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- Title:
- Native Cooking by 1610 (Part A)
- Description:
- The following dishes and those noted by Pigafetta of the 1519-1522 circumnavigation are the first ones with historical mention. Pigafetta was the first to describe rice cooked with only water in a bamboo culm, in a clay pot, or wrapped in leaves. He also offers the first written evidence of coconut vinegar, fish served with broth and a separate side of raw ginger, pork served in broth, and roasts. He found the latter half-cooked and very salty. The Tagalog word SABAO (broth) was written down in 1609, but the source was not published. What follow could be first historical mentions too. Tagalog cooking included BALAOBALAO: placing shrimp in vinegar, washing off the vinegar and flavoring it with honey and salt. The salt, vinegar and honey combination is called pinagbabalaobalao. It is like kilaw. Fr. San Jose’s might be the earliest description of kilaw, what is spelled CQUILAO: any kind of green placed in vinegar. He was searching for salad, and concluded natives did not serve it. Cquilao was the closest but while it had vinegar it did not have oil in its dressing. He added that CANGCONG was a green Spaniards had taken to eating with vinegar. Like escabeche, PACSIO could be made and eaten the next day without it having spoiled. It was fish cooked in vinegar, not just bathed briefly in it and eaten raw as in kilaw. Pacsio was an important native creation. Uses of vinegar were apparent to islanders. There already was SINIGANG defined in 1609 as fish cooked in vinegar, water and salt. Already with just the four mentioned dishes, sourness has many variances. Filipino cuisine at its finest can exhibit masterful control of sourness similar to foreign cooking with wine and grape vinegar.
- Subjects:
- Antonio Pigafetta Sabao (sabaw) Balaobalao Cquilao (kilaw) Cangcong (kangkong) Pacsio (paksiw) Sinigang Cooking (Vinegar)
- Exhibition:
- 100 Philippine Food
- Source:
- A galleon anchored in Guam on its way to Filipinas, 1590. BOXER CODEX, Vibal Foundation edition, 2016.
- Type:
- Image;Still Image
- Format:
- image/jpeg
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Native Cooking by 1610 (Part A)", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
- Reference Link:
- felicepstamaria.net/items/coll132.html