Wednesday, July 26, 2017

55. 10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE LEGENDARY SINUKUAN


The legend of Sinukuan or Suku has pre-historic origins—and his story has been told and retold by Kapampangans across the centuries,  such that many versions—embellished and romanticized-- exist about his identity and nature. Was he a god?  An enchantress? A demigod?  Or, as scholars contend, a real historical figure from the past? One thing for sure, Sinukuan was endowed with supernatural, mystical powers, making him more than a mere mortal and elevating him to the pantheon of Kapampangan mythical icons.

1. ORIGINS: SINUKUAN was said to be the first-born of couple, Calupit and Cargon Cargon (also known as Matungcu). The pair were descendants of Adam and Eve who came to Asia and settled in the mystical Alaya mountain of Pampanga. Cargon Cargon took care of the mountain and after his death in the hands of a Zambal god, SINUKUAN took over and inherited the mountain.

2. GENDER AND IDENTITY: In early accounts, SINUKUAN was a male human being, albeit with extraordinary qualities—“a very fine fellow with arms and sinews as iron..a quick thinker..unexcelled by anybody in the island of Luzon. In some, he was “a god who can create earthquakes” and a “king who lived inside the mountain of Arayat”. Another early 20th c. account described the denizen as a sorcerer of the mountain. While Macario Naval identified SINUKUAN as the wife of Minga in his 1916 account, the earlier 1899 story of Don Isabelo delos Reyes from his opus, “Folklore Filipino”, had it the other way around---SINUKUAN was the husband of Minga, thus making him a male.

3. APPEARANCE: SINUKUAN was said to resemble Cupid (Eros) because of his handsome visage. One account however, narrates that he “was formerly a handsome youth who, upon marrying a mortal, was transformed into his present ugly, hideous form”.

4. FAMILY: SINUKUAN was said to have a wife named ‘Marianusep de Sinucuan’, with whom he had 2 daughters named Calibangut and Calikangutabak, who had opposing personalities. The older Calibangut was tall, dark and deceitful, while the younger one was serene and very beautiful. It is also said that one of the daughters died, leaving the other daughter so lonely that a local town girl was specially handpicked to be her companion. “El Folklore Filipino” had SINUKUAN fathering 3 girls—Rosalina, Rosa-Minda and Maria.

5. RESIDENCE: Inside Bundok Alaya is a deep, expansive cave---and it is here in the mountain's belly that the grand palace of SINUKUAN was built when his daughters came of age, with the help of witches. The seven bronze gates  of the palace were guarded by a lion, a tiger, a viper, a serpent, an Aeta with bow and arrows and a fierce bird with a curved beak known as “Sagasa”. The palace was decorated with gems and jewels, and SINUKUAN himself reclined on a bench  adorned with gold and precious stones.


6. HOUSEHOLD STAFF: Five fantastic servants ably served the great SINUKUAN, namely: Kargon Kargon, a strong man who could carry the world on his shoulders a la Atlas; Supla Supling, who could generate typhoons; Miran Miron, with a vision so acute, he could see great distances; Punta Punting, the world’s most accurate archer; and Kuran Kurin, the world’s fleetest runner. SINUKUAN was also attended by a retinue of Negritos whom he sent outside his realm to deal with townsfolk.

7. MENAGERIE: SINUKUAN had a special affinity with animals--he kept swines in their mountain dwelling. In fact, his daughters made regular trips to the town to barter their gold for “darak”--animal feed for their pigs. But he also had magical animals like a pair of goats that passed out gold droppings. In a similar way, he owned large cows that excreted pieces of rich sinamay fabrics.

8. SUPER POWERS. SINUKUAN was a shape-shifter, who once morphed into a mosquito so he could spy on people. It was in this manner that he learned that his daughter was consorting with a man, whom he then transformed into a pig. SINUKUAN also had power over nature—he could control winds and raise deadly storms. Most of all, SINUKUAN had immense strengths, available to lift mountains and hurl objects at great distances.

