Bellychon by Jeric and Erika started back in 2019, but the story began much earlier with our father, Joenald Turga, a hardworking man from Biñan City Public Market.

 

For 28 years, Papa has been waking up before dawn to sell coconuts and fresh coconut milk from 12 AM to 5 AM. He also worked in construction and made and sold charcoal (uling) to help support our family. Cooking was never part of his job, but it was something he truly loved doing.

 

In 2017, our family began a tradition of Thanksgiving gatherings every first week of January to celebrate the goodness of God. Of course, like every Filipino family, the table was filled with food and laughter. That was the first time Papa tried making lechon belly, cooked over charcoal just for fun.

 

We didn’t expect it to turn out so delicious that we made it again during my sister Jamaica’s debut, and everyone loved it.

 

Later on, when Papa’s youngest sibling, Tito Jayson, got married, one of the dishes served was lechon belly again. This time, it was cooked using a large oven, and the guests couldn’t stop talking about how good it was. Some even said they usually don’t eat lechon, but ours changed their minds.

 

That was the moment we realized we had something special. Someone told us, “Bakit hindi ninyo gawing business ito? Ang sarap!” From that encouragement and with God’s grace, Bellychon by Jeric and Erika was born.