Apparently, I am what I ate (not what I eat)

29Okt07

I spent last weekend trying to decide whether I should renew my diet (for the umpteenth time) or procrastinate yet again. Mahirap na desisyon ito sapagkat ang pag-lamon ang isa sa mga pinaka-malupit kong addictions (ang pag-laklak ng Red Horse hanggang sa isuka ang sariling baticolon lang ang mas matindi sa kanya. wehehehe…)

Heniwey… habang nagmumuni-muni ako sa relative merits ng pag-diet at hindi pag-diet ay naalala ko bigla yung mga paborito kong pagkain dati (hindi yung mga pagkain na gusto ko ngayon kasi puro processed at de lata na lang ang mga ito). Actually, ang na-miss ko talaga ay yung mga exotic food na nakain ko noong bata pa ako at mahilig pang maglibot-libot sa iba-ibang lugar. In short, food I loved not because they tasted great but because of what they represented — a younger, more adventurous, truly carefree (with wings) me (Naaaks!)

Pero isa munang caveat: hindi po ako proud sa pagkain sa ilan sa nasa lista ko. But know that I never killed any of the animals mentioned here or caused any them to be killed for my sake. Sabi nga ng nasira kong tiyuhin na si Mang Gurnak, “Tutoy, what you don’t know can kill you. Lalu na kung double dead na pala yung karneng chinicha mo! Tado! Mag-noodles ka na lang kasi!!” (Haaay… si Tiyo Gurnak talaga.)

Maraming beses ko nang natikman itong hardcore na kamag-anak ni Miss Piggy – usually ay sa mga restoran na may exotic cuisine (although many claim that these are all farm-bred animals already) pero once or twice ay sinuwerte (or minalas, depende sa ‘yo) ako’t sa source ko mismo siya na-lafang (either in Quezon Province or in Pampanga). Ditto for the sampips of Rudolph at sa over-grown Butiki.

Pinalad na din po akong matikman ang mga pagkaing ibinibida ng mga nakatira sa kapatagan ng Pampanga – ang Kamaru, Batute, at Damulag. Hmmm… Manyaman!

But it was in the highlands of Pampanga and Bataan, in the various Aeta communities where I spent a year doing “volunteer” work during the early 90s, that I got to taste some truly exotic fare — as in Paniki, Labuyo, Unggoy at Uyok! The last being thrown by the handfuls into a blazing campfire and popped like little squirming corn kernels! Yum!

Speaking of Indigenous Peoples, the Kankana-eys of Benguet also regularly serve Carabao in their Canaos, aside from the ubiquitous Pigs, Goats, Chickens and Cows. One Canao I was fortunate enough to attend in 2003 — a feast to commemorate the second-year death anniversary of a well-loved woman elder of Atok — served no less than 13 Pigs, 3 Cows, 1 Carabao, and dozens of Goats and Chickens to its several hundred guests.

Of course, it being the northern highlands, it was inevitable that some drinking sessions featured “man’s best friend” as pulutan.

Yup… I must have eaten dog meat over a dozen times in my lifetime — sometimes knowingly; oftentimes unwittingly. And not only in the Cordilleras (where it is technically legal) but also in Bicol, Pampanga, Batangas and Metro Manila (where it is definitely illegal). It’s not something I’m proud of… but it’s not something I’m ashamed of either. It just is. Would I request that a dog be killed and made into pulutan? No. Would I eat dog if offered to me by my friends? Yes.

What I will never do again is eat Fried Spiders! Once is definitely enough for me (like the time when a friend brought some home from Cambodia and dared us to eat 1 whole spider each!)

Weno kung lasang karne ng alimango yung laman nung gagamba? Powtah… gagamba pa rin yun e!

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