Northern Sweets – Tita’s Special Silvanas

My maternal ancestry originates from Pampanga. And although my mother and her brothers and sisters were born and raised in Manila, we still have relatives who live on that side of the country. In fact, on family reunions and gatherings, I often find myself lost in a babble of Kapampangan, barely understanding the gist of everyone's stories. I only know a handful Kapampangan words like matudtud (sleep), me keni (come here), mangan (eat), and most of the lines from the song Atin Ko Pung Singsing (I Have A Ring). What? That was the first piano piece I learned to play.

Anyway, it is because of this that we find ourselves spending time up north once in a while. For as long as I can remember, no matter how late, we would always stop by the delicacy store called Tita's before heading home from Pampanga. And it would always be a treat. The shop is designed like a mini grocery, with sections for meat products, pastries, candy, preserves and you push a trolley around to haul your loot. They would have fatless tocino, skinless longganisa, turones de kasoy, sansrival, taba ng talangka among others. All lovely. But of all their specialties, my absolute favorite would be Tita's Special Silvanas.

My mom recently went to visit some relatives and brought me this as pasalubong. Silvanas, for me, are best eaten cold and crunchy with a tall glass of milk on a rainy day. Tita's Silvanas are the best silvanas on the face of this earth! No contest. I say they're the best, because they simply are. These bite-sized silvanas are light to eat and not as sweet as the ones that can be bought commercially in the city.

What's unusual about them is that they're kept refrigerated, but they're crunchy, but also creamy inside, and melts in your mouth. It's weird, but it works. I can't even begin to guess how to make them, but maybe it's because I'm such a kitchen noob. Tried searching for recipes and how-to's online too, but no such luck. My friend said something about blowtorching but she can't be serious, can she?

Tita's oh-so-yummy silvanas!