MANILA, Philippines—A delightful organic food festival greeted guests during the Mangan Yaman Festival fundraiser a week ago at the Prado Farm in San Fernando, Pampanga. Organic duck cooked the Pampangueño way was the gastronomic highlight.

Prado Farm, run by designer/artist Reimon Gutierrez, is an advocate of biodynamic organic farming. For the fundraiser, Gutierrez invited an old friend, culinary expert Claude Tayag, to prepare his duck creations. Tayag ranks this cuisine among his favorites.

“The duck is to a Pampangueño what chicken is to the rest of the Filipinos. So this is really like cooking duck in five different ways,” the Pampangueño Tayag said.

Not a sliver of meat went to waste. Duck wing and neck parts, for instance—hard to serve without guests resorting to using their own hands—were shredded to flakes and served with the salad. The greens and cherry tomatoes were picked fresh from the farm.

Organic carabao milk ricotta cheese was served on a toast on top of duck ham. The duck was provided by organic duck grower Jayvee Manalansan, whose farm is a short distance away from Prado’s. Manalansan, who’s been raising organic ducks for six years, said his fowl are fed only organic corn and/or organic soya, which are also sourced from his farm.

“This is really a collaboration among friends. Everyone involved in this project has been friends of mine for a very long time now,” Gutierrez said.

Tayag also served Duck Liver Triangles and Carabao Milk Cheese, Duck Confit, and the pièce de résistance, Duck Rillette Adobo. Trust a chef like Tayag to tame the bird’s wild gamey flavor into a truly pleasurable feast.

Organic growers were at the main entrance of the compound to showcase local organic produce at reasonable prices. Organic carrots, cherry tomatoes, assorted greens, herbs, potatoes, fruits and so much more were offered by Kitchen Herbs, Greg Kitma farm and Prado Farm.

For walk-in customers, Gutierrez arranged for another old friend, restaurateur Poch S. Jorolan, to set up authentic Pampangueño food from his restaurant, Everybody’s Café. It served Asadong Fiesta cooked the old-fashioned way—searing the pork first, sautéing onions and tomatoes and tomato sauce, then boiling the pork and slicing it before cooking the meat again.

“These are all based on my grandmother’s recipe from around World War II. We prepare them today the same way, without substituting any of the ingredients,” Jorolan said.

Another dish, the famous morcon, took six hours just to cook, and about an hour more to prepare. Jorolan morcon uses the top-grade imported El Rey chorizo. Other ingredients are from farmers known to the Jorolans.

Everybody’s Café also served organic paco salad and other greens. Jorolan said his family is working toward making their meals completely organic.

The Prado Farm, on its final phase of conversion into a biodynamic organic farm, hosts regular free workshops for less fortunate youth in the area. The workshops are based on the Waldorf education philosophy, a method of teaching taught by Rudolf Steiner, the developer of biodynamic farming.

Proceeds of the fundraiser will go to nonprofit organizations such as Casa Miani, Arti Sta. Rita, Precious Foundation, Holy Family Catholic Community, Prado Community Children’s Fund and the Philippine Biodynamic Foundation.

“The last time we held a fundraiser food festival three years ago, we were able to send 30 children to school for a year,” Gutierrez said, with justifiable pride.