Thursday, May 25, 2006

Lasang Pinoy 10: Food Memories from Childhood


Cocinero of Buhay Cocinero hosted this Lasang Pinoy event for May. It is all about the food we enjoyed eating during our childhood.

I would say that I'm a Marcos baby. Being born a year after Marcos assumed the presidency. I was 6 years old when Marcos declared Martial Law. My middle childhood years were spent outside our house. It was still safe then to let the children play outside. In the afternoon around 4pm, because that was the time my mom would allow us to go outside after sleeping, we always bought binatog or nilupak. My siblings and I collected used bottles to be exchanged from a pack of caramel popcorn.




(my version of nilupak, boiled cassava with butter and brown sugar)


After playing with siato or capture, we always bought scramble (strawberry flavor for me). It was really a wonderful treat after all the running and sweating. We always watched the basketball tournament every summer in the basketball court about 50 meters from our house. We really enjoyed cheering for our favorite team. There, we bought fish balls and sago't gulaman or cotton candy from an ambulatory vendor.

In school, I used to eat nutribun with star margarine during recess period, I loved it so much. After school, I used to buy manggang hilaw with eco (shrimp paste and salt). I remember that I always bought mansanitas and buko-bukohan (that's a small fruit which looks like a very small buko and the flesh of it tastes like buko, too). Unfortunately, I don't see these fruits now in the market.

Tira-tira, sergs, curly tops, milo, flat tops were some of my favorite candies.

When we were sick, my mother would always give us Royco noodle soup or santa softdrinks and sky flakes. Well, santa and sky flakes cracker are still available in the market now but I don't know with Royco.

It is very refreshing to reminisce our childhood days. Those are unforgettable memories that make me happy.