Skip to main content

Learning one's history through food

Ambeth Ocampo, one of the professors I wish I had as a history teacher back in college, was back at the Ayala Museum for yet another session of History Comes Alive, as #HugotHistorian! This time, he took us on a different path, not quite as Rizal-centric or hero-centric as his previous lectures; he traveled with us through history lane via food.

Sure, food is clearly linked with culture and national identity. For instance: the USA is known for its burgers; China is famous for its noodles and dumplings; India is linked with curry and chicken biryani; and Japan is associated with ramen and sushi. The Philippines? Food historians say that there is a toss up between adobo and sinigang for the title "National Dish"; curiously, both terms refer to cooking methods rather than actual dishes. And it is difficult to pinpoint the most appropriate version of adobo and sinigang to vie for the coveted title because there are just too many variants!

Although I'm fascinated by this aspect of Philippine gastronomy, it never occurred to me how interesting history can be by studying what the much-revered heroes ate back in the day. Professor Ocampo pointed out, for instance, that typical history and literature teachers overly focus on nationalism when teaching the Noli Me Tangere and the El Filibusterismo. Sure, Rizal wrote them both but he also managed to leave a snapshot into social realism in cuisine: he described, in detail, how to prepare certain dishes (yes, the novels double as cookbooks) and the right occasions to eat certain dishes for certain social classes, veering the readers unknowingly into the world of gastronomy. Then, moving beyond the novels and into real life, Professor Ocampo showed us photos from the Malolos Congress (I've visited the Barasoain Church, where it took place, on my first ever road trip to Bulacan). He didn't show the typical people photos often exhibited in history books. Instead, he showed up photos of the menu cards.

Attendez! Les noms sont très familier! J'ai lu certaines mots dans mon livre de français! Champagne, huitres, crevette roses, saucission de Lyon, saumon Hollandais, dinde truffée à la Manilloise, fromages, glaces... I felt like I was back in my French class with teacher Jean Darimont (A1.6–1.7). Anyway, the menu card seems to indicate that the movers and shakers of Philippine government back in the day wanted to emulate the French, the gold standard for nationalism... not the Spanish (for obvious reasons). After all: Egalité! Liberté! Fraternité! I wonder what these people would feel if they knew that France was also a major coloniser of the third world...

Back to the lecture...

Since a Filipino meal is centred on rice, I found it endearing that Professor Ocampo touched upon, though rather briefly, on rice and history. IRRI got mentioned too! His research on Filipino food history led him to a number of terms pertaining to rice!


He found several rice varieties in literature that are already extinct in real life; but there are ancient rice varieties in his list that are conserved in IRRI's gene bank. Wouldn't it be cool to taste the rice that our ancestors have been eating? Unfortunately, he wasn't able to pick up where he had left off on that research direction. 

As he wrapped up his talk on understanding Filipino history through food, I had a few thoughts to munch over. But ultimately, the major lesson is this: Food makes history come alive.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
5 comments
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Post a Comment
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Post a Comment
Read more