Title:
MEALS IN 1754 continued
Date Created:
2021-09-11
Description:
The role of rice determined words specific to describing a meal. AUOY in Tagalog was a meal without rice and only fish or vegetables. In 1624, however, it was defined as all types of camotes and bananas; when buying or selling it meant all kinds of fruits such as lucban and santol. One laments that lucban hardly appears anymore. CANIN was both rice and food, insinuating the esteemed rank of rice in the Filipino meal. Rice could be flavoured [after cooking] with salt, PACASAM. BAHOC was to eat rice with broth, whereas LABAY meant eating rice passed through broth or tuba. One senses dry food was not desired because of YAPA, food that is tasteless because it has no liquid in it. HIRHIR was to dampen in sauce (HIRHIRAN) or honey. Eating something more conducive than just with salt was HIRHIR, too, and HIDHID. Is hirhir a better or more precise term than sawsaw for dipping food in condiment sauces? In 1624 SAU-SAU [not in the 1754 source] was defined as the act of briefly passing something in water, specifically, till it got wet. Rice could be seasoned [usually after cooking] with salt thus PACASAM, to season rice with salt. Note that Tagalog of 1624, includes BAHÓG: Adding salt or any spice such as for sinigang, meat so it penetrates the food. Bergaño provides another early mention of sinigang. HIMAGAS was to eat fruit at the end of a meal (as a “postre”) to cut any bad taste. One can use old colonial dictionary entries to reconstruct what Filipino meals were like and if they are still like that now.
Subjects:
Rice Eating Condiments Salt
Exhibition:
Tagalog 1754
Source:
Detail from Mealtime. Fernando Amorsolo. 1942. Anselmo Trinidad Collection.
Type:
Image;Still Image
Format:
image/jpeg
Source
Preferred Citation:
"MEALS IN 1754 continued", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
Reference Link:
felicepstamaria.net/items/coll281.html