Title:
Fruits of Divine Providence
Date Created:
2021-05-15
Description:
Fr. San Antonio praised the fruits growing all over in the mid-1700s. He found the big “santor” tree resembling Spain’s walnut tree in size. It was made into preserves, dried in the sun, salted, and stewed. “It is very abundantly and very much in demand by the indio who has a preference for sour fruits,” he added. Camias was also sour. Natives ate them sliced small in their juice; Spaniards ate them preserved like balimbin. The “duhat” resembled an olive and was seasoned or marinated similarly. Pineapple had already adapted to Philippine terroir from its home in the New World. San Antonio explained it is soaked in water and eaten with a little salt to counter colic. [The same habit was reported in the Caribbean. Pineapple may have originated in Brazil.] Salt made in Manila was as “fine, white and safe as that from Spain”; indio-made salt was said to be harmful. Manila salt was made by Chinese in vast amounts. They built ponds for filling with sea water that through the sun-evaporation process left sea salt. The friar was ecstatic about plants and fruit trees the islands were blessed with. Those seldom seen today in markets include mabolo, banquilin, anona.
Subjects:
Salt -- Manila (Philippines) Fruit -- Philippines
Exhibition:
J San Antonio
Source:
santol. wikimedia. Public domain.
Type:
Image;Still Image
Format:
image/jpeg
Source
Preferred Citation:
"Fruits of Divine Providence", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
Reference Link:
felicepstamaria.net/items/coll214.html
Rights
Rights:
Public domain
Standardized Rights:
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/