Celebrating the Feast of San Jose at the Camiña Balay nga Bato

The Feast of San Jose is celebrated every March 19 with a big fiesta in places honoring the saint be it a city, town or barangay. But the one I experienced a few weeks ago was more than just the gastronomic side - it was a feast alright but in a different setting. Not just because it was held during breakfast time but it also included a traditional ritual which brought back a lot childhood memories.

I joined the feast at the Camiña Balay nga Bato in Arevalo on that day and it brought the memories of yesteryears. I was no more than 10 years old when I witnessed the "San Jose" ritual in my lola's house in Molo. I can still vividly remember the "role-playing" which had elements of eating, washing and "kissing".

As explained by Sir Eugene Jamerlan (of the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council), this ritual is a tradition in rice-producing places like Iloilo. It is a sort of welcoming San Jose and his family into the household to also welcome abundance especially in rice production.

The ritual starts with all the guests welcoming the Holy Family with songs and prayers. As the tradition goes San Jose is played by an older man while Mary, a young maiden; together with a boy who plays the Child Jesus. In the purist tradition (in far away areas), the cast for each is selected from among the least fortunate workers and/or relatives of the household.

As the ritual continues, the "Holy Family" is fed by the masters of the household (in modern times VIP guests) - just for the ritual purposes.

Then the washing ritual takes place before to the culminating activity in which the guests pay respects to the "Holy Family". Starting the Child Jesus, the devotees kiss (or bow low in front) representation of the family, in this case framed photos (which is wiped with cotton with alcohol every after guest). In some households, guests kiss (directly) the hands or doing "mano po".

Donations are given in which the three cast will split among themselves (which sort of explains why in purist traditions the least fortunate are chosen).

The the gastronomy begins. As this was breakfast (our host family attended the 6am mass at the Arevalo Church then), traditional Ilonggo breakfast fare was lain on the table which included dried seafood, choriso, fish and pancit molo, among others.

There were also native delicacies like alupe and the specialty of the house - tsokolate E with ibos and ripe mango.

It was indeed more than all the delicious food we had that day. It was witnessing an age old tradition of a family whose devotion to San Jose extended more then having two images on him in the family's oratoryo. It was a living tradition shared by family and friends in a perfect setting - the Camiña Balay nga Bato in Arevalo. (Reposted fron 2013)

Many thanks to the ever gracious hosts - LTO Regional Director Gerard Camiña and his businesswoman wife, Luth.

More photos on Flavours of Iloilo on Facebook.

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Search This Blog