The Pilgrim’s Pots and Pans

LP V: Sopas… not soup?! (Pinoy Christmas Around the World)

A little Christmas food mystery
This has always been a curious bread for me. For that matter, it’s more cake than bread and its name “sopas” can be confusing. How a bread or cake can be named for a thick, chunky soup is beyond me but it is how this delightful confection has been known for generations. It is one of the staples of Christmas in our town. How do we explain this mystery?

For the December edition of Lasang Pinoy, Mike over at lafang chose the theme Pinoy Christmas Around the World. Filipinos are known to pull all stops when celebrating and this is all the more apparent during the Christmas season. The nine-day Novena Masses formally prepare us for the day itself but the common practice is, our holiday season begins in September, when households and even radio stations start playing Christmas carols. Manger scenes or what we call Belen and Christmas trees soon come out of storage. Read Mike’s announcement, which is a fitting summary of the Filipino Advent tradition. Mike asks Filipinos all over the world how they celebrate Christmas. For those of us in the country, we can talk about how we celebrate traditions that have been passed down through the ages. What an opportunity to discuss sopas!

On Christmas mornings I remember waking up to the scent of hot chocolate made from the paste of ground roasted cacao and peanuts wafting in the chilly air. Soon our relatives from pangulû (direction meaning north), the barrio or village where my grandmother was born would come over to bring us their specialties of calamé, suman and sopas.

Right from the very beginning, I knew that sopas was far superior to any mamon (a kind of sponge cake) sold even in upscale bakeries. As soon as we were given some, my grandmother would always save a few pieces for anyone who was not home at that moment. We knew how much these were appreciated because they could not be mass-produced and had to baked in the traditional clay orno (oven), which was already very rare even in the early 1980s.

Through the years, I still puzzled over the name. Was it traditionally eaten with a chunky sopas during the cold months? My mother had no clue. Neither did any of the elders I asked. It has always been sopas to them. Christmas sopas was bread while regular sopas were soups eaten at any time of the year.

How interesting yet frustrating. References to Spanish or Mexican sopas never turned out breads nor cakes.

Thus I went about thinking about it. Remarkably, more than anywhere else, I have found this bread to be common in Sta. Rita and neighbouring Baculud (Bacolor) and Porac, two towns which present-day Sta. Rita was carved out from during the Spanish period.

At home, we never made sopas since we do not have a clay oven. I myself have not seen them being made and jumped at the opportunity when on the 23rd one of my mom’s cousins asked if I wanted to see them baking the next day, Christmas Eve. What I witnessed made me realise why long slow cooking brings out the essence of Christmas for families who cook together.

Early on Christmas Eve, off I went with nary a thought that I was supposed to be cooking too. I joined Auntie Teresita and cousins work on the sopas. I was surprised to find a small group of people in the backyard, where we were going to bake. I thought they were just going to watch the activity like I was, only to find out later on that at least four people were needed to efficiently bake the prized bread.

casarina sopas mamon The first order of the day was to make sure the casarina were clean and dry. These are steel baking pans around 5 cm./2 inches deep and 15 cm./6 inches in diametre. They are shaped like flowers or wheels, depending on how you look at them. I was amused to learn the proper name of this baking pan. Casarina? Where is it from? Is it related to caserola? Again, I could not find the name or derivations of it from Spanish or Mexican baking utensils. Could it be a Filipino-Spanish adaptation and nomenclature? This proved to be interesting.

Next we also had to ascertain that the steel pail used for beating the eggs (sabulan) was clean and dry. They don’t make it like them anymore. Of course it was only taken out once a year and is well-oiled when in storage.

Soon my cousin Jing was breaking the eggs to be whisked. We were going to use large eggs but Ate Jing was checking the size by feel and sight because if they were more than the ‘usual’ then we had to use more flour. Precision without a measuring instrument, don’t you think? The white sugar and the baking powder was then added to the eggs. Auntie Teresita is very particular about the brand. She only uses Diwata brand. According to her, she tried using Calumet before but was not satisfied with the results. beating eggs with a spiral whip

Shortly thereafter, Ate Jing was working on the eggs with a gigantic spiral beater. I wanted to try beating the eggs but was afraid of ruining the mixture. It’s well-known that not everyone has the “touch” for the sabol. They say that some are mayan gamat literally meaning light-handed while others are mabayat (heavy). It takes around an hour of light but rapid beating for the egg mixture to attain its proper consistency.
ornu hurno orno clay oven

In the meantime the oven is to be pre-heated. Charcoal is burned both on top and at the bottom. It has to be evenly distributed. The oven’s mouth needs to be temporarily covered with cardboard, just to keep the heat from escaping. The casarina have to be greased with lard. Approximately a tablespoon for each is slowly dripped into each and then made to coat the entire surface. According to my aunt, only lard will do. If wishing to cut down on lard, mix with some peanut oil. beaten eggs

By the time the egg mixture has frothed up to fill the bucket, is snowy white and is forming soft peaks, the flour should have been sifted. Here, Auntie again is very particular to use only first class flour, also known as hard wheat or bread flour. Use something else, the sopas would collapse. The flour is then added half a cup at a time and folded into the egg mixture till all lumps disappear. sopas sweet filling the casarina

A test casarina is then filled to half and sent to the oven. After a few minutes, everything from the heat to the recipe, if need be, is adjusted according to specifications. Seven casarina are then filled, the number being half the oven’s maximum capacity. My auntie wants the heat to circulate properly and for her also to keep one pan from burning or under cooking. The oven’s mouth is covered and the contents checked every five minutes or so. A torch/flashlight finds itself very serviceable at this time. flipping the casarina

The sopas is taken out of the oven as soon as it rises to fill the pan and is golden brown in colour. It is then transferred to a sheet of well-oiled blotting paper. The casarina is then flipped and assembled to cool before packing. I was allowed to help with the flipping, hehehe! more chewy than regular mamon sopas sweet sopes

more chewy than regular mamon sopas sweet sopes

The resulting sopas is light yet firm. It is a chewy and robust sponge cake that is more resistant to the touch than the usual mamon.Chatting while we baked the sopas, Auntie Teresita and my cousins said they tended to call the cake mamon nowadays to keep from confusing it with the soup. Oh, no! I implored them not to. Losing the name would also mean losing the history, though I still need to dig it up from somewhere.

There is a clue however. When Koyang Willy my townmate and partner in things gastronomic was last home from the US, I told him about this perplexing name game. Why sopas and how come nobody knows why it’s called that way? His guess - it could be related to the Latin American sopes, an open-faced sandwich sometimes shaped like a tub. But sopes are savoury, aren’t they? With a little online sleuthing, I found a recipe for a sweet sopes. The mystery is far from being solved but at least we’re getting somewhere.

Sopas

40 large chicken eggs
4 (11 gram) packets baking powder (Diwata brand)
4.5 gatang/1.44 k. white sugar
5 gatang/1 k. first class flour (Cinderella brand)
lard, enough to oil all casarina

Makes around 70 pieces

Thank you Mike for hosting this month’s hectic and breathless edition of Lasang Pinoy!

Update 1: Apparently, we didn’t even have to go to sopes. Read the comments below. A friend also sent me links to sopas as bread pudding.

Portuguese sopa dourada
Mexican capirotada o sopa (bread pudding)
Don’t you just love learning from blogging?

Update 2: Mike’s round-up is now online.
Lasang Pinoy 5

Posted in Baked, Biscuits, Breads & Cakes, Capampangan, Lasang Pinoy, Perfectly Sweet |

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 31st, 2005 at 10:48 am and is filed under Baked, Biscuits, Breads & Cakes, Capampangan, Lasang Pinoy, Perfectly Sweet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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25 Responses to “LP V: Sopas… not soup?! (Pinoy Christmas Around the World)”

ces says:

2 January 2006 at 12:32 pm

intruiging miss karen…originated from sta.rita, bacolor and porac you said? maybe that’s the reason why marco has no clue about this sopas? i should ask my in-laws about it though..and have them send us some soon! so sure the kids will like it!
Elna says:

3 January 2006 at 5:19 am

Wow! Amazing really! I’ve nevern heard of this concoction before, Would love to try it! may be next time am in the Phils I can visit your hometown and try some of the interesting food you’ve so far featured in your blog. I do like your blog a lot. Very informative. keep up the good works!
kong wi says:

3 January 2006 at 11:03 am

hi karen…you’re right, to call them mamon would mean losing their history…are they still greasy? i remember when i was young, they’re quite greasy to the touch, hahaha…another item we need to include in your culinary research…i’ll try going to some mexican panaderias here and see if i could find something remotely similar…the “sopes” i’ve eaten so far are indeed savoury instead of sweet…but who knows, somewhere, somebody out there is baking sopas in clay ovens…
Kai says:

3 January 2006 at 11:20 am

Can this be found in commercial bakeries in Pampanga beyond Christmas? Have you tried the Visayan torta? Looks very much like sopas, and super greasy, too, like Kong Wi said.
aleth says:

4 January 2006 at 5:52 am

Happy New Year Karen!

Very intriguing naman itong “sopas” na ito! i will surely ask my nanay and tatay about this maybe they have some clue.. i just don’t know if it was sopas that i have eaten a long time back but it was in san fernando??..looks something like that, as what my younger sister described it that time - “makunat na mamon”
kaka says:

6 January 2006 at 3:53 am

Hi Karen, What an interesting contraption you have there. I mean the egg beater and the clay oven! Where do they dig those things. I seems seen one those clay oven somewhere in Eastern Europe but in a massive scale.

I do remember my grandfather called mamon as sopas which we laughed because we manilenian knew that sopas is a type of soup. Im sure he had a great time teasing us about it.
geli says:

6 January 2006 at 5:53 am

can someone give me the recipe for petit portunes from sta rita? they look like mini mamon w/ crushed cashew. thanks.
chronicler says:

7 January 2006 at 11:06 am

Hi Karen! The Sopas I know about are the mexico kind. The puff up like little pillow afetr being fried. Yours are much more intriguing! Hey thanks for stopping by my place!
schatzli says:

9 January 2006 at 5:52 pm

my comment has disappeared
celiaK says:

9 January 2006 at 10:22 pm

What a very interesting post Karen! Thanks for taking the time to document the making of this indigenous cake. I read in rapt fascination everything in here. I remember eating something similar when I was small but couldn’t remember the name. I hope you can capture some of the other native food you have there in Pampanga. Well done.
schatzli says:

10 January 2006 at 3:55 am

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:birthday::birthday:
genie says:

10 January 2006 at 6:43 am

:birthday: :birthday: :birthday: :birthday: :birthday:

:cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake:

gaya ako kay sha. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARENINA!
stef says:

11 January 2006 at 1:51 am

karen! would you happen to know what kind of material that oven is made of? would it be mudbrick, or something similar?
JMom says:

11 January 2006 at 2:45 am

:birthday:

and thanks for another information packed post I’ll have to share this with my daughters. They’ll love how you documented the whole thing, especially the clay stove. I am now intrigued if the recipe can be duplicated in a modern oven. Probably not, but it can’t hurt to try
schatzli says:

12 January 2006 at 12:13 am

yan ang nawala ko post like stef.. ano material ang oven na to.. can you buy this easily or antique din ang mga to?
Karen says:

12 January 2006 at 3:35 pm

Ces dear, I don’t think they originated from Sta. Rita but they are still quite common there, especially around the holidays.

Hi Elna! Sige, let me know when you’re coming home. We can plan something.

Koyang Wi, I found out that the greasy sopas means they weren’t well-cooked. Bake them properly, till golden brown, then drain on blotting paper then they’re not too greasy. The lard is still there of course. That’s a trademark, hahaha! :cake:

Kai, I think they’re also sold in San Fernando. Those would come from Baculud (Bacolor). I know they also still use the old ovens there. I saw pictures of the Visayan torta in Lori’s blog. There’s also a recipe and it uses tuba for leavening. But it does seem so like our sopas!

Yes Aleth, in texture, it is indeed a makunat na mamon! Sige please ask your parents how they call them. It would be very interesting to find out.

Hi Kaka! Well, I am almost certain we got these clay ovens from the Europeans. I would be very much interested to find similar ovens somewhere! Hehehe, now you know your grandfather wasn’t just calling the cake/bread sopas for nothing. :apple:

Hi Geli, I am sorry I do not have the recipe now.

So Chronicler, there are indeed Mexican sopas and they’re not soup! Thanks for the lead! Actually, a friend sent me two links and I’ll update this post in a bit.

Celia dear, I don’t think it’s indigenous. It’s most probably from Mexico and Spain, what with the use of the oven and flour. However, it does seem to have been indigenised. Hmmm… more research needed, hehehe!

Thanks for the birthday greetings!!! I did have a wonderful day, even if I had the sniffles. :birthday:

Stef and Sha, it’s made from red clay, perhaps you can say terracotta. That large one in the pictures is an antique. Look how it’s been reinforced with cement. However, my auntie had a smaller one especially fabricated from somewhere in Porac.

JMommy, you’re very much welcom. My pleasure as usual. You can bake them in the oven. A lot do nowadays though there’s a bit of difference in texture. I was wondering if perhaps like in baking a pizza, you can place some bricks in the oven. Let me know if you get to try!
Lani says:

12 January 2006 at 8:59 pm

:birthday: late na ba?

I saw clay oven sa Baliuag, Bulacan. May nabibilan doon at maganda ang quality ng mga products nila.

You’re right, Karen, hindi dapat baguhin ang name ng sopas.

Thanks for sharing.
iska says:

16 January 2006 at 10:38 am

this sopas is really new to me. may nabibilhan kaya nyan around manila? i’d like to try it next time i’m home. :birthday:
mike says:

19 January 2006 at 2:12 pm

Awesome! BOW . . .

Pwede mag-order nyan sa April? hehehehe . . .
Karen says:

19 January 2006 at 8:41 pm

Ay Lani, baka may sopas din sa Bulacan?! Those ovens are also used for baking panara, empanadas that evolved into something indigenised using rice flour for the wrapper, grated unripe papayas, etc. :toast:

Isky, I won’t count on it. Hehehe! :cat:

Designer Mike, I’ll place your order as early as now! Tee hee! :hungry:
ronald ventura says:

3 December 2006 at 2:44 pm

To those who would like to avail/order this SOPAS which is made from the recipe in one of the barrio of Bacolor and I think is one of the best or the best contact my wife at 0917-406-6082.Beware there are a lot of Sopas maker from my barrio but one stands out among the others.Almost 90% traditional.You can find cheap ones but the taste and texture is not that good or commercial variety.The one I am talking about,the procedure and recipe is still almost HOMEMADE quality.My wife has a Beauty parlor along McArthur Hi-Way in Dau Mabalacat Pampanga(Zonia Beauty Salon/Parlor).
Penny Smith says:

20 December 2007 at 8:16 am

Hi Karen

I’m a researcher at the University of Tasmania, Australia looking into the different methods of cooking with clay from around the world. So I was fascinated to read about your feature on the clay ovens for cooking sopas. Could you please get in touch with me as I would like to talk to you further about the possibility of using your article in my book research?

Best wishes - Penny Smith
Rom Ferrer says:

28 March 2008 at 3:29 am

My Apo (Grandmother)used to make wonderful sopas baked in a clay oven on the Feast of San Jose in Barrio Cabalantian. That was about half century ago and I was a teenager then. My cousins and I helped collect the duck eggs which Apo preferred to use in lieu of chicken eggs. She had that special touch in preparing Pampango delicacies which to date my family still talk about fondly.
felix gando says:

15 January 2009 at 6:17 pm

good work karen!!! just good work.
felix gando says:

15 January 2009 at 6:19 pm

keep up the good work so we’d not lose our sense of identity and originality.
please can you also try to feature our kapampangan’s recipe for pork “umba” (?) and leche plan, please?