PAGBABAGO

April is Filipino Food Month.  And we remember among others,  Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda’s commitment in pursuing our rich culinary heritage when last year, she introduced Senate Bill 244 or the Philippine Culinary Heritage Act which is geared towards cultivating and sustaining culture through the inclusion of this concept in the education sector while preserving traditional ingredients and cooking methods. The bill promotes food education which plays a critical role in shaping behavior towards food, thus leading to healthier habits and appreciation for local produce.
We also remember the contribution of our food cultural icons – among others, Doreen Gamboa Fernandez, whose legacy is remembered through the DGF Writing Award. During the 10th anniversary of the Food Writing Award in 2012, three other food cultural writers – my good friend Felice Sta. Maria (who gifted me with Savor the Word: Ten Years of the Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Writing Award which documents the award winners and their recipes) together with Michaela Fenix and Maya Besa Roxas .
It was a great pleasure to re-read the book again and to experience a gustatory delight by just flipping through the pages. Two of my favorites – binuburan, especially since it brings back memories of my grandmother, childhood and our evacuation months during World War II;  and laing, the Bicol specialty of which I have a regular supply from two good friends – Bicol-born lawyer, Tito Ermitano and Evelyn Sy, my neighbor.  These two recipes were both first prize winners in the competition.
Joy Subido writes in Remembering my grandmother with Binuburan that “it was her maternal grandmother who introduced her to the sweet intoxication of binuburan.”
“Binuburan, a childhood treat,  is a sweetened, yeast-fermented rice made from yeast cakes or bubud. One obtains yeast from old women who sell tobacco leaves or betel nuts. Cool the cooked rice before sprinkling bubud in a cast-iron pot.  Wrap the plastic container  in burlap bag and store in a dark, warm  place. There is no exact measurement. Five days later, unwrap the plastic container and you can see the rice, soft, creamy, and smelling like wine. Mix sugar with water to make a light syrup and pour it into the fermented rice. If you can’t get the white, short-grained upland rice variety, the common lowland dinorado or milagrosa  will do.  The secret to successful fermentation is to use dry and clean utensils and to maintain a happy disposition.”
“The other prize-winning recipes is “Laing, a Father’s Legacy by Maria Fatima Regala. She writes:
“Father would pick the gabi leaves, then wipe each leaf with cheesecloth, then tear each leaf into inch-wide strips. Lay the strips in a large bilao (flat woven tray). Sun-drying facilitates the infusion of coconut cream into the leaves before cooling. Extract the cream and milk from the coconut shell. Combine the cream or gata and ground pork in a kawali or Filipino wok and flavor with shallots, ginger, and crushed garlic cloves. Spice mixture with labuyo (local hot peppers) and season with bagoong alamang or shrimp paste. Add gabi leaves and simmer mixture while continually stirring to prevent coconut milk from curdling. “
As the editors explain, the DGF Food Writing award has used yearly themes that challenge writers to discover the emotion, the history, the skill, and the significance of culinary experiences.  In its early years, the contest sometimes had three Manila Ladies in the deliberations: then National Museum director Cora Alvina, Food Magazine founding editor Norma Chikiamco, and awarded writer Linda Panlilio. The contest’s mainstays have been Karina Bolasco, publishing manager of Anvil Publishing, Moi Fernando, former Sunday Inquirer Magazine food columnist, Maya Besa Roxas, Felice Sta. Maria, author and founding chairman of the International Wine and Food Society Manila Ladies Branch; and Krip Yuson, Palanca Hall-of Famer, and Philippine Star columnist, Michaela Fenix as chair for the award since its inception. My email, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])