By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
October is Indigenous Peoples’ Month so before this month ends, let us rediscover indigenous cuisine.
Before the advent of machines, all people in the world lived by what nature provided in their surroundings. There was no choice- even if you wanted cane sugar and you lived in Canada, then no can do, you settle for coffee without cane sugar. Likewise, even if my great grandfather wanted apple and he lived in Besao, he just would have to settle for banana. In that distant past, there were no motor vehicles and people walked to their farms and forests.
Fast forward to 1981, right after medical school, I was worked as a government rural doctor in my hometown in Besao, then transferred to Bontoc. Both are in Mountain Province. Our team would conduct outreach missions to the different the villages bringing western medicines. In one remote village, we were served binatog (boiled whole corn kernels), without any additive salt or sugar. Being the i-poblacion that I was, I requested for sugar. (People in the town center or poblacion are used to factory goods like sugar). And we couldn’t find any in that village! I always share this experience because people nowadays can’t imagine life without sugar. Well, in that village in 1981, there was no sugar. In another village, we asked for salt and there was none. In this instance, I suspect that there was salt but was too precious to be shared. My point is that in the 1980s, the Cordillera was still living by what nature provided. In other words, we ate what God, our Creator, provided for us in this region. And what were those- rice and other whole grains, camote and other root vegetables, beans, leafy greens, fruit vegetables, mushrooms, fruits. All varied and in season. So we had mushroom season, alumani season, bean and corn season, etc. All organic.
We have no salt mountain here in the Cordilleras, although Mainit in Bontoc produced salt from its hot springs. My grandparents and those before them had to walk to Candon and Tagudin (in Ilocos Sur) to buy salt and that trip would take days. Because people then ate good food, their taste buds were so sensitive so a little salt was enough to season vegetables.
Sugar, then, came in form of “inti” or muscovado or linuklokot (all raw sugar, no additive) because our people learned the technology of sugar milling. Sugarcane, though, can also eaten raw but you cannot eat a lot because it takes time and energy to squeeze out the juice. Furthermore, sugarcane is seasonal and harvested only once a year and of course, our limited arable land was used for more staple food like rice and camote. Meaning, sugar in the past was not a priority food and so it was only grown in limited quantity. Oh yes, the people then could eat all the “inti” they wanted- but only during the milling season. In this season, I observed that the children would get angular stomatitis which would spontaneously disappear after the season. In Bontoc and Sadanga, the men (who were the sugar millers) would rather make “basi” than “inti” because basi was a necessity in indigenous rituals and inti was not. See? We can live without sugar! By the way, inti needs more time to cook meaning more precious firewood to spend and longer hours. A truly heavy task.
How about meat and eggs? Eggs were left to be hatched. We only ate eggs that didn’t hatch (naibong)- infertile. Chickens and pigs were part of the Igorot household, but these animals were only butchered on occasion and they were raised naturally. Naturally-raised chickens would only be big enough for meat at one year and pigs would only be butchered after 3 years or so. Even then, they would be much smaller than the fattened ones you see nowadays. So although we, Igorots, traditionally eat meat, nature controlled our appetite.
And how did we prepare our food traditionally? Again, we were dictated by nature. For us in the pine forest, we had pine twigs for cooking. When you are somewhere else like in the riverbanks of the Lias river in Barlig, you have “rono” (sticks) to cook “intum” (cooking without a pot). In our daily cooking, Igorots just boiled their viand- “men ipisok asnan banga” (literally means just dump it in the pot of water). We boiled rice and corn and camote and gabi and galumaca (arrowroot). Even if there was meat, this was just boiled, whether it was fresh or inasin or etag. Even special occasions like “dawak” or “chono” (wedding celebration) just had boiled pork (the famous “watwat”) and rice. For places in the Cordillera like Apayao where coconuts are indigenous, they have “gata” or coconut milk in their recipes.
How about frying? None because lard is a factory product- a modern additive, not indigenous. For condiments, we got from nature’s bounty – ginger, onion leeks and occasional garlic. I remember we would buy tiny garlic from Agawa during the Sunday market in Kin-iway. So no MSG, no artificial flavoring and coloring.
Our indigenous diet then is low salt, very low sugar, very low fat. Sounds familiar? It is the common advice of doctors nowadays.
Fast forward. We have transitioned from boiled rice and beans and camote to fried chicken, adobo and fried rice, unli wings, unli rice. What more, we added sugar, MSG, other flavorings, colorings, 3-in-one coffee and tea and bread and other highly processed food and drink. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that our indigenous drink is water. We also have sabeng- our indigenous fermented cassava/camote drink.
What’s the proof that our plain boiled organic food is healthy? Our people are the proof. I and my generation are privileged to witness the transition of our lifestyle including our diet and the corresponding change in our health situation. We don’t need double blind studies to show this. Just trace your family tree as far back as you can and compare how they were to you and your siblings now.
The good news is that there is no law that prohibits us from rediscovering our indigenous cuisine and reclaiming these. And in the process we will recover our famous Igorot prowess and longevity.**
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“When the diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When the diet is correct, medicine is of no need.” Ayurvedic proverb
