Backpacking Philippines: Calasiao's Puto, and Old Spanish Church

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Flight chronicles of the backpacker Tutubi, with travelogues, pictures/photos/videos, travel guides, independent and honest reviews, affordable, recommended resorts and hotels (including inns, guesthouses, pension houses, lodges, hostels, condotels, bed and breakfast and other cheap accommodations), commuting guides, routes (sometimes street maps and GPS coordinates/waypoints) and driving directions to answer "how to get there" questions, information and tips on tourism, budget travel and living in Philippines, Exotic Asia and beyond!

Backpacking, independent travel, and flashpacking are cheaper than the "cheapest package tours" and promotional offers around but you can also use travel information for family vacations, even romantic honeymoon destinations.

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Calasiao's Puto, and Old Spanish Church

Mention Calasiao to many people and they will automatically say puto, rice cakes, that is produced by the town using a simple yet famous recipe. Tutubi had a chance to re-visit the place after doing his usual work in Malasiqui town of Pangasinan.

Tutubi's main reason for passing by the town is to sample the famous puto, sold at the so called Calasiao Puto Produce, a market lines with stalls in front of the municipal hall.

Calasiao Puto Produce stalls selling puto and kutsinta (cuchinta) by the kilo (photo taken through a car windshield)

puto on a plate, a quick picture before munching the delectable dessert/delicacy.

After buying his pasalubong at one stall, Tutubi noticed the old church of Calasiao with a facade made of red bricks and officially called Saints Peter & Paul Church (same name as the old church in Makati on Burgos St.)

The old church of Calasiao, Pangasinan, constructed in 1621. (note to photogrpahers: church is facing west, this photo was taken around 11am)

a quick picture of the interiors with fairly recent look.

All this took only a few minutes as Tutubi had to rush to Dagupan to again check on something plus a re-visit to his favorite restaurant in Dagupan.

Labels: Churches, Filipino Food, Ilocos Region, Pangasinan

posted by GingGoy @ 10:04 PM,

17 Comments:

At Oct 4, 2008, 11:29:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Yay!! so it's famous for it's puto? ill remember that. :)
At Oct 4, 2008, 4:34:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Oh wow, I wish u elaborated more on the puto taste, I'm pretty curious because I want to make some!

I like tha church's interior with blue, never seen it before..and ganda pala!
At Oct 4, 2008, 5:39:00 PM, GingGoy said...: tina, a popular pasalubong from the town

thess, the puto i bought was just plain version, tastes like the usual steamed rice with sugar so it's a little sweeter. I prefer the kutsinta sprinkled with grated coconuts. wasn't able to take pictures of it since i was too hungry hehe
At Oct 5, 2008, 12:56:00 AM, x said...: oh, puto!!! i haven't had puto in the longest time! the puto you posted looks very packed and chewy. mmmm... it will really go well with the native chocolate drink called sikwate... mmmm...

and, dear, what a beautiful red church. it kinda reminds me of no li me tangere for some reason! :D
At Oct 5, 2008, 1:05:00 AM, carlotta1924 said...: sarap nga ng puto na galing sa calasiao. nakikita ko meron ding binebenta niyan sa mga make shift stall sa gilmore ave. sa qc. :D
At Oct 5, 2008, 3:02:00 AM, Dennis Villegas said...: I love Puto although I think that it should always be eaten with Dinuguan. Ahhh kagutom...I miss Puto tuloy, at kutsinta na rin...hehehe
At Oct 5, 2008, 9:53:00 AM, escape said...: wow! the church's facade is impressive. i never been to that side of pangasinan.
At Oct 5, 2008, 10:56:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I can almost smell the fragrant smell of that freshly based puto hehe :)

Nice pic of the old church. Boy. they really keep the interior spotless clean.
At Oct 5, 2008, 2:02:00 PM, Mari said...: Oh, boy, puto. I haven't had one for a long time. Yup, it's good with dinuguan. Now I'm getting hungry.
At Oct 5, 2008, 7:13:00 PM, GingGoy said...: acey, why noli me tangere? i haven't had sikwate for a long time

calotta, i don't notice those stalls on gilmore. i sometimes pass by en rout e to makati or ortigas. but maybe because i'm driving :(

dennis, i really prefer kutsinta :P

the dong, yeah, didn't expect it to be like that since, as always, the trip to calasiao was unplanned and only went there for the puto

bw, there were a few street kids there always blocking my view for a few minutes i went in there...good thing they went away

mari, I didn't grow up with puto and dinuguan pairing. i always think of dinuguan as ulam sa kanin. Now I miss my father's own version of dinuguan, the dry recipe only he can whip up
At Oct 7, 2008, 2:07:00 AM, Photo Cache said...: Nagutom tuloy ako. I have been to Calasiao. I believe they have a miraculous statue of Christ that's bleeding blood. I think that's how I got to see that. My mother dragged me there I think.
At Oct 7, 2008, 9:15:00 AM, atto aryo said...: i love this variant of the puto specie. i remember regularly stopping by some street stalls in QC on my way to the office just to buy some for breakfast. i wonder if the original in the Calasiao tastes better.
At Oct 7, 2008, 9:44:00 PM, GingGoy said...: photo cache, didn't get to see what you're referring to. was there only for a few minutes. didn't even get to get near the altar :(

r-yo, sa gilmore ba yun? ahve no idea really. calasiao's puto recipe is simple. it's made from ground rice, sugar and water.
At Oct 8, 2008, 8:45:00 AM, escape said...: kakatuwa naman at pumunta ka talaga doon para sa puto. natikman mo na ba ang puto sa manapla sa negros occidental?
At Oct 9, 2008, 12:43:00 PM, Nyl said...: ang ganda ng architectural design ng old church. Bakit walang ganyan ka old dito sa Davao?hehe!

masarap yang puto sabi nila pag may dinuguan...di ko pa naman na try kumain ng puto nila dyan pero sana ma-try ko one day.
At Oct 11, 2008, 8:42:00 AM, GingGoy said...: the dong, manapla? never been there. I was only able to visit Bacolod in 2004 for a day. someday maybe

nyl, no old spanish churches in Davao because it's not part of Spanish territory before like most parts of Mindanao. Christian settlers only came there in droves when the Americans and under pres. Quezon when they decided to populate Mindanao
At Jun 8, 2009, 11:07:00 PM, Donald Serrano said...: manamit gid ang puto sa manapla... everytime gapabacolod kami, gabakal gid kami sa mga gabaligya sa kilid dalan sang puto... hehe

Calasiao's Puto, and Old Spanish Church

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