Featured image: Binallay
By Neil Aventurado
Binallay
Binallay of the Cagayan Valley is made from dekat (glutinous rice) steamed in a banana leaf like suman, sweetened with issi or laro, a sauce made from coconut sugar syrup and curdled coconut cream, and sprinkled with latik bits.
It feeds not only the stomach but also the soul, as binallay is a symbol for the “body and blood of Christ”—the dekat being the body and the issi or laro sauce being the blood. This native delicacy reminds the Ibanags how Jesus suffered before he was crucified, and so they endure pulling banana leaf wrap strip by strip before dipping the rice cake into the sauce.
Ginataang Munggo
The meat-less ginisang munggo has been the star Filipino staple of the 40-day Lent season, when Catholics abstain from meats every Friday, that it became the dish to expect on the fifth day of the week. But sautéing is not the only option for cooking mung beans.
Typically flavored with vanilla or pandan leaves, ginataang munggo (also known as lelut balatung in Pampanga and ginataang tutong in other parts of the country) is a sweet, creamy porridge made of glutinous rice gruel, toasted munggo, and coconut milk.
The munggo beans represent the countless number of sins that Jesus has absolved as he underwent crucifixion and resurrection. They also symbolize the innumerable chances that God provides us with to be better human beings.
Binignit
Creamy, chewy, meat-free, and rich in coconut flavor, binignit is a popular Visayan dessert staple served on Good Fridays. Often mistaken for Luzon’s ginataang bilo-bilo, it is mainly made with pilit (or glutinous rice) stewed in coconut milk, with various fruity mixture of saba bananas, langka (jackfruit), sago (tapioca pearls), and root crops such as kamote (sweet potato), gabi (taro), and ube (mashed and sweetened purple yam), all coming together into a harmonious whole.
To further distinguish it from its Luzon counterpart, binignit is usually mixed with landing, which are palm flour jelly balls originally made from the flowers inside the trunk of the buri tree.
Sikwate (tablea hot chocolate) and puto maya
Chocolate drinks are a hit, not only for kids but also for adults!
Sikwate or tsokolate de batirol is a thick, velvety, and hot chocolate drink, melted from tablea, which, in turn, is made from fermented cacao beans. This has been introduced by the Spanish invaders in colonial times.
On Good Fridays, sikwate is usually paired with puto maya, a Cebu-originated sticky rice cake wrapped in triangled banana leaves, simmered in fresh ginger juice and sweetened coconut milk.
Fermented cacao beans are roasted, ground, and molded into cacao nibs—which have a bitter taste—to achieve the thick sweetness of sikwate. For many, this symbolizes the bitter Passion of Jesus, which eventually ended in a “sweet” resurrection on the third day of his death.
Mais con yelo (maiz con hielo)
“I thirst,” the dehydrated and thirsty Jesus said on the cross. But this sacrifice we are commemorating this season does not mean we have to thirst ourselves, too, especially as we enter the season of sunstroke.
Like halo-halo, this variation, which requires fewer ingredients, can also quench our thirst. Mais con yelo is an easy-to-make refreshing layered drink that is made of sweet corn kernels, condensed or evaporated milk, sugar, and lots of shaved ice!
As we quench our physical thirst, we must never forget the essence of the Holy Week and the Lent season, which is to quench our spiritual thirst with repentance, hope, compassion, and renewal.