CAFÉ YAGAM: THE TRADITIONAL CORDILLERAN SHOP
There’s a traditional way of
preparing chicken for a meal that’s certainly not for the animal activists to
witness. From the mountains of the
Cordillera region of the Philippines, a dish named Pinikpikan is served.
In a homey coffee shop named
Café Yagam, a plate of pinikpikan was
the main dish for our dinner. That was
the first instance I tasted the said dish.
But there’s more to a pinikpikan that
the shop has to offer.
Maintaining the ambiance of
a family home, Café Yagam’s interiors can easily caught the attention of
vintage collectors and travelers. An
array of antiquated pieces of ornaments, luggage, travel and architecture books
serves as an accent to the fireplace that sits in the middle.
As I am not fully acquainted with the nook and corners of Baguio City, the single landmark I can remember is that, Café Yagam is situated near Elizabeth Hotel. To be specific, the address is #25 J. Felipe Street, Gibraltar, Baguio City (09464550364; 09212565677 or (074)423-0839) and a typical residential house appears as its façade. No fancy decorations and no frills.
pinikpikan |
Café Yagam is built with an advocacy. Others may question the service of pinikpikan but it all boils down to the preservation of culture and tradition of the Cordilleran region. But apart from the controversial chicken dish, the shop takes pride in the coffee that they serve – declared to be freshly roasted handpicked beans and ground just minutes before a sip from your cup is made. As I am no coffee drinker, I left the taste test to my travel buddies. There are three (3) choices on how coffee shall be served, these are:
Roast (light, medium or dark)
Brew (paper drip or french press) and
Strength (light, medium, strong)
As to which one tastes good? I don’t know (unless my companions will
comment on this post).
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Photo by: Darwin Cayetano |
Full meals are likewise
available at Café Yagam, making it not a coffee shop solely. A mini stage with a few musical instruments
is likewise set-up in the main dining area.
And there are scheduled gigs as well to entertain guests.
Café Yagam’s setting can be
romantic as well and apt for melodramatics.
As the strums of a guitar echo over a fireplace to give everyone warmth,
an instant dating place is born.
But that was just my
imagination, no such thing happened when we were there. I came in silence. I might have been thinking of someone as I
sit in one corner of the shop or maybe I was just full of the food service. What do you think?
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