Cafe Yagam: Experience The Cordilleras In 5 Plates

Aside from Cafe Yagam’s rich coffee culture, their food is also as real as it gets. Having a taste of each of their dishes takes any foodie or curious palate into a journey through the Cordilleras. Not only will this be a unique culinary adventure, but it will most definitely be an unforgettable cultural experience because partaking of these traditional meals is like getting to know the community and heart behind how and why the food is prepared.

Cafe Yagam’s best traditional and authentic dishes include Pinuneg, Igwilas, Pinikpikan with Etag, Smoked Yagam Sausage, and Binungor. All their main dishes are served with “kiniwar,” a sweetened sticky rice dessert in dark sugar syrup. So, when dining here, get ready to experience the Cordilleras one plate at a time.

Cafe Yagam: Experience The Cordilleras In 5 Plates

1. Pinuneg, the Cordilleran blood sausage, is a staple in any Benguet wedding. In Cafe Yagam, the Pinuneg is homemade and served with red rice as well as some highland vegetables. Its name is coined from “inpa- uneg” which means “to stuff into.” To the Kankanaeys and Ibalois, this is something that they would always prepare using the excess meat and innards of a butchered pig during the traditional festivals known as Cañao. Based on tradition, nothing should be wasted and everyone should partake of the feast’s blessing, thus, Pinuneg is one of the ways they are able to achieve this. The dish is first prepared by chopping the meat until it almost resembles ground meat. It is then seasoned with a lot of salt and onion leeks before it is stuffed into the sausage casings. Pinuneg is best enjoyed with “sukang Iloco” (vinegar from Ilocos). Pinuneg costs Php 200 but it can actually serve up to two persons (of course, it depends on how hungry any of those two are).

2. Igwilas is the Highland’s comfort food. This dish comes in a bowl delightfully filled with soft white beans that is slow-cooked and flavored by what the locals call “kiniing” or smoked meat. The dish hails from Sagada and what makes it comforting is that the broth is made tasty by the smokey flavor of kiniing. It is the perfect thing to have during the cold or rainy days and also at times when you’re under the weather. A single order of Igwilas costs Php 200.

3. Pinikpikan with Etag: Experience the “soul” of the Cordilleras. Once you have tried this dish, you can truly say that you know what Cordilleran food is. Pinikpikan is part of any home and it is this meal that celebrates the sense of community or “Ka-illian.” It has some similarities with tinola but is more delectable, (if you ask me), because it is made creamy with “etag.” (Now, I, myself, couldn’t understand why. But for some reason, taking a sip of its creamy broth infused with etag puts a smile on any weary soul. There is truly nothing like it.) Etag is meat that has been air-dried and salted, cured for short. It is mixed into the smokey chicken broth that makes it uniquely delightful.

In Cafe Yagam, their Pinikpikan stays true to the tradition of the Kankanaeys – they serve it with tapuy or rice wine. In the mountains, when this is prepared, tapuy is poured into the boiling pot with smoked chicken, etag, ginger, and sayote. Now, just imagine how flavorful that will be after hours and hours of simmering. This may perhaps be what hugs are supposed to feel, for reals. For Php 200, who needs hugs from people, right? (ha!)

And just for added information, Cafe Yagam’s owner, Ms. Poleen Carla Rosito, said that that Pinikpikan should always be served with coffee. These two are the epitome of friendship and kinship. If coffee is not served in a home, the people would say “innayan.” This sentiment means that the guest is not really in good terms with the host.

4. A new addition to their menu is the Smoked Yagam Sausage. The sausage is made of ground pork, finely chopped kiniing and a lot of garlic and salt. Like the Pinuneg, this mixture is stuffed into sausage casings but is particularly left to smoke overnight. It is then fried and served with a choice of either kamote (sweet potato) or red rice. For balance, some acidity to the dish is added through a dipping sauce made of bugnay wine and sukang Iloco. Bugnay is a wild berry variant found in the mountains of the Cordillera. It has a certain sweetness to it that makes dishes taste a bit lighter and cuts through the acidity.

 

5. “Binungor” – Enjoy the rivers of Kalinga. Binungor is a dish primarily made of the river shells called, “agurong” and is something served during family festivities.  The shells are cooked into a spicy vegetable stew that will leave a foodie curious for more. Traditionally, one cup of native chili peppers called “sili labuyo” (yes, one cup), is put into this dish. (But don’t worry, Cafe Yagam will always ask how much heat your palate can take.) Ms. Carla explained that people of old basically got whatever was available in the area and turned it into meals of the day. The vegetable mix would usually include bamboo shoots, native string beans, banana blossom and the native mushroom called “ing-inga.” Priced at Php 150, your family can have a taste of the rivers of Kalinga.

Cafe Yagam also serves other well-known dishes. For starters, they have the Kiniing Green Salad made of kiniing, tomato, lettuce, and onions with a creamy dip. They also have stuffed tofu with green salad that is good as an appetizer. Their pasta items include Pasta Bolognese (beef and tomato sauce), Bilis Shitake (Japanese karing and Shitake mushroom), Pesto (basil, garlic and herbs), and Kiniing Yogurt Sauce Pasta (kiniing salted cured meat on pasta). Snack items include the pesto, egg, and tomato sandwich, nachos, chili cheese fries, and the 100 percent beef burger. For serious tummy fillers, they have sizzling plate meals with a choice of sisig or the mixed platter. For dessert, they have what they call the “Inanchila” which is Kalinga sticky rice with latek, and the “Kiniwar,” sticky rice sweetened with tagapuot and latek.

With all these hearty meals prepared by the family in Cafe Yagam, visitors and locals alike will always be able to experience a sense of home. As travel writer Deborah Cater says, “You have to taste a culture to understand it.”

Cafe Yagam is located at 25 J.Felipe St, Lualhati, Baguio, 2600 Benguet. They are open from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM.