Growing up in Cotabato city, pastil is nothing but a staple. There was no hype, no craving — just pure pastil satisfying a growling tummy. And yes, since then, it came in variants and levels of spicyness. From the typical classic tasting kagikit to the more elevated chunks cooked with chilies and all that jazz, truly nothing compares to a pastil on any given day.
For starters, kagikit is the filling inside a pastil. A pastil is cooked rice with kagikit wrapped in banana leaf. Many confuse and interchange the two, but yeah, kagikit and pastil are not the same. For me, a pastil has two components – the rice and of course, the kagikit. It’s always a make or break for a pastil – one may have delectaable rice but a not so delish kagikit or the other way around.
Today, in a different city with different cultures and traditions, pastil has since become a yearning, a craving, on most days, left unsatisfied. Why? In the Davao food scene, pastil is not as prevalent as it is in the streets of Cotabato. Not many halal restaurants in the city; not a lot of pastil makers selling freshly made pastil. But nowadays, pastil comes not in banana leaf – but in bottles.
The first to come up with a bottled chicken kagikit sold in Davao, Pastil Queen is one of the most favoured brands in the city. With more than a handful of brands coming out with their own version of the famous pastil filling, Pastil Queen reigns supreme when it comes to taste and that lingering palate reminiscing flavour of childhood in Cotabato.
Pastil Queen sells chicken kagikit in bottles. Yes, that’s bottled chicken kagikit for you. In other words, once that pastil craving hits your palate, no need to fret, Pastil Queen to the rescue. Having them in two variants – classic and spicy – you will have to say goodbye to your diet once you have this on your plate. True enough, anyone who has had a bottle (or two) will tell you of the struggle to stop eating and adding more rice on your plate.
For Pastil Queen, they sell both bottled chicken kagikit and freshly cooked pastil. Personally, I love any of them and I always add boiled egg when eating rice with their kagikit. Their classic or regular variant is very buildable and so is their spicy variant.
The very idea of a bottled kagikit is enough to fuel a yearning that’s beyond just mere food. For me, having this readily available makes me less homesick. It feels and tastes like home.
