Stay for Some Arroz Caldo!

After spending a day eating under the shade of towering acacia trees in the elegant garden of Tess Guanzon in Sta. Rita, Pampanga, it was time to say good-bye. As I walked to my waiting car and driver, Mamang Guanzon, Tess’s mother-in-law and also my host, held my arm to stop me from leaving. “But you have not had merienda yet. Stay for some arroz caldo!” My driver looked at me with sheer panic, protesting he could not eat another mouthful of food. But stay we did and the arroz caldo was sheer heaven. I am used to a thin rice soup, but this version was thicker than usual because they added malagkit [glutinous rice] to the rice mixture.