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Mangan is authentic
Source: Inquirer
Author: Alex Y. Vergara
Date: 2001-12-05
 
Dishes 'a la minute'



NEVER mind the variety of fresh ingredients and myriad ways they're prepared and presented in this Pampango restaurant. Forget the stylized turo-turo set-up complete with paintings of pop and historical icons framed in signature ukit-ukit that border on the kitsch. Take it from businessman Ricco Ocampo, a true blue Kapampangan from San Fernando, the secret to good cooking is simple: prepare the dishes "a la minute.''



"Every dish should only be cooked upon order," says Ocampo, part owner of Mangan restaurant. "Cooking everything in the morning and reheating them during lunch and dinner betrays the essence of real Kapampangan cooking.



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Doing it the right way, however, entails a lot of time and could cause some problems."



This Ocampo and partners Maritel Nievera and Rikki Dee found out soon after opening their first restaurant at Robinsons Manila. Orders took a long time to cook resulting in long lines during peak hours. Rather than lower their standards, Ocampo and his partners stood their ground.



"We will never settle for anything less than lutong bahay,'' says Ocampo, who learned the ropes of the demanding food business when he and Dee teamed up to open Kitchen, a restaurant specializing in fusion cuisine.



``There's no other way to prepare good Kapampangan food.''



In due time, the staff, from the Kapampangan cooks to the food servers, was able to meet the demands of the discriminating bosses. Mangan, which means "eat" in Kapampangan, recently opened its second branch at Glorietta 2. There are no long lines, but judging from the good volume of diners one evening, people are continuing to heed Ocampo and company's invitation.



Aside from providing diners fast and authentic regional cuisine, Mangan offers generous servings at very reasonable prices. At 195 pesos a pop, the kare-kare, made of tender pieces of oxtail, is good enough for two to three people. Unlike most commercial preparations, the dish's thick, yellowish base is free from the sweet aftertaste of peanut butter.



But the umba (yes, without the h, that's Pampango for you) is a different story. In keeping with tradition, the stewed pork dish-in rich, dark sauce derived from soy sauce and vinegar and flavored with such seasonings as whole, black pepper-is a tad sweet. It's one of the featured meat dishes under ``Im-bento.''



At 40 pesos a pop, Im-bento consists of rice, soup of the day and such pickled appetizers as achara, burong camias or burong mustasa. Mangan, by the way, serves no less than milagrosa, a expensive and fragrant variety of rice.



Ocampo's reason? ``My family served only milagrosa while I was growing up in Pampanga. For some reason, you're no food connoisseur if you settle for anything less.''

 

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