104
FARM TO TABLE
Sour fruits and native
salad greens
Sour is the major flavor in Filipino
food, but not only have the main
souring agents in the regionally varied
sinigang have been winnowed down to
just two fruits — guava and tamarind
— these are also more often than not
found in powdered and packaged form.
Besa reels off a basketful of sour
fruits and leaves:
kamias
, batwan,
libas,
cashew leaves, sorrel,
sampaloc
leaves
and
karamay
— a delightful, tiny fruit
she serves preserved, as a finger snack,
like an olive. Batwan
,
a round green
fruit, is used widely in Bacolod; libas
is a shiny narrow leaf that sours soups
in Bicol; and kamias, or iba, is more
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common in the Visayas. However, as
more people turn to powders, many of
these fruits are disappearing for the
simple reason that if no one buys them,
no one will bother to plant them— and,
Besa believes, Philippine agriculture
will be poorer for it.
Filipino food is fresh and natural, a
trait that’s been obscured by a recent
preference for more luxurious meat
dishes. The greens grow throughout the
Philippines, but use varies by region.
Pansit-pansitan
, a pretty, peppery
green grows like weed in the province.
Trabanos
, a tiny bright green variety of
radish, is clean and spicy.
Awareness appears to be the key to
keeping all these wonderful ingredients
in circulation — people must continue
to plant them to meet a demand. If
no one thinks the fruit or grain is
good enough to eat, no one will plant
it, and eventually the last remaining
trees will wither and the palate that
seeks it will fade away. Besa also
hopes this awareness of what we have
inspires a shift in sensibility that
appreciates culinary traditions but
still leaves room for innovation in how
ingredients are used.
1
Lemongrass
2
Batwan, a sour
fruit used for soups like sinigang
3
Rabanos
4
Wild cherry
tomatoes
5
Libas fruit
1
2
4
5
3
WITH THANKS TO GEJO JIMENEZ OF MALIPAYON FARMS; RAMON UY JR OF FRESH START ORGANICS;
ANNABEL VILLANUEVA SALACATA OF TWENTY SIX HERB GARDEN & STORE; REENA PEÑA OF BAREFOOT BISTRO
