Touted as the lechon capital of the Philippines (this will surely warrant a lot of comments from our Cebuano friends), La Loma is a district in Quezon City where they prepare all these mouth-watering lechon (spit-roated pig). Mila's, Mang Tomas, Ping-Ping - some of the popular names when it comes to lechon baboy (and baka, manok.)
It's said that it was Mang Tomas who started this industry way back in the early '50s. At that time, Mang Tomas was only selling pork around his neighborhood. His house was in front of the La Loma Cockpit Arena. After a day's worth of betting, some of the cockpit fanatics would buy pork from him and ask for it to be roasted to serve as their pulutan (finger food that usually accompanies beer drinking). In the long run, he decided to just sell roasted pork. And the rest, as they say, is history.
This photo was taken last month when my T and I went "touristy" in our own city. It was fun, you should try it. Anyway, I'm posting it today because the holidays are coming and maybe some of you are looking for a place to buy lechon or even a place where you can bring your balikbayan friends/family members. Trust me, its a very interesting place. Full of good food and rich history.
