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- Title:
- 50 Years of Feeding (Part F)
- Description:
- Tagalogs made MANHOYA for weddings and grand betrothals during Medina’s era. MANHOYA is described as a “tortilla” (small cake), round, as large as a hand palm, as thick as a finger, kneaded with honey, and fried in coconut oil poured into a rough frying pan. Tlaxcalli (pronounced las-kah-lee) is the indigenous Mexican name for the flat discs of wheat flour or “nixtamal” popularly called tortilla today. Nixtamal is maize soaked in limewater then hulled preparatory to making it dough. Two other “tortillas” on a 17th century list are TAPAY and LIGIS. Tapay is described as a past participle. When tinatapay or nagtatapay is finished the result is natapay or tinapay. Tapay as a noun is dough that can be made from rice or wheat flour. In 1521, Antonio Pigafetta of Magellan’s circumnavigation crew listed tinapay as a “certain type of rice cake.” Ligis is to prepare dough for a “tamales, pasteles (pie) ó empanada (turnover).” Missionaries found the Philippine equivalent or likeness of Mexican tamal (an ancient corn dough dumpling) that they had seen while waiting for their galleon to Asia. It was the prehispanic SOMAN, glutinous rice cooked while wrapped in leaves (usually banana or buri palm). Similar preparations exist all over insular Southeast Asia and East Asia. Tamal is an ancient, prehispanic Mexican preparation. The word tamal originated in the Na’huatl tamalii. It was made of corn dough with or without stuffing, was wrapped in corn leaves and cooked by steaming. Pigafetta had recorded preparations like soman made of rice and others of millet (HUMAS in his lexicon). During Medina’s time DAWA was the Tagalog word for millet. Just as Filipinos have innumerable kinds of soman all over the islands, Mexicans have countless variations of tamal. Both soman and tamal are so securely ingrained in their national cultures that they have contemporary innovations in addition to antique heritage favourites. Every culture feeds its divinities as well as its people. Mexico served tamal and Filipinas offered soman. Some foods are so securely anchored that contemporary culinary fads may influence them but never cut them off. Cultural identity depends on their security.
- Subjects:
- Manhoya Tlaxcalli Nixtamal Tapay Ligis Soman (suman)
- Exhibition:
- Juan Medina 50
- Source:
- From KÁIN NA: An Illustrated Guide to Philippine Food authored by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria and Bryan Koh, illustrated by Mariel Ylagan Garcia (RPD Publications, 2019)
- Type:
- Image;Still Image
- Format:
- image/jpeg
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "50 Years of Feeding (Part F)", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
- Reference Link:
- felicepstamaria.net/items/coll114.html