SANTA RITA -- Food lovers and art enthusiasts trooped to this year’s Duman Festival yesterday at the town's famed EcoPark area with performances from bands, comedians and theater artists entertaining people who visited to sample native Kapampangan cooking and delicacies.
Arti.StaRita started the festival in 2002, which originated from the long standing tradition of pounding and winnowing unripe glutinous rice (lacatan) and turning it into a light pale gold or green delicacy called "duman."
The festival featured alfresco dining were rows and rows of delicacy stalls would sell various pastries and native dishes of the town, with duman being the major highlight. The food sold during the festival would include native pastry attractions of the town like sansrival, masa podridu, mamon and mamon tostado.
Sta. Rita is known as a pastry town with a strong culinary tradition. The festival has attracted a steady following of local and international tourists. The Duman Festival is, arguably, the only festival of its kind that is held in the evening and features festive dining until the wee hours of the evening.
Different grades of duman, the star of the festival celebration, were sold in the event. Traditionally regarded as a Christmas delicacy, duman is eaten with hot chocolate or milk as additive or accompanying drink.
Duman is relatively expensive: unlike the regular rice variety, which can be planted and harvested three times a year, duman can only be harvested in the cool air of November and December, otherwise it will not be a bountiful one.
For every hectare, a farmer can produce only a maximum of 4.5 cavans of duman, while a maximum of 300 cavans can be harvested from the regular rice variety.