Jennifer Hallock's Blog: Sugar Sun Series Extras - Posts Tagged "chocolate"

Being colonized by Spanish priests put more emphasis on other worldly bliss rather than good old fashioned worldly bliss, like cooking. However, the Spanish did chocolate well, and, in the end, isn't that all that matters? One might think that hot chocolate would not be desirable in a tropical country, but it was not always served steaming hot. And for several months, the weather in the islands can be downright cool—okay, "coolish" to New Englanders. And, okay, only in the mornings, but this is when tsokolate is served. Chocolate in the mornings? Sign me up!



Making it in the early 1900s went like this. First, you had to be sure your lechera (milkmaid) had come and filled the earthen jar in your kitchen. She probably did that in the wee hours of the morning, so you're good. Grab your chocolatera—the brew pot, maybe made of blue enameled metal—and add milk, a chocolate tablea or two (sold in tiny cacao hockey pucks or even handmade balls with ground cashew nut), sugar, and sometimes egg white. The trick is that you cannot just let it burn on the range. You must constantly mix and beat it with your batidor, the wooden implement in the picture above. You swirl the batidor between your palms and it smooths and froths as you cook. The result is thicker and less sweet than American hot chocolate, but it is more true to the Mesoamerican drink the Spanish adopted.





(Creative commons photos from Chip Sillesa and twinkletuason. Tablea photo from Marketman at Market Manila.)

Under the Sugar Sun

Needless to say, Georgina liked the bodbod. I mean, what's not to like? Sticky rice with mango alone was responsible for a fifteen-pound weight gain back when I was 19. Add chocolate to that mix? I'm a goner.

I was inspired to write this post because Suzette sent me a picture of a the Budbud-Kabog stall in Legazpi Market in Makati, and I got all jealous, like Fifty Shades of Green. And the owner is from Bais! And he has sugar baron stories! I've got more research to do...checking PAL fares now.



Anyway, bodbod was one of the highlights of my research trip to Bais, Tanjay, and Dumaguete. Apparently, I'm not the only one: Andrews Calumpang wrote a song about the delight, entitled “Ang Budbud sa Tanjay." Tanjay even has a festival to bodbod every third week in December, where they make the world's biggest bodbod (80 kilos) and the world's smallest (fits in a matchbox).

If you're new to street food, you'll notice the eco-friendly banana leaf packaging. Given my fight to extricate new earbuds out of their blister pack this morning, I think we should sell everything in banana leaves. According to Choose Philippines, the antibacterial properties of the coconut oil will keep the bodbod fresh for a week.



All signs point to bodbod! Fate wants me to eat all the sweet treats. It's destiny!

Choose Philippines: http://www.choosephilippines.com/…/lo...

Go to the Bodbod Festival!: http://www.tourism.gov.ph/sitepages/F...

Both photos by Jennifer Hallock, 2010.