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Bagnet Pizza

By Margaux Salcedo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:48:00 07/18/2009

Filed Under: Food, Lifestyle & Leisure, Beverages

IN SPITE of all the hoity toity and fancy restaurants that have mushroomed in the metro, at the end of the day when you want to grab a beer and grub with your friends, the restaurant of choice is still either Dencio’s, Grilla, Gerry’s Grill or the like. The drink of choice: light beer. The chow of choice: pulutan, with or without rice.

The bestseller, international approval be damned, is still brainfood! No, not food that’s good for the brain but food concocted from brain, a.k.a. sisig. Sisig is a Filipino delicacy traditionally made from parts of a pig’s head: the brains, ears, snout and cheeks (although other recipes include liver, heart, tongue and/or buttocks). Other people condemn this delicacy (yuck, utak!) but if you eat other parts of a pig anyway, why not the brain?

At Dencio’s, they lay out a tray beside your table so that they can move the sisig from a bowl onto the sizzling plate right before your eyes. So the sisig is sizzling hot when it is served and you get a whiff of what you’re about to enjoy.

The way sisig is cooked is quite interesting. It goes through a process of boiling, then grilling or broiling, then frying. Various recipes show that after taking out the pig’s facial hair, if any, you boil the parts, mixing in peppercorn, bay leaves, salt and pepper (others use pineapple juice) until tender. Drain and dry then grill or broil (except the ears, which become tough if broiled). Chop and fry, mixing with soy sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper. Then serve hot, best on a sizzling plate, with the option to top with a raw egg.

The result is a classic Filipino sizzling plate of slightly sweet (from the soy sauce), salty (from the pork), and sour (from the vinegar) flavors with alternating soft (brain) and crunchy (ears, onions) textures.

Other restaurants, however, have taken to using other ingredients other than a pig’s head. At Cheevs in Greenhills, the restaurant’s creative director has created lengua sisig. This has all the glories of the classic sisig, but instead of being chewy and crunchy, the texture is soft because it uses pig’s tongue, and therefore does not have the gnawy texture of the ear cartilage. It is sisig refined.

At TJ’s, a couple of restaurants down from Cheevs, they serve bagnet sisig. This is also like your regular sisig served hot on a sizzling plate lined with margarine or butter, but the difference is the crunch of popped pig skin, care of the bagnet. This is deliriously good, especially with pale pilsen, because of the very crunchy effect of the bagnet against the slightly salty and sour mix of the sisig. Meanwhile, Dencio’s is promoting their bangus sisig, which is interesting too, given the use of the milkfish’s skin, which adds crunch.

Sinuglaw at Cheevs

Not down for sisig? The range of pulutan nowadays is amazing. You can go for the ol’ gambas and calamares – but why bore yourself? Cheevs offers sinuglaw, which is inihaw (sinugba) na baboy with kinilaw (fresh fish in vinegar). Does that sound weird? Yes, but it tastes amazing. The concoction offers you the best of Pinoy flavors: the sourness of the kinilaw, with the bite of the vinegar lingering on your tongue; then the savory taste of the inihaw na baboy tempering the vinegar. Plus, there is a twist of duck egg, which adds a bit more saltiness and adds dimension to the texture of the dish. If you are a fan of Filipino cooking, I promise you will love every bite of this. It is an invention that must be lauded by the act of repetitive consumption.

Other concoctions? Dencio’s offers Sizzling Tiyan ng Bangus. Who can resist milkfish fat? It is loaded with garlic bits on top. Other restaurants funk up their pizza. TJ’s goes so far as to offer bagnet pizza. Although it’s really not a good pizza (not a good crust, tomato paste too pasty) and not a great use of bagnet either. The bagnet should stick to the sizzler. I guess for pizza, we can stick to Shakey’s.

After all, when you’re full of beer, they all start to taste the same! •

Cheevs and TJ’s Resto Bar. Both located at the G-Strip, Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan.