It’s what many childhood memories are made of - raw caramelised sugar candies that have a bubbly texture as they melt in the mouth. Locally produced, they were sold in public markets or corner stores. Nothing fancy, just something sweet to satisfy a child’s sweet cravings.

I associate tira-tira (also called balicutya or balicutsa in Ilocano) with elementary school field trips, when our teachers would pack lots of candies and ices for those who get motion sickness to suck on. If nobody gets sick by the middle of the trip, our whole busload of hyperactive youngsters would get a ration of the treats!

Years later, I realise tira-tira is one of the icons of Filipino sweets. They originally came in only one form - 2 inch-long tubes, much like candy canes without the hook. Now I see they’re also made into hearts and curlicues. Tira-tira is taken from the Spanish for ‘pulling’ (tirar, from tirón - help! I can’t conjugate!), the process after boiling sugarcane juice with which the candy is made. This is fairly indicative of its beginnings in haciendas such as those found in Northern, Central and Southern Luzon. The sugar industry still thrives in the same provinces, as well as in Negros, where new sugar mills emerged in the 1800s. It is in these places where one finds pure chunks of sweetness for young and old to enjoy.

The picture above has the remnants of the packet my cousin gave me. Other traditional products from raw sugar such as inuyat and pinocha (panocha to Tagalogs) are still being produced and sold in the marketplace but we take these for granted. That of course piqued my curiosity. I would like to see how these are made! Hmmm… perhaps I can go on an adventure one of these days. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the three pieces of tira-tira.

Ramirez Store & Native Sugar
Vigan City Public Market
Mobile No. +639062520154

Summer is indeed upon us! Pretty soon, school will be out (the Philippine school year is from June till March) and parents will be hard-pressed thinking of activities to occupy their children’s time at home.

Do you remember what you did on long vacations? Well, I do! I climbed trees, visited relatives, played endless hours with cousins and nieces, read voraciously, watched old movies on TV and let’s see… what else?! I had begun to learn for real cooking under my grandmother’s strict guidance. ‘Real’ meant slicing what seemed like too many onions that brought tears, roasting peanuts, cacao and coffee beans, cleaning fish and slaughtering chickens - all the prep work that I never thought had to be done to prepare a meal. All the tedious steps might have turned me off from cooking but years later, I’m still at it. Hmmm… this website is the evidence, I suppose.

All those memories are brought on by this month’s Lasang Pinoy. Iska in Beijing, with all of her fabulous Edible Experiments is hosting us with the theme Kusinang Bulilit, Lutong Paslit or in short, cooking by children. For non-Filipinos, the words bulilit and paslit are both endearing terms that mean small children. They connote cute and cheerful youngsters.

Iska invites us to write about food and children - how we first started cooking, at mealtimes or how we involve our own children, nephews, nieces in meal preparation and eating of course! I predict a fun and messy Lasang Pinoy 8, hehehe!

Please do join! Entries should be posted by the end of the month, 31 March. Anyone who doesn’t have a blog but would like to join, just let me know. I’ll be glad to host any number of entries!

Unbelievable! Is it March already? Wasn’t it only Christmas the other day? I can’t believe how much time has passed. This blog has way too much backlog, hehehe!

I’ll write down what posts are to be expected in the next few weeks:

1. Bacolod escapade: featuring the famous sweets and hunting down more than just chicken inasal;
2. Fruits galore;
3. Finding the lineage of our hometown suclati (chocolate); and
4. Farm and marketplace adventures or how I make a pest of myself in the name of research.

Stay tuned or nag me to make sure I do write.