Title:
Going Native
Description:
When Manila was only 25 years old, Morga noted Spaniards drinking a mix of tuba and grape wine, and even chewing between meals the BUYO. BUYO is an Areca nut and white lime powder wrapped in a betel leaf. Chewing BUYO turns the mouth and saliva red making spittoons useful. BUYO offers energy but is more active in calming. The Philippines could be the birthplace of the nut’s plant (Areca catechu). Currently Palawan offers the earliest evidence of BUYO chewing: skeletal remains of human teeth stained red and an Anadara shell with lime in it at Duyong Cave (dated to 4,630 plus or minus 250 BP, meaning before present). Many cultures considered members of prehistoric Austronesians chewed BUYO. Morga lived at Intramuros 1595-1603.
Subjects:
Buyo Buyo chewing
Exhibition:
Antonio Morga 30
Source:
Detail of a BUYO vendor in Manila during the mid-1800s. By JOSE Lozano in the Gervasio Gironella Album at the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid and reproduced by Jose Ma. Cariño in FILIPINAS 1847 (Ars Mundi publishing, 2002)
Type:
Image;Still Image
Format:
image/jpeg
Source
Preferred Citation:
"Going Native", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
Reference Link:
felicepstamaria.net/items/coll077.html