Calasiao is known for its
puto, a soft rice cake;
suman, a sweet coconut and sticky rice cake wrapped in banana leaves; and
bagoong, or fermented fish paste. Calasiao puto is described as the town's "white gold."
Puto Calasiao is a bite-size, soft rice cake made from semi-glutinous rice that is fermented in earthen jars. It is produced mainly in Barangay Dinalaoan. Many pilgrims from neighbouring cities/towns and provinces visit Calasiao to pray at the Senor Divino Tesoro shrine. The statue of a crucified Jesus Christ is believed to grow in size and grant miracles.
Puto festival Calasiao celebrates a
puto industry festival. The
Puto Calasiao is a rice cake that is well known all over the Philippines for its melt-in-the-mouth feeling. It is locally sold along the streets going to Sr. Divino Tesoro. It is known for its "white gold": "cup-shaped, bite-sized, soft rice cakes; the semi-glutinous rice is fermented in old earthen jars" (in the barangays of Dinalaoan, Lumbang, Ambuetel, and a part of Nalsian).
Puto Calasiao is made of long grain rice soaked in water, ground and fermented for three days of more, with just enough sugar to taste, and steamed. It can be topped with cheese or drizzled with chocolate syrup for variation. It is perfect to be paired with
dinuguan. The town has the traditional white
puto and many flavors like pandan (green), ube (violet), banana (yellow), strawberry (light red/pink) and cheese (gold). The original white
puto and
kutsinta (another rice cake variety) is sold at P80 per kilogram (70 to 75 pieces), while the flavored ones are sold at P80 per kg. The price is higher by P15 to P20 in other areas to cover transportation costs. ''Bella's Puto
consumes three to six sacks of rice a day to make puto
, depending on the season. Peak production period is from October to January. A sack of rice can produce 8,000 pieces or 107 kg of puto
. Bella's Puto'' is sold at four SM shopping mall branches, in Santa Mesa (Manila), Baliwag (Bulacan), Clark (Pampanga) and Rosales (Pangasinan). It is also sold in a store in Caloocan and at the Pasalubong Center in Rosales town. Bocayo (sweetened coconut) and dinuguan are also the best products of Nalsian Bacayao and Nalsian Centro. Calasiao celebrates its town fiesta every May 2 and 3: the feast day of Señor Divino Tesoro. Every June 28 and 29 is the fiesta of
San Pedro and
San Pablo, which were the dates of the Calasiao fiesta. ==Education==