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Thursday, September 21, 2006
On the street for food
By Karen de Sta. Rita
(First of two parts)
IN AN attempt to efficiently enforce taxation, on Nov. 21, 1849, then Spanish governor general Narciso Clavería ordered a systematic distribution of surnames for the native population.
Names from the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos were assigned to families in all towns. The distribution was in alphabetical order and caused some small towns with only a few families to end up with all names starting with the same letter.
To the outside world, Filipinos seem to be almost Hispanic, with surnames, food and other legacies of the 333 years of Spanish rule. But there is more than meets the eye, something more complex. A cursory glance at something as plebeian as our street food is already an indication. Take for example our tamales. It has a deceptively Mexican name but its essence can only be Filipino.
For us, it is always in the plural - tamales - even when referring to the singular, it is never tamal. There are different recipes but the best tamales in Pampanga are said to be those from Cabalantian in the town of Baculud (Bacolor).
Fiestas and special occasions would not be complete without several dozen made-to-order tamales. These would be exceptionally flavorful and packed with meat that one parcel could be considered a meal. On ordinary days, ambulant vendors would and still do ply the streets selling capangan (kakanin in Tagalog, loosely translated to snacks, usually rice or rootcrop-based) which include tamales.
The everyday version, however, are less rich and slivers of meat more sparingly arranged. This is actually more akin to the native bobotu, the pre-Hispanic rice-based snack cooked with coconut milk and wrapped and steamed in banana leaves.
This meeting of the East and West and the indigenization of imported or "migrant" food items is also apparent in quiltian mais (binatog in Tagalog). Maize or corn (Zea mays) was also introduced through Mexico in an attempt to replace rice as a staple (hmmm...?!?!?!). It did not gain wide acceptance but was turned into snacks, soups and sweets. Camote or sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) was brought to the Philippines from Mexico and is boiled, roasted, fried and skewered and called camoteque (camotecue/camote-q).
Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) are a very common street food item. Known locally by its Caribbean name mani, they are boiled, roasted, made into candies or fried with or without garlic, chillies. Fried garlic peanuts are referred to in the Tagalog region as adobong mani, with reference to the manner of cooking with garlic and spices. The different methods of cooking peanuts are also used for other nuts such as balubad (kasoy, cashew, Anacardium occidentale L. - native to Brazil, brought to India by the Portuguese - to the Philippines by what route, I'm still trying to find out) and the indigenous pili (Canarium ovatum).
On a more Oriental note, we start with what Doreen Fernandez calls the "direct heirs of the Chinese vendors who carried paired baskets balanced on shoulder poles". One of these is the vendor of taho who takes his day's supply from a factory and peddles it on his regular route. For my purpose, I interviewed the taho vendor and found out it is made in San Fernando and brought to Sta. Rita very early in the morning. The factory used to be owned by an ethnic Chinese but has been bought by a Capampangan. That's what you call indigenisation.
Buchi/bochi is a snack with counterparts in many Asian countries. It is usually sold in igu (bilao) or bamboo trays lined with banana leaves by itinerant vendors walking their route around town or in marketplaces.
Buchi are made from ground glutinous rice filled with sweetened mung bean paste then fried to the point it forms a crusty shell but remains soft inside.
Another food item we share with other Southeast Asians is balut (called hot vin lon by the Vietnamese and bong dia gon by Cambodians), a boiled fertilized duck egg. Believed by many to have rejuvenating properties it is a favorite pulutan or drinking food also given to convalescents.
Balut is also said to be an aphrodisiac and is sold everywhere - "on the streets, at stalls, outside movie houses, outside nightclubs and discos, in markets; by vendors walking, sitting, or squatting; at midnight and early dawn, at breakfast, lunch, merienda and dinner time" (Fernandez, 1994). Not all Filipinos eat balut but it is culturally well-regarded that it has even inspired a song - Balut, penoy, balut Bili na kayo ng itlog na balut. Sapagkat ang balut ay mainam na gamut sa mga taong laging nanlalambot. Balut, penoy, balut. Bili na kayo ng itlog na balut. Sapagkat itong balut ay mainam na gamut. Subukan nyo, pampalakas ng tuhod.
To be continued on Sunday...
For comments and suggestions, send an e-mail to: karen@azotea.org.
(September 21, 2006 issue)
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