9. INCREDIBLE FEATS: SINUKUAN is credited with performing incredible feats of strength that included moving a forested mountain from Candaba to its present site, transferring Mount Arayat from its original location in Tapang, Nueva Ecija to San Miguel, Bulacan, then moving it yet again to Arayat town, then a swampy place. The displacement of water during the move resulted in the flooding of Candaba. SINUKUAN also built a rock bridge between Candaba and his mountain, through which he regularly supplied the townspeople with gold and silver. However, he left the bridge unfinished as a punishment for the dishonesty and ingratitude of the people.

10. ARCH ENEMIES AND HOW HE VANQUISHED THEM: There were at least two nemeses of SINUKUAN—the first was a supernatural being from Zambales, then the greatest mountain the archipelago,  and Makiling, king of a southern mountain. SINUKUAN was actually a friend of the Zambal deity but he became his foe when Namalyari asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. They engaged in a 2-day battle hurling stones at each other until Mt. Zambales was shattered into fragments, becoming a range of smaller mountains. In the other, SINUKUAN’s earned the wrath of Makiling when his 3 sons kidnapped his daughters.  He killed all three of them. Makiling retaliated by hurling a pestle at SINUKUAN, lopping off the top of Arayat.  SINUKUAN then took a heavy mortar and threw it with all his might towards Makiling, reducing the great mountain into a hill, and forcing the king to commit suicide.


BONUS:
SINUKUAN IN POP CULTURE. Through the years, SINUKUAN has lent its name to a variety of products, services and institutions, becoming a pop culture icon along the way. At least 3 drinks were named after him---SINUKUAN Water (bottled in Manila by Francisco Santos ca. 1930s), SINUKUAN Flavored Soda Water (made by Sinukuan Aerated Water Factory. in Tondo, ca. 1930s, reformulated as  SINUKUAN Beverages when the company moved to Grace Park in the 1950s). There was also a Binondo-based newspaper called “SINUKUAN”, and a masonic lodge named after him. Books, comics and at least one 1955 movie, bore the name of Mariang SINUKUAN. Today, there is an annual SINUKWAN Festival organized  by the Save Pampanga Movement, and held in San Fernando, a weeklong celebration that memorializes Aring Sinukwan, god of the ancient Kapampangans.

PHOTOS:
Sinukuan bottles: courtesy of Carlos Felix
Sinukuan cigarette wrapper: courtesy of The Pinoy Kollektor
THANKS to Jonel Sicat Diaz, for the artwork

 REFERENCES:
David, Dominador. Pampanga Folklore Stories, 1917.
Franco, Teodulo D., The Story of Sinukan in Pampanga, 1916.
Naval, Macario G. A Collection of Legends from Pampanga, 1916.
Arrastia, Justo. The Legend of Mt. Arayat, 1915.
Carreon, Manuel L. Pampanga Legends, 1917
Gonzales, Leon Ma., Sinukuan, A Folklore Story, 1915, translated by Alfredo Nicdao in 1918.
De los Reyes, Isabelo. El Folklore Filipino, “El Fabuloso Suku” by Pedro Serrao, 1889
Beyer, H. Otley, The Ethnography of the Negrito-Aeta Peoples: A Collection of Original Sources, 1915
Singsing Magazines, Folk Art Issue, The Kapampangans faithful, Folksy and True

Saturday, July 15, 2017

54. 15 OLD-TIME CONFECTIONS, BAKED GOODIES & OTHER KAPAMPANGAN TREATS

Pampanga has long enjoyed a reputation as “the culinary capital of the Philippines”.  Its chief agricultural products—sugar and rice—have enabled its excellent cooks to create exquisite delicacies in their kusinas—from simple kakanins to mouth-watering pastries and confections bearing elegant French or Spanish names. Here is a list of such goodies—often available at the local panaderia and pasalubong centers, or exclusively made only for the most special occasions.
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BUÑUELOS
Buñuelos—crisp, fried bread--are favorite snack treats often dunked in hot Spanish chocolate.  They are the local equivalent of the French beignet. In old Sulipan, in Apalit, it is  said that making and preparing buñuelos is  a test of skill for wives-to-be, as it involves molding, slapping, beating and folding  the flour dough to achieve the characteristic crispy layers of the bread.

GALANG-GALANG
These are slim, doughnut shaped cookies that look like bracelets, strung together when sold. In the days of yore, they were favorite giveaways during confirmation of Kapampangan kids, who often wore them, before enjoying them.

MASA PODRIDA
Filipino version of shortbread biscuits – excellent with coffee or tea. The circular cookie literally means “rotten dough”, but the taste is anything but that. The cookie is a rich-tasting with a crisp, crumbly texture made from butter, flour and sugar. The old bakery of Aurelio Diyco or “Apung Diung” in Plaza Burgos, Guagua, Pampanga (founded in 1880) popularized the masa podrida in Pampanga; they are perfect for eating with a steaming cup of robust kape barako.

PANARA.
Similar to an empanada, this half moon shaped pastry is filled with mung bean sprouts and shrimp, or sometimes grated green papaya.  The pastry is made with rice flour instead of regular wheat flour.  Pabalat lumpia (lumpia wrapper) makes a good substitute. The crunchy panara is dipped in vinegar then enjoyed bite by bite.

PATCU
You will never eat another puto bumbong again after you try patcu, an original Kapampangan delicacy that comes out only during the Christmas season (the word patcu is a corruption of 'pascu,' Christmas). Only two towns in Pampanga still make them: Sta. Rita and Guagua. The Guagua variety is a roll made of ground malagkit (glutinous) rice wrapped around a hefty filling of ngungut (grated coconut), plus a secret ingredient. A solitary store in Guagua still sells it, located along the Guagua-Sta. Rita road in Brgy. San Roque

PILIPIT
Pilipit—“ing biskwit a mamagasakit”—is so named because it is twisted like a rope. It is a hard, crunchy pastry, deep-fried until brown, then sugar-coated. Pilipit are still found being sold by smalltown bakeries all over Pampanga.

PULBORON.
Molded milk powder sweets, made from toasted unrefined corn flour, butter, sugar, a pinch of salt. Sometimes, other ingredients like pinipig, coffee, casuy nuts are thrown in.  They are traditionally wrapped in Japanese paper with fringed ends, but today, they are wrapped in cellophane. The most popular commercial brand today are the pulboron made by Sasmuan Delicacies.

PUSIT
Made with regular bread dough, this panaderia favorite is made interesting because of its twisty-curly shape that resembles the body of squid, hence the name. It's roughly the local equivalent of the bowtie donut.  It is slathered with Star margarine and sprinkled with sugar. The old Bondoc Bakery in Mabalacat still makes them.

PUTUNG BABI
Pan de sal  (local bread) halves are spread with mashed potato laced with sauteed ground pork meat (like pork torta), then swabbed with egg batter and fried—hence,  putung babi (pork bread).  A poor man’s version make use of mashed kamote flavored with bagoong (baguk) as filling. It is said that “putung babi” was a creative way to recycle old bread and is still a common merienda fare in many towns like Guagua, Sta. Rita, Mabalacat and Angeles.

SAMANI.
The samani used to be a favorite table centerpiece during fiestas and banquets. This attractive and amazing confection is made from roasted peanuts, that are coated with caramelized sugar made from muscovado. The coated peanuts are then arranged to form a flower basket, using the sticky syrup as to hold and bind the nuts together, until dry. The vanishing art of making samani is practiced only in Arayat town.

SANICULAS
Named after San Nicolas de Tolentino, saniculas cookies were introduced by Augustinian friars to Pampanga during the colonial times. The biscuit is made from arrowroot flour, and is imprinted with the image of the saint using specially-made wooden molds. Legend has it that San Nicolas, known as the healing saint,  revived the sick with blessed bread mixed with water, hence the "panecillos de San Nicolas", or simply 'saniculas' in Pampanga. Mexico. The saniculas made by culinary historian, Lillