Family picnics are a treasure trove of memories. Whether in one’s backyard on a makeshift table covered with a tablecloth, on a blanket at a nearby park or a sarong on the beach, the focal point in any picnic is always the food that brings families and friends together.
Getting to join a friend’s family picnic is always an eye-opener to new ways of sharing food and fun. Trying someone else’s cooking is a treat and welcome diversion to one’s family menu, plus new the excitement of discovering new picnic destinations is a sure lure. What if the family of Teresita Reyes, more popularly known as Mama Sita, sends one an invite to their family picnic?
Recently, Nancy Lumen-Reyes and Sylvia Reyes asked a group of foodies to join them on one of the favorite picnic destinations of their childhood, the manggahan (mango orchards) of Iba, Zambales. Going that far for a meal might seem atrocious for Manileños, but it is only until one gets literally sick from the embrace of the industrial fog that one can begin to appreciate the varying shades of green that vivify the countryside, pulling one further and further away from the pressures (and smog) of city life.
Nancy shared that for them, no place was too far for a picnic. She said they even would go as far as Baguio for their family picnics, with all the clan in attendance plus a few friends who wanted to experience a Reyes picnic.
While their menu was typical Filipino picnic fare — all kinds of food that could withstand travel and resist spoilage, it was the fastidious preparation that made each dish special. Reyes adobo was the kind made with fresh slaughtered tender pork, cooked and served soaking in fat. Ginisang alamang (sautéed shrimp paste) was made with lots of crunchy, chewy fried pork and could serve as a viand with fluffy white rice. Beef mechado was traditionally made with a finger of fat nestled between the tender rolled beef and a reduction of rich tomato sauce blanketing it. Just like any other family, a lot of the food they ate would come from the produce of the destination. Fresh corn on the cob sold roadside along with melons, mangoes, crabs and fresh seafood bought from the nearest market from the picnic destination would become their picnic fare.
When we arrived at Rose’s mango farm, we were met with a refreshing freshly juiced ripe mango drink. A tableau of picnic tables laden with baskets and baskets of large ripe mangoes, and a buffet table groaned with Mama Sita’s meat, seafood and vegetable dishes, as well as a standalone table of sliced ripe mangoes and two sherbets — one a blend of ripe and green mangoes — a provincial genius of a dessert refreshingly sweet and tart all at the same time that one is beckoned to have thirds and fourths.  
One might have thought that the mango sherbet was made tart by calamansi (calamondin) or dayap (lime). Discovering that it was the green mango that lent the tartness was a delight as no other restaurant in the metro has ever made such a blend. The other sherbet, made of coconut water and coconut meat, was refreshing and comforting.
The cooks of Mama Sita were on one side with a makeshift kitchen where vats of newly cooked pansit (sautéed noodles) were being transferred to platters; vegetable sinigang sampaloc (tamarind soup) and vegetable kare-kare (peanut stew) were being cooked; steaming large crabs were being cooled on racks; and aromas of newly fried butterflied milkfish filled the fresh air as just grilled chicken and pork barbecues were bring taken off the coals.
Each dish made with the freshest produce and seasoned with Mama Sita’s savory pansit mix, tamarind paste, kare-kare mix, inihaw (northern grill) marinade for the milkfish and inasal (southern grill) marinade for the chicken and pork. Mama Sita’s pure spiced coconut vinegar, Anghang Sarap, had the perfect tanginess with the ginger and garlic hints, making it the perfect dip for the crab and grilled meats. An array of vegetable sides, grilled eggplant, atsara (pickled green papayas), a salad of bitter melon and white radishes, were rightful accompaniments to the grilled fare.
After a rest, the mango picking contest began. Two teams were formed and the team that could exactly pick 80 kilos of mangoes won the prize. Every extra mango over 80 kilos had a deduction and every mango that had the sap running down the skin also had a deduction. It was a challenge not to over pick from the mango trees that had so much fruit weighing its branches down. It was more of a challenge to nip the fruit cleanly from the branch to ensure that the sap stayed in. As the activity was time-bound, speed and precision were key and team members were running to and fro, sapping the energy from the Mama Sita feast we had just enjoyed. My team brought in mangoes nearest to the 80-kilo mark and the least sapped mango so we brought home the prize.
After the mango picking contest, the canopied huts were open for massage — a veritable delight where one can inhale all the fresh air with the privacy of billowing white cotton blinds and relax under the soothing movement of hands that untied the tension in the muscles.
To cap off the afternoon was a tinikling (bamboo dance) demonstration and class and lastly a treat of hot arroz caldo (rice porridge) seasoned with Mama Sita’s chop suey mix and fresh steamed sweet corn. Before twilight, we all gathered round the mangoes we had picked and began telling our own picnic memories. Some spoke of family memories in their hometowns or of excursions with friends; other admitted that they had never ventured beyond their backyard for a picnic, while others shared that this Mama Sita picnic was their first.
Walking back to the bus was achingly bittersweet. A picnic of this caliber is not easy to replicate, yet it taught each one of us that Mama Sita had indeed left a legacy to her family that can be shared and perpetuated among family and even friends.