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- Title:
- Chile & Pepper
- Description:
- One principal objective of Spain’s colonial venture into the Philippines was to find sources of spices desired by Spain and countries forming the European market. Recalling PAMITPIT (documented in 1613 and 1624 Tagalog for all kinds of “spice”), Spanish settlers used the word when they wanted the native cook to add black pepper, clove and ginger in the cooking. Pepper (Piper nigrum) was neither grown nor used in native Philippine cooking at the time. Both San Jose (1609) and San Buenaventura (1613) write there was none in Filipinas. Piper nigrum, black pepper, had to be imported to Filipinas for Spanish residents and trade purposes from Indonesia where it grew well on islands like southern Sumatra. It had been introduced long ago into Indonesia from India where it may have originated around the Malabar Coast. Lada is used as the word for Piper in Indonesia and later was applied to Capsicum (chile) brought by Portuguese. Cabé is another word for Capsicum in Indonesia and Malaysia and has overtaken lada in some areas. Capsicum frutescens (labuyo or pasitis) is called Cabé Rawit. By at least 1754 and into 1860, LARÁ in Tagalog meant both chile and pepper. One attempt to grow Piper nigrum in the Philippines was sponsored by the Royal Philippine Company in the 1780s. The progressive Governor-General Jose Basco offered awards to those who would cultivate pepper as well as cinnamon and nutmeg for the export market. Efforts in agriculture for export did not find sufficient support from Spanish residents. When the galleon trade ended in 1815, efforts to increase agricultural profit were revived. Fr. Manuel Blanco’s “Flora de Filipinas” (editions published from 1837 to 1883) wrote that by then, “Everyone” knew black pepper, sometimes called “malisa.” Jean Mallat who lived in Manila from 1840 to 1846 observed that natives got tired of harvesting minute peppercorn and gave up the plant for cultivation of coffee. When black pepper started to become an ingredient for Philippine food remains to be verified. Home economics introduced to the Philippines in 1904 often included in native and American recipes the instruction: “Add salt and pepper.” Chile and pepper added piquancy to native food that before western influence came from raw garlic, gingers and indigenous varieties of onion.
- Subjects:
- Spices Peppers Pamitpit
- Exhibition:
- 100 Philippine Food
- Source:
- Piper nigrum from “freepik.com”
- Type:
- Image;Still Image
- Format:
- image/jpeg
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Chile & Pepper", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
- Reference Link:
- felicepstamaria.net/items/coll140.html
Rights
- Rights:
- public domain