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C E L E B R A T I O N T I M E
Cocido
Zamboanga
An old ditty goes: “Don’t you go, don’t
you go to far Zamboanga.” A look at
the map and the distance from Manila,
indeed, shows three Zamboanga
provinces way down south. But one
should go there to experience a culture
that has retained much of the Spanish
influence especially in its language.
The local patois is called Chabacano,
pidgin Spanish combined with Visayan
and Tagalog. For instance, to describe
good cooking locals will say,
“
Bien
sabroso gayot!”
The cultural mix in its language
can also be found in the cuisine. The
cocido
,
undeniably Spanish in origin, a
stew of meat and vegetables, has local
additions of sweet potato (
camote
),
corn and banana (
saba
variety). Beef
ribs, salted pork or bacon and
chorizo
(
Spanish sausage) are boiled until
tender. The rest of the ingredients,
along with some curly lettuce (coles), is
then added to the stock.
Cocido is served Sundays in
many Zamboanga homes cooked
slowly to meld all those flavors of the
many ingredients, each one adding
richness to the mix. It also makes its
appearance in celebrations making
this dish truly special.
Kalel says
The secret is in good
quality Spanish chorizo.
