The Pilgrim’s Pots and Pans

Second of two parts

How did this tradition of harvesting unripe rice begin? Could it have been an experiment during the early period of agriculture? Traipsing along the fields one stormy day in early November got me thinking it could have been a similar time centuries ago when the rice plants had to be saved from wrathful weather way before harvest season.

The town of Santa Rita, Pampanga is known for its turrones de casoy, sans rival and other sweets but towards the end of the year, starting in November, everything is eclipsed as the town anticipates the Christmas season with the sweet smell of duman in the air. A delicacy once known only to a few has now caught a lot of attention during the Duman Festival, partly to revive a vanishing tradition and partly to celebrate life after devastation.

Duman is a seasonal rice cereal still produced the old way in our town. This may have been in existence in pre-Hispanic Capampangan society since duman was already mentioned by Fray Diego Bergaño – “El grano del arroz tierno cerca de madurar” – in Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampanga originally published in the 1700s. It could have happened other towns produced duman in the olden days but Sta. Rita’s is what has endured.
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On Friday afternoon, I went home looking almost like Cinderella before her fairy godmother’s arrival. I was carrying a clay pot, a cooking spoon, two semi-burnt bamboo tubes, two bags and soot on my dress. It was also drizzling and I had no umbrella. That most likely completed my forlorn look.

But forlorn I was not! I just had a wonderful day! Who wouldn’t if one got to sample food rarely eaten? I had a taste of something from the groaning tables prepared by public elementary and high school teachers from all the towns of Pampanga. This was for the celebration of the 434th Aldo Ning Kapampangan (Pampanga Day) with the theme Kapampangan: King Sunis, Terak, Teatru, at Apag king Dulang (In Songs, Dance, Theatre, and Food).

Never before have I seen so much Kapampangan specialties in one place. The products of each town were prominently displayed – eggs from Minalin, turrones de casoy and sans rival from Sta. Rita, puto seco from Baculud (Bacolor), pure carabao’s milk pastillas de leche from Magalang, burung asan from Candaba – name it, it was there!
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Having spent my childhood in the province and in Pampanga at that, I took for granted that everyone knew how to cook. It seemed to me that it was something instinctive, something naturally learnt, like speaking. In our family, even those who were not considered excellent cooks had very passable culinary skills. And even then, they also had excellent taste in food. My grandfather was probably one of them.

My maternal grandmother would always tell us stories about our grandfather’s slapdash cooking skills albeit in jest. One incident was when he was left at home with their very young children. Lola laughingly related how she was still on the street in front of the house when her children regaled her with how Lolo dropped a live fish into a boiling pot of soup. Lolo was also extravagant with spices, and I probably took after him, based on the number of times I was reprimanded for using a lot of cloves, oregano and laurel. Fortunately for Lola, I was born after my grandfather passed away, otherwise she’d have run out of spices very often.

Aside from Lolo’s more down-to-earth cooking and his penchant for spices, he also loved to replicate dishes they had in expensive restaurants. He also experimented with original recipes. Below is one of them, which he called lutong Bombay, perhaps due to its curry-like flavour. Our clan never tires of this recipe. It is very simple to cook and most of the ingredients are usually available in any pantry.

Chicken, being the versatile meat that it is, soaks up the flavour of the spices. Garlic and ginger compliment each other, and gives it the decidedly Oriental aroma even from afar. The tomatoes lend some sourness that balance the hot-spicy flavour of ginger and garlic while the potato gives the sauce some body, even as it absorbs the flavours of the other ingredients.
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My blog statistics show that I get most hits from those searching for siomai recipes and I’m glad that I finally posted one. I also included a recipe for Chinese chilli paste after getting requests by e-mail.

From chats with friends, I’m asked for recipes and questions about certain dishes. Perhaps it would be a good idea to write them down so I can respond to them in an orderly manner. Thus, the Sensual Cook has now opened the floor for questions and comments from neophyte and not so neophyte cooks.

Below I’m posting a recipe for the easiest chicken soup in the Philippines. In some provinces, tinola can also be cooked using pork and fish but in Pampanga, it is usually with chicken. Every now and then frogs are also cooked this way.
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This week and most of next will be very busy for me. Since I’ll be offline, I’m leaving two recipes, those I owe Catsudon and Svelte Rogue. I’m amused at how I do this even on my blog, for this is also how I am in real life. If I have to go somewhere for at least three days, I try to fill up the refrigerator as much as I can for those I leave at home. Oh, the habits that mark our lives!

And so we proceed. Both are meat recipes. I’m not including a vegetable recipe here because both dishes are best served with a fresh green salad, or at least with slices of cucumber and carrots. When proportions are not written, it means you can use as much or as little as you want. So goes the sensual cook!
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