CREATIVITY comes to the fore during times of want and strife.
Yes, we’re still trying to find a way to conquer Covid-19, and our thoughts are constantly dominated by the fear of this virus. But we also must go on living.
Home stay has taught the family the value of community living and cooperation. Young family members like Pannon and Polonggoy have become more aware of the importance of working together for the good of all.
Great, isn’t it? After a day’s work, we sit down to enjoy mid-day snacks.
Champorado is a snack commonly sold in food stalls in almost every village in Cebu. Not anymore, no thanks to the virus. Food stall owners shy away from selling easily perishable food such as champorado, a porridge mixed with tablea and sugar. Besides, tablea or pure choco tablets are hard to find these days.
So what do you do when the family longs for this snack?
“I’ll make champonana. We have sachets of Don Pepe Original Tablea powder, Milo and powdered milk,” said my Aunt Tita Blitte.
“What’s the ‘nana’ part, Lola?” nephew Pannon asked.
My aunt replied, “Oh, banana. We have a lot of ripe cardaba bananas and raisins.”
My aunt got busy. Since we didn’t have the basic ingredient—sticky rice—she used bahaw or day-old rice. Sticky table rice works well for this hot snack.
She boiled the bahaw (ratio one cup boiled rice to two cups water) together with ripe cardaba, sliced into half-moons. When the bananas were done and the rice tender, she tossed in a handful of raisins (optional).
After a minute, she added Don Pepe and Milo, and allowed the soup to thicken.
To enjoy, we dusted our bowl of champonana with powdered milk, stirred to mix, and thanked God for this grand woman whose wisdom overshadows fear of Covid-19.