Benguet Staple · Salt-Cured Pork
Etag
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It's less a dish on its own than a seasoning — a chunk of etag is often what turns a pot of boiled vegetables or pinikpikan into a proper Cordillera meal.
Pork is rubbed heavily with salt and left to cure and air-dry over smoke for weeks until it turns dense, intensely savory, and shelf-stable. Benguet households and market vendors keep it on hand to slice into soups and vegetable stews rather than eating it plain.
Why it's made this way: Highland communities in Benguet developed etag as a way to preserve meat through the Cordillera's cooler climate long before refrigeration, and it remains the ingredient most commonly added to pinikpikan today.
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