Siuálâ Ding Meángûbié

Sísig, the Kapampangan dish now famous all over the Philippines, was originally defined by Diego Bergaño in his 1732 Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampanga as a “salad, including green papaya, or green guava eaten with a dressing of salt, pepper, garlic and vinegar.”

Sísig Bábî or “pork sisig” was originally a dish reserved for women, particularly expectant mothers in their early stages of pregnancy. It was originally made from boiled pig’s ears and tail, dressed in vinegar, chopped scallions, salt and pepper. Pork cartilage was believed to aid in the bone development of the infant growing inside the mother’s womb.

Sísig Bábî was said to have been first served as “pulutan” (a side dish for beer) in Angeles City in the 1970s. The story goes that there once was a a newly wed who left his pregnant wife at home to go out drinking with his buddies. He was said to even be bragging about it. The owner of the barbecue place, a woman, was thought to have sympathized with the poor wife who was left all alone at home. She decided to give the neglectful husband a friendly advice without offending him. She served him Sísig Bábî. The husband, being a newly wed, wasn’t familiar with the dish. He thought it was a new kind of "pulutan" that was still off the menu. He liked it and ordered another one. The idea caught on and soon Sísig Bábî, now simply called Sísig, became an instant hit with beer drinkers. Patrons to this day debate whether it was at "Burgos" or at "Crossing" that Sísig was first served as “pulutan”.

Sísig was said to have been first served on a sizzling plate in the early 1980s by the Sugay Family who had an eating establishment along Lakandula Street in Angeles City. They named the dish Sísig Benedict. This was also the first time that Sísig was served as a meal for the whole family to enjoy and not just a side dish for drinking beer. The idea quickly caught on and soon Sizzling Sísig became the dish Angeles City was famous for.

One enterprising woman from "Crossing", Aling Lucing, was said to serve the best tasting Sísig in the whole of Angeles City. She was said to have been patronized by no less than the family of the former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos himself who had Aling Lucing brought to Malacañang to cook and prepare Sísig before his distinguished guests. Since then, people from all over would go to "Crossing" in Angeles City to sample the dish prepared by the "Sisig Queen."

Sísig, originally known only to Kapampangan women, is now a popular dish enjoyed by many throughout the archipelago.

Reference:

Bergaño, Diego. (1732). Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampanga en Romance.  Manila: Imprenta de Ramirez y Giraudier. [2007 English Ed.] Venancio Q. Samson. Angeles City, Philippines: Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies at Holy Angel University. 

Author's Note:

In 1995, Dan Tayag and his artist brother Ronnie of Angeles City first asked me to do a research on the History of Sisig. I finally came up with a piece in 1997 which hang in the lobby of Culture Shack, an artist's cafe/bar in Fields Avenue, Angeles City owned by Dan Tayag. Excerpts from this piece soon appeared in various blogs, newspapers and magazines. 

"Sadiasadia, ing sisig pamangan de mu reng mabuktut. Ngeni pamangan da ne rin ding mamuktut." - Ronnie Tayag, Culture Shack, 1997.