I always remember my summer days spent in Sibul, San Miguel, Bulacan. My grandparents from my father’s side purchased a parcel of agricultural land there. It was our vacation house. A small spring was located in our land. There, we got our water supply for drinking, cooking, taking a bath, etc. The water was very clean and we didn’t experience stomach upset drinking spring water.
I remember the food being served by my lolo’s kasama. Every morning we always had fresh carabao’s milk poured in very hot cooked rice. My brother always seasoned it with sugar but I preferred salt. They also served us crispy fried small bulig and/or hito which they got from the rice field. As dipping for the fried fish, they boiled young tamarind fruits and mashed it. The desserts were either fresh watermelon or pastillas de leche. San Miguel Bulacan is very famous for their pastillas. They are using fresh carabao’s milk in making this.
For lunch, we usually had sinampalukang native chicken or native chicken adobo. The corn soup they prepared was also very tasty. What they used for the soup were native corns they planted.
I also loved the taste of boiled native corn. So sweet, soft and delicious, and they also called it lagkitan because it was sticky.
I also remember the camatsile trees; I can say that the fruit was big and so sweet. I never tasted sweet camatsile here in Manila. At night, we always had a game with my siblings. We took out the black covering of the camatsile seeds, the first one to finish 10 camatsile seeds without showing the white flesh just only the brown covering of the seeds was the winner.
That time there was no electricity in Sibul. We used gas lamp or coleman. And the trees outside the house were full of flying fireflies. What a sight to behold. There were no mosquitoes there.
Unfortunately, when my grandfather died, his children sold the land. So now what remains of this land are only memories.
Thanks for hosting our LP 11, JMom.
