| Sariayahin Delicacies on “Travel Time” |
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| Friday, 29 August 2008 00:00 | ||||||
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Mrs. Susan Calo – Medina, popular host of the long running television show “Travel Time” breezed into town with her production crew last Sunday afternoon, August 24, 2008, to feature three very popular Sariayahin delicacies namely “Pinag-ong”, “Tamalis” and “Mazapan” for her food trip special into Quezon Province. Beforehand, Ms. Cecille Aranton of the Department of Tourism Regional Office (CALABARZON) faxed her itinerary to Sariaya Tourism Officer - designate Ms. Maria Arlene C. Palabrica, who coordinated the matter with the Sariaya Tourism Council (STC). Aside from Sariaya, the television production took her to nearby localities like Lucban, Tayabas City, and Tiaong. Upon arrival at the Municipio at a little before one in the afternoon, she and her companions that included Ms. Olga Umali of the Quezon Provincial Tourism Office were greeted by Ms. Palabrica, and they proceeded at once to Sunrise Bakery along General Luna street on the east side of town. STC officers Ma. Teresa “Tek” Baligod, Eriberto Ricardo “Eric” J. Dedace and Simeon “Dyun” O. Abanador Jnr. followed them to the venue for the necessary assistance. They were met by the very accommodating proprietors, Mr. Guillermo Tan and his wife “Bob”, with the production crew wasting no time in setting up their video equipments for the undertaking. Outside shots of the store and the baked products on sale were taken first before the casual and very animated Ms. Calo - Medina began the interview with Mrs. “Bob” Tan regarding the “Pinag-ong”. A tray of it, fresh from the oven, was made handy while Mrs. Tan regaled the TV host with her “Pinag-ong” stories, from its turtle shell - shaped features down to the two very crispy “utong” at both ends, that never failed to elicit instant amusement, as always. A jeepney with its noisy engine turned on while waiting for passengers was parked nearby and people inside it, as well as passing pedestrians ogled at the production shoot. Ms. Calo- Medina took an obvious liking for the peculiarly, very Sariayahin baked product when she said “Masarap siya!” in between bites of it. Thereafter, the crew went inside the bakery into the work area near the oven, for a baking demo with the very gracious owner, and the STC people followed, but they went out after quite sometime. Ms. Palabrica was busy with her cell phone coordinating things with the “Tamalis” maker for the next video feature. Meanwhile, Ms. Calo – Medina went inside her van to ward off the heat of the mid afternoon, while waiting for her production crew to finish their video feature, just as “Tek” Baligod bought freshly-baked “Kababayan” for a light merienda, that she said she usually buys by the boxful as a delicious “pasalubong” to her friends whenever. Thereafter, the considerably long production shoot ended and the crew came out sweaty yet fulfilled of it all. Everyone bade the very accommodating proprietors farewell, who handed over more “Pinag-ong” as “pasalubong” or “pakimkim” for the production people and their animated host. Riding a van of the Municipal government, the STC people led the production crew on another van and headed for Daliz street extension at Marichi Subdivision. Upon reaching Pablo Street, they headed northwards, bisecting the Calle Mayor and Valderas Street en route to the two-storey house of retired Sariaya Central School Elementary Agriculture teacher Mr. Antonino B. Quejano. As a footnote to its history, this old house once stood where the big, helipad – topped, five storey house of Dr. Simeon Rodriguez is now located, along Rizal Street corner Valderas Extension. It used to be called the “Club House” of the affluent families in the pre war years, a place to play Mahjong and card games. In the year 1950, it became a school, the “Sariaya Junior College”, the forerunner of the Sariaya Institute for some years until SI eventually transferred to its present site. Sometime in 1966, Dr. Simeon Rodriguez wanted to sell it so he could build his present house designed by his architect son William or “Billy”. Dr. Simeon’s first cousin, then Sariaya Elementary School Principal Mr. Potenciano Racelis brought him his superior, school Supervisor Mr. Vicente Dizon, who wished to buy a house in town that time. Mr. Dizon did not like it so it was a very pleased Mr. Quejano, who used to live in that very same house as a grade school child in the 1920’s, that bought the old house for sentimental reasons. According to him, it was then owned by the Nadres Family whose “encargado” or care taker was his uncle, Mr. Clemente Vallecer. The “Maubanin” parish priest Fr. Policarpio Trinidad (August 1922 – March 1924) known as “Padre Carpo” used to live there likewise when the present church convent was being built. It was while living in this house that Mr. Quejano saw the decapitation of the Afghan Muslim “peryante”, Salim’s hand during a swordfight over an unclean pig on a leash (from “The Sariayahin Fiesta and Life of Yore”). They were forced to leave the house in 1931 when the Andres Luna de San Pedro - designed house of then still pharmacist and soon-to-be Tayabas Province Governor Natalio Enriquez was being constructed, and the lime being used in there which was stored at the basement of the neighboring house of Mr. Silverio Alvarez was blowing in their direction. Little did he know that this very same house will have another connection in his life much later on. Hiring his friend contractor Mr. Ignacio Villota, the house was dismantled piece by piece, and transferred to its present site in Pablo street. Accordingly, every piece was appropriately marked by Mr. Villota for ease of assembly thereafter. Present day Municipal Ambulance driver Mr. Ireneo “Iring” Remojo and his family who live at the first floor are the present companions of the 94 - year old Mr. Quejano since his wife’s, Natividad’s infirmity in 1995 and eventual death last year. They are engaged in the making of “Tamalis” as a home - based family enterprise. Everything was set for the video feature when the STC and production crew arrived….the two types of “galapong” where one is white and the other brownish on account of the rice being roasted first prior to milling, shredded boiled chicken and its stock, hard boiled eggs, roasted shelled peanuts, crushed garlic, sliced onions, ground black pepper, “patis”, “toyo”, bottles of cooking oil, the flame - wilted banana leaf wrappers, the big “kawa”, the heavy duty stove, the working table, the ready-made “tamalis” samples, etcetera. The very accommodating “Kuya Iring”, his apron – wearing and cheerful wife “Ate Cora” and the whole family was there, visibly excited for the production shoot. Arlene and Tek led everybody into the work area at the entrance to the house which was shielded by a makeshift canopy from the afternoon sun, just as the crew got busy setting up their equipments for the endeavor. Initially, only a small volume of “tamalis” was to be made just for the feature but it so happened that somebody placed an order for a larger volume so the timing was opportune. Mrs. Calo – Medina was introduced then “Ate Cora” was given a briefing, handed a lapel microphone and the interview started thereafter, with the two of them seated on a small table where the array of ingredients were previously placed in separate containers. “Ate Cora” started by telling the story about how they stumbled upon their family business before enumerating the very tedious and painstaking procedures involved. The saute - oriented demo commenced thereafter with the mouth-watering aroma of her cooking leading everyone to think about old style native chicken “Arroz Caldo” cooking in their very own kitchens at home. All the ingredients were dropped one by one and with each “hissing” sound, the delicious aroma intensified further and eyes darted on the bowlful of pre – cooked “tamalis” from time to time. To get a closer look of it all, the chubby camera man even mounted a small chair and trained his heavy video equipment on the “kawa” where all that “tamalis” jazz was being played out care of “Ate Cora’s” hand glove – equipped power stirring, most especially when the white “galapong” was poured into it. He was jokingly reminded by his colleagues to take it easy lest he falls on the bubbling hot mixture for even richer flavor, resulting in much laughter and amusement. Since this step of “tamalis” making took almost half an hour, Mrs. Calo-Medina told the camera man to take video footages of her tasting the finished product first to save on time, since they still have the “pastillas – making” to cover at Calle Rizal Ibaba. As Mr. camera man sauntered over to the small table, she was given a saucer and a fork before proceeding to cut the straw to open the “tamalis” for the tasting. Eventually, she preferred the top portion with the chicken meat, sliced egg and roasted peanuts on it which obviously, had more of the delicious taste than the bottom part. Meanwhile, as the white “galapong” slowly hardened into a paste, “Ate Cora’s” able-bodied son took over the hot and muscle – wrenching procedure, while she checked on the taste from time to time, her very own seasoning formula honed by years of making “tamalis” coming in handy. Then, it was ready to be poured for spreading on the working table lined with clean plastic for molding, after which, the smaller volume of brown “galapong” was sautéed and thickened for pouring and spreading on the already solidified two or so inch-thick white “galapong” mass. With this, “Ate Cora’s” daughters readied themselves for the next tedious step. When steady enough, the “galapong” was cut into squares, each one topped with slivers of boiled chicken, an egg slice and some peanuts, before dexterous plastic - gloved hands wrapped each of them with the flame-wilted banana leaves, “nilaib” as we term it hereabouts and the production crew got to learn one peculiar Sariayahin Tagalog word first hand. Meanwhile, their equally - dexterous brother stripped plastic fibers from a clean market sack and securely tied each banana-wrapped square prior to steaming, the final step of the patient and painstaking task before the much-awaited happy ending of it all …..eating! Mr. camera man had a field day capturing the family at work and thereafter had “tamalis” as a hearty snack along with the others. Doing their leave-takings with profuse thanks for the animated and very informative production shoot a little later, the Remojos in turn gave them all of the remaining “tamalis” as “pasalubong”, and everyone boarded their vehicles for the last leg of their food trip in Sariaya, the de Gracia’s House of Sweets along Calle Rizal. Arriving at the well known “pasalubong” store, they were met by Ruben de Gracia Jr. or “JR”, likewise of the Sariaya Tourism Council, who thereafter called her widowed mother Rosalinda from upstairs, just as the crew were setting up their equipments. “Ate Linda” was introduced to Mrs. Calo – Medina, and she oriented her with all their products on the shelves …the triangle – shaped “yemas” and the thinly cylindrical “pastillas” , both in various flavors, but what particularly caught the host’s attention was the ring-shaped “Kinakao”. When asked what it is, “Ate Linda” said it is a kind of cookie made from flour, egg yolks, pork fat, sugar and water. When asked about the cans of “Broas” and “Apaz” from Villamater’s Bakery, she said that both their establishments mutually promote their products, and that her sweets can likewise be found on the said bakery’s shelves. When asked which “Broas” is the most delicious, the Sariayahins gave the obvious answer, adding that their old bakeries were its originators. Asking about the basic characteristic of Sariayahin “matam-is”, Eric said that unlike in Bulacan and Pampanga where fresh milk was the one being used for “pastillas-making”, canned milk had been the main ingredient for the Sariayahins ever since the old days. Mrs. Calo – Medina remarked on the old wooden posts of the house and she was told that it is the oldest in town, dating back from the 1700s and that it used to have a thatched roof of black – colored fiber called “Yunot”. With the equipments set up, she started on her interview with Ate Linda and all the while, little children and some neighbors ogled at the proceedings. Afterwards, the crew packed their video gears and went upstairs to the room where three middle-aged women wearing hair nets were preparing to cook “Yema Macapuno”. Like with the “tamalis” set-up, the production crew was so lucky that there were orders placed for the said commodity for otherwise, only a small amount was to be done, just especially for the show. Meanwhile, the TV host remained sitting at the store sipping her bottled water and chatting with QPTC’s Miss Olga Umali, the STC members and some locals for some useful additional information. As Arlene was talking via cell phone with the front desk man of Don Lauro’s Restaurant along Calle Gomez about arrangements for a late afternoon merienda after the production shoot, STC members Tek and Eric went upstairs to see how things were doing. They eventually entered the house and went to the living room where antiques lover Tek commended “Ate Linda” for the well preserved interiors and fixtures like the “escaparates” , the wooden lattice, the crooked ancient “haligi” of “taga sa panahon” wood, the capiz windows and the shiny wide floor of old “tabla”. While the pleasant and accommodating host served a variety of cellophane – wrapped “matam-is” on a tray like “Pastillas de Patatas” and “Yema de Mani” among others, with glasses of water for convenience, Eric reminisced the days when it was still the late jolly old “Tayabasin” Venal Family matriarch “Tia Panyang” who entertained the sweets customers to no end. “Ate Linda” said that she owed her dear old “Inay” much from starting on their now thriving family business, when one box of Alaska milk cost only a hundred pesos way back the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Remembering the TV host still downstairs at the sweets store, Tek looked out the window called upon Arlene and Ms. Umali to lead her to the living room. Unfortunately, Mrs. Calo-Medina was too tired from all the travelling that they did since the day before and preferred it there, so only the two ladies went up and enjoyed the matam-is variety laid in front of them. Their antiques talk was interrupted when the production crew emerged from their work and so they were likewise treated to the sweetest of Sariayahin traditions. With the leave takings, the crew was handed all the remaining “pastillas” as “pakimkim” on top of those given by the Municipio as token for them. Then everybody boarded their respective vehicles and headed for Don Lauro’s via Rizal Street. Engrossed as they all were, they forgot that Calle Gomez from Calle Rizal to Quezon Avenue was closed to traffic on account of the “perya”, so they did a U – turn and went back to Calle Argente, turned left to Quezon Avenue and turned right at Calle Gomez en route to the appointed venue. A long table was already reserved upon arrival, and who would be occupying one of the other tables but “Kuya Iring” himself together with his companions, ……. “small world” as the very popular phrase goes! Whatever, everyone headed for their respective chairs just as the television was broadcasting the last few minutes of the Beijing Olympics men’s basketball gold medal match between the US and Spain, eventually won by the Americans. Talk on the table was therefore diverted to the ongoing Olympics and the dismal showing of the medal-less Philippine team. Meanwhile, Dyun checked with the kitchen for their phone-ordered merienda because the program host and crew were still bound for Villa Escudero on the last leg of their production shoot thereafter! A waiter then asked about the respective beverages and it was almost evenly split between Coke and Pineapple Juice. Soon the piping hot merienda arrived and the guests were treated to another Sariayahin tradition…..”Pansit Chami” with triangular Clubhouse Sandwiches, quite hearty! In reference to “Chami” Mrs. Calo – Medina was then told about the May time “Chami Festival” being held annually in Lucena as a much publicized activity of the “Pasayahan”, and its May 30th town fiesta, with the help of Ms. Olga Umali of the Quezon Provincial Tourism Office. With that, everyone thanked everybody for the successful production shoot in Sariaya and before leaving, the STC people asked Mrs. Calo- Medina about the exact date of this Quezon Province food trip episode. She said that locally, it would most likely be shown on the 20th of September over at ANC, the ABS CBN News Channel, though the TFC (The Filipino Channel) might show it a week ahead on September 13th for the Pinoy community in North America. Lingering on for a quite sometime, Arlene, Tek and Eric went on with their conversations about the production shoot and the forthcoming Quezon Provincial Tourism Council monthly meeting on Tuesday, August 26, to be hosted by the good Mayor of Padre Burgos town. Before leaving, they handed the left over Pansit and Clubhouse sandwiches to “Kuya Iring”, and then called it a day.
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