Vegetables are the top choices to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Since we live in a tropical country where veggies are always available, dishes with these ingredients can be easily prepared in the comfort of our homes. "The only way we can produce best dishes is by getting the best ingredients," says Eric. This is why Mama Sita took us to the northern provinces of the country to experience a different kind of food trip to see the vegetable farms of Benguet as well as to learn the different ways of preparing vegetables using different mixes and sauces.

Most of the vegetables have high vitamin C content such as tomato, malunggay, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, turnip, sweet potato, potato and pepper. Carotene, which is converted into vitamin A inside the body, is found in yellow and green vegetables such as carrot, squash and sweet potato.

The best place to grow veggies is in a cold climate with fertile soil where its taste is not compromised. The mountains is an ideal location for this produce. The early natives called the heartland of the Cordillera mountain range bontoc, a combination of the words bun, meaning heap, and tuk, which means top, adjectives that describe the region’s wild, jagged terrain. At present the Cordilleras is comprised of Ifugao, Benguet, Kalinga, Apayao, parts of Abra, Ilocos Sur and Isabela, and Mountain Province.

For centuries, the Bontocs lorded over the region, protected by their homeland’s terrain. During grand cañaos, their thanksgiving ritual, and other festivities, the Bontocs make their gratitude heard by beating on the gang-sa pattung–a set of flat gongs–with padded sticks. The sound reverberates throughout the highlands to proclaim a bountiful harvest from the fertile mountain soil.

Vegetable growing started in Benguet a century ago, when retired American soldier Guy Haight came upon a grassy plateau north of Baguio, in what is now Barangay Paoay in Atok town, and decided to settle there. With Igorot helpers, he was growing and harvesting an abundant crop of vegetables that included potato, sugar beets, celery, parsley, rhubarb, turnip, cabbage and lettuce, which he sold in Baguio City.

The demand for the highland products grew, and soon the industry spread to a number of towns in Benguet as well as the Mountain Province At present, this area supplies 80 percent of the country’s vegetable needs. Vegetable farming started in Mt. Data Bauko, Mountain Province around the ’70s. The vegetable farms are found on level plateaus, on the sides of the mountain, which slopes from 15 degrees to a steep 45–and even 60–degrees.

By using the vegetables, Mama Sita concocted dishes using its own products. And since the owners have discriminating tastes, the mixes and sauces produced by its research and development team must pass their strict standards. "The taste test has levels, they (the owners) want to taste everything and it’s their kind of taste that comes out in the end product. We have to get their approval. This is why our tagline is ‘Minanang Sarap, Natural na Sangkap’, "says Robert Corpus, Mama Sita special projects director. Below is a recipe from Mama Sita that you ca prepare at home and share with your loved ones.

Ingredients:

2 tbsps nectar vinegar

1 pc red onions, thinly sliced

½ tsp white sugar

pinch of ground black pepper

3 tbsps olive oil

2 pcs fresh carrots, shredded

8 pcs baguio beans, blanched and cut into thin diagonal slices

1 tbsp candied pile nuts, chopped

Procedures:

In a medium stainless steel bowl, combine coconut nectar vinegar and sliced onions. Let it stand for five minutes. Add the sugar, olive oil and season it with salt and pepper. Stir it well. Add the carrots and Baguio beans. Toss it to blend. Serve it with candied pile nuts.