CITY OF SAN FERNANDO The local government unit of Calumpit in Bulacan province recently held the first ever "Longganisang Calumpit" festival as part of the town's 451st founding anniversary.

The festival featured the local longganisa (sausage) during a boodle fight in a 514- meter long table.

Officials, residents and the product makers shared the ground pork delicacy known for its not-so-salty garlicky taste flavored by vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, salt and ground pepper and some red chili peppers.

Mayor Glorime Faustino said the festival aims to introduce the town's unique "Longganisang Calumpit" to the market and put it in consumers' list of other popular and renowned sausages from nearby Pampanga province, Lucban and Vigan.

Based on records of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and narratives of local historians in Bulacan, the "Longganisang Calumpit" is rooted from the Galleon Trade during the 1565 to 1815 period in which the Angat River and Rio Grande de Pampanga were part of the routes.

It was also a time when the town's first settlers learned to cook meat like pork with various ingredients to rid it of its gamey taste and acquire a distinctive local flavor.

Various recipes and cooking versions are being made and derived from the "Longganisang Calumpit" with the help of the Department of Trade and Industry's Shared Service Facility given to producers last year.