Apag Marangle
Guagua, Philippines
Apag Marangle sits in Guagua, Pampanga, on the flat Central Luzon plain where Philippine cooking has its deepest roots. The restaurant serves traditional Kapampangan food in a bahay kubo setting, low bamboo furniture under a nipa roof, with the kitchen doing the same things it has done for generations. Longganisa is made in-house in the Pampanga hamonado style: coarse-ground pork shoulder, hard with garlic and sugar, tied into short fat links and cooked the slow way until the casing lacquers and the fat caramelises. It comes as part of a full silog breakfast or as a side to the larger table spreads. Guagua's longganisa has its own formula, a touch more vinegar than San Fernando, and Apag Marangle is where visitors come to taste the difference.
