperas)

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