BRIDGING THE GAP
Traditional Ilonggo-Bisayan kitchen utensils
History involves mainly man's struggle to improve himself, his family and society. In this struggle to improve himself and to solve the myriad of problems that he meets in his day-to-day existence, man has to be resourceful and inventive. He has to devise ways and means to make his life easier and to move forward. In this regard, he develops technology through inventing. Writers have pointed out that necessity is the mother of all inventions. Inventions bring about technology which is defined as "the totality of the means employed to provide objects and techniques necessary for human sustenance and comfort."
Traditional cooking starts with the lusong (mortar) and hal-o (pestle). The rice husks have to be removed through pounding the palay inside the lusong with the hal-o. Cleaning the rice or corn from the binga or chaff requires the use of the bamboo-made, square-shaped kararaw, tubo or salop. In addition, there is the smaller, oval-shaped nigo, also made of bamboo. Where people have corn and use them in lieu of rice, they grind it in galingan nga bato or stone mill. This is a tedious process because corn has to be ground or re-ground to make the grains the size of rice. Ground corn is then subjected to the ayagan or strainer made of bamboo or wire to separate the fine ones from the bigger grains. When this is done, the required quantity of rice or corn is poured into a kaldero or colon (cooking pot). Rice/corn is then washed with water and is put on top of a sig-ang or kalan. The common sig-ang is made of wrought iron with three legs attached to a round iron ring which comes in different sizes. During emergencies, people use their resourcefulness by resorting to the use of three big stones arranged in a triangle to hold the cooking pot or kalaha (frying pan). Of course, firewood or charcoal is used in this mode of cooking.
In broiling or grilling fish, pork, beef, etc., folks usually make use of the parilya (meshed wrought iron) and lived charcoal. In the process, the whole neighborhood gets an idea of what one is broiling. In grilling inasal (roasted chicken, pork or large fish), bamboo sticks are used.
In preparing tsokolate, a special utensil is used called the batidor. It consists of a long-necked container and a wooden beater. Despite modern gadgets that can prepare chocolate drinks in a jiffy, some people still prefer to use the old method because they claim that the result is different.
Other useful traditional household kitchen aids are the kudkoran, bi-as or bayong, tadyaw and martabana, banga, langa-langa, kabo, and hungot.
The kudkoran is a common kitchen aid used in the praparation of gata or coconut milk. Bi-as or bayong was commonly used in the past in the rural areas prior to the advent of plastic containers. Bi-as or bayong is a bamboo tube consisting of from five to seven nodes, the inside joints of which are removed, except the last one, to allow water to seep through. It was a popular container for fetching water from the well.
Tadyaw and martabana are liquid containers made from baked clay. The tadyaw is taller than the martabana with smaller opening, rounded wide shoulder that tapers down to a small base. It has no glazed finish but has smooth texture and can contain as much as three to four kerosene cans of water. Martabana, on the other hand, has a very wide mouth with glazed finish. One that is used to store drinking water is the banga, the smaller version of the tadyaw. Langa-langa, on the other hand, is a smaller jar made of baked clay or a combination of sand and clay. It is used to store salted fish like gurayan, bilong-bilong, tuloy or hipon.
Complementing the tadyaw, martabana and banga are the kabo and hungot. Kabo is used to get water from the bigger water vessels and is made of coconut shell, with or without a bamboo handle. It was also used to wash one's hands before eating. Hungot, which is shaped into a bowl can also serve as a drinking container for tuba aficionados. Made of coconut shell, it can hold as much as two salmons or one-third ganta of grains and may be used for measuring rice or tuba.
With the rapid advancement of technology, most, if not all, of these traditional kitchen gadgets or utensils have already made their permanent exit. Of course, these new material objects have made the people's lives comfortable and easy. Yet, this ease that people are enjoying now does not come without a price. Many of the local craftsmen have lost their sources of livelihood. There have also been apprehensions of the effects of these things to one's health, especially that these new gadgets are mostly made of plastic material and chemically-processed.