In these days of fast food and instant meals, slow food cooking is fast becoming a thing of the past. So Café Jeepney's Destination Pampanga food promotion is an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with old style cooking from a province known for its gracious and delicious dining.

Borromeo is a member of the prominent Hizon and Mercado families. Her maternal grandfather, Monico Mercado of Sasmuan, a poet who took up arms against Spain, was a second cousin of national hero, Jose Rizal. It was Monico who translated Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios into Kapampangan. The verse novel depicting Kapampangan traditions, Quetang Milabas, is his best known work.

During the American occupation, he served two terms in the Philippine National Assembly. He was also a legal adviser to and later vice-president of the Guagua National Colleges. He passed away in 1952. Today a statue and a marker in his honor stand in Samsuan. As the daughter of Monico Mercado's only surviving daughter from his first wife, Borromeo is regarded as the bearer of his torch.

She recalls a childhood spent cooking with her mother rather than playing with dolls. Hers was a family that appreciated good food. Her late father, a doctor of medicine, would ask his patients to give their recipes to his daughter so these could live on even after they had gone off to the great beyond. As a young lady, Borromeo won in several cooking competitions such as the Maya Cookfest in 1976 and 1977. But it was only after 31 years of taking part in various culinary contests that she finally gained attention and was asked to host two cooking shows. Today tourists would motor to her house in Mexico, Pampanga to sample her heirloom recipes which she would prepare for them using old utensils that date back to a hundred years or so.

She is likewise known as the maker of the "original San Nicolas cookies." Usually baked during the feast of St. Nicolas but now eaten all year round, the cookies were introduced by the Spanish friars to this country around 1600. They are made from a mixture of eggs, cake flour, cornstarch, sugar, oil, coconut milk and scents of lemon rind or lemongrass. For her cookies, Lilian still uses wooden molds dating back to the 18th century.

Dishes to watch out for during the festival at Café Jeepney are Kapampangan Adobo, Sale Manok (Lemongrass Chicken), Kare-kareng Pampanga, Lumpiang Pancit (Noodle Spring Roll), Pako Salad (Forest Fern Salad), Payung-payungan Soup (Mushroom Soup), Pindang Damulag (Dried Carabao Beef), Buro with Hito (Catfish with Fermented Rice Sauce), Sili with Atchara Stuffing, Galantina, Paksiw Demonyo, Kilayin (Stewed Chicken), Dinuguan, Okoy, Estofado na may Tubo, Sisig, and Onions with Pugo.