Thursday, June 29, 2006

Lasang Pinoy 11: SUMMERTIME


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.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

i hav few memories of my grandparents’ house in Batangas. niyugan at kapeng batangas. parts of the land wer sold but a modest part still remains and divided among mom and her siblings. tagal na nga din since the last time i saw the place...

Anonymous said...

hi lani
great story of your childhood summer memories! hito! i love hito! i don't think i have seen one here! sinampalukan too is a fave, and tell me about those lagkitan maiz! *slurp!*
btw, sorry about my site...

Anonymous said...

aloha lani,
you described everything so vividly...i can taste it all! i have only memories too...at least we have our photos and taste-buds to recall the good times.

JMom said...

Hi Lani! Thanks for joining LP11. Most of our summers in the Philippines were also spent with our grandparents in the province. I think those memories are just priceless.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lani. I also spent a part of my summers as a child in Bulacan (Malolos)Memories of sinigang na bangus and the rituals during Lent. Shuttling between Leyte and Bulacan for my summers was kinda confusing . These two places are worlds apart in terms of culinary traditions ;) - ajay

j said...

hi Lani...your kwento about the camatsile? we used to do that too when we were kids :) sarap balikan ang kabataan, he he.

Lani said...

Iska:
I wish nga na sana may natira sa lupa ng lolo ko para naman sa ngayon napupuntahan pa namin. Kaso hanggang wish na lang ako.

Lani said...

Ces:
I love lagkitan mais. Sa ngayon wala na akong nakikitang native lagkitan mais dito sa atin. I wish i can find one para pag nadalaw ka ulit dito dadalan kita.

Lani said...

Stel:
I wish mai-post ko na ang mga photo dito kaso di ko pa nakukunan. Medyo toxic ngayon.

Lani said...

JMom:
Thanks for hosting our LP 11. Congratulations sa round up.

Lani said...

Ajay:
OO nga magkaiba talaga but still talagang na-enjoy natin ito noong mga bata pa.

Lani said...

Jairam:

Sarap talagang maging bata.


Thank you all for visiting my blog.

Anonymous said...

nakakatakam naman lahat yung pagkain na nabanggit :) hope to see the pix soon !

rolly said...

Hi,

I took my third year high school in San Miguel, Bulacan. I studied at Saint Paul for a year. I had friends in Sibul but never got to see them again after my short stint there.

Lani said...

KD:
Thanks!

Eden:
Ye, hindi ko pa rin nakukunan. Pero promise ipopost ko talaga. Thanks

Mang Rolly:
Thank you sa dalaw. Malapit kami sa Sibul Spring. Ang liit ng mundo ano po?