Ilocos Delicacies

Ilocos region is a popular destination among local and foreign travelers alike. With the wide range of activities to do and sights to see, it's the destination where Mom and Dad and Kuya and Ate will all enjoy.
But, and this is the big BUT, there's one Ilocos factor that every traveler in any age and from any place will enjoy: the food. Although it isn't the food capital of the Philippines (it's arguably Pampanga), Ilocos deserves its rightful place in the list of local destinations for foodies.
So when you take a trip to the historic region that is Ilocos, make sure you try out and take home the following delicacies:

Bagnet
  Choice pork belly boiled and then deep-fried repeatedly results to the crispy, tasty and cholesterol-laden bagnet of Ilocos. Perfect for eating with rice and condiments (vinegar and soy sauce with calamansi and chili please), or simply chewing bite pieces off a large chunk, the bagnet is sinfully good you wouldn't apologize to anyone for the guilty pleasure.

Pinakbet
To balance off all the fat and unhealthy calories that enter your body because of the famous Ilocos bagnet, order a serving of their equally famous dish pinakbet. It's a vegetable dish that's a mixture of local ingredients such as eggplant, okra, tomatoes, stringbeans and squash. Sauteed in onion and garlic and seasoned with local fish sauce for a perfect marriage of tastes, it is best eaten with steamed rice and a pinch of bagoong (shrimp paste) with every spoonful.

Empanada
 Ah, the Ilocos empanada. It's interestingly more delicious when eaten in one of the hole-in-the-wall vendors in the old streets of Vigan, but nevertheless exploding with flavor anywhere else you take it. I have no idea how they make it so tasty by just combining green papaya, mongo and egg, and then enveloping it in a crust made of rice flour, but it sure is the perfect mix especially if dipped in special sukang Iloko. There's nothing more to say but "Try it!"

Bibingka
The only sweet one among all the salty food items popular in Ilocos, the Ilocos bibingka is a whole lot different from what you probably know of. Unlike the kakanin from the southern parts of Luzon, the Ilocos bibingka has a finer texture, but is similarly made of rice. It is sweet and its feel is closest to tikoy. The best places to get your fix of authentic Ilocos bibingka are the towns of Bantay and Vigan in Ilocos Sur.

Vigan longanisa
Just like the Ilocos bibingka, the longanisa is uniquely Vigan. It is absent of the sweetness that characterizes the typical Pinoy longanisa, and instead is garlicky and salty, perfect for, what else but sukang Iloko, fried rice and sunny side up eggs. When you stay in an Ilocos hotel, make sure that it serves Vigan longanisa for breakfast

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Abel

•Loom Weaving

Among the Ilocanos’ main cottage industries, it produces quality towels, blankets, table runners, and clothing materials with ethnic Ilocano designs.

Famous Burnay

 •Pagburnayan (Jar)

The Ilocano jar called “burnay,” used for storing the local vinegar, local wine “basi,” and “bagoong” and as a decorative ware, is produced in factories using the pre-historic method in the southwestern end of Liberation Avenue in Vigan.

Back to Nature

  •Nature Spots - Scenic spots include the Banaoang River in Bantay (an extension of the Abra River), Pinsal Falls in Santa Maria, and Pikkang Falls in San Juan.

Banaoang Bridge

Pikkang Falls

- Pinsal Falls

A favorite setting of many local films, Pinsal Falls features Angalo’s footprint, the legendary Ilocano giant. The falls is a few kilometers of rough road from the highway. Located at Barangay Babalasiwan, Sta. Maria. Other waterfalls in Ilocos Sur are Caniaw in Bantay, Gambang in Cervantes, Awasen in Sigay and Barasibis in Sinait.

Old Churches

•Churches - most notable of these churches include the Vigan Cathedral (which is the seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia, and where the remains of the Ilocano poet Leona Florentino is interred), Santa Maria Church (which is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list), Candon Church (has a grand facade and is famous for its tall bell tower and the longest painting in the Philippines) and Sinait Church (which houses the miraculous Statue of the Black Nazarene).

Vigan Church

Sta. Maria Church

Santiago Church

 

Bantay Church

Beautiful Beaches

Beaches - most notable Ilocos Sur beaches include those in Cabangtalan (in Sinait, also known as Imelda's Cove), Pug-os (in Cabugao); and the towns of Santa, Santa Maria, Santiago, San Esteban, and Candon.

 •Santiago Cove

A stretch of golden sand beach in Santiago with amenities for picnics and water sports.

 •Pug-os Beach

 

Resthouses and picnic sheds are found in this nearly white sand beach in Cabugao.

 •Sulvec Beach

The rocky shore of Sulvec, Narvacan is a favorite stop of commuters and the locals. Nearby is the Narvacan Tourism Lodge.

 •Apatot Beach

This cove in San Esteban is frequented by picnic goers. During the last stage of World War II, US Submarines surfaced in the area to unload arms and supplies for the USAFIP, NL.

 •Candon Beach

The beach features amenities and facilities for visitors.

Back to the Old Times

Heritage city of Vigan

• Heritage City of Vigan - inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List, because it houses the most intact example of a Spanish colonial town in Asia. Other spots include pottery making and other forms of cottage industries. It also has hotels built in the "bahay na bato" ("stone house") style. Also located in the city is the residence of Father Jose Burgos, which is open to the public; and the Syquia Mansion, which is the Vigan residence of former President Elpidio Quirino.

 

Ilocos Sur's history reflects that of the Philippine history in its entirety. In Vigan, the Villa Fernandina founded in 1574 by Juan de Salcedo, grandson of the Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, markers and inscriptions can be found throughout the city.

Following the exploration and conquest of the Ilocos by the Castillan sword, the evangelization of the inhabitants was pursued with the characteristic zeal of the Augustinian missionaries. The stone churches built over the centuries reflect Spanish power that held sway in union with the Church. It is thus interesting to read the marker found near the door of the Vigan Cathedral, placed there by the Philippine Historical Committee.

Ilocos

The entire Ilocos region which then stretched from the town of Luna (Namacpacan) in the province of what is now part of La Union to Bangui in what is now part of Ilocos Norte and was then called by its ancient name Samtoy (from the phrase “sao ditoy, which in Ilokano meant “our dialect) and the inhabitants built their villages in small bays on coves called “looc” in the local dialect. The natives by the coast were referred to as “Ylocos” which meant “from the lowlands” (the “Igorots” of the Cordilleras on the other hand meant “from the highlands”). Subsequently, the Spaniards called the region “Ylocos” or “Ilocos” and its people “Ilocanos.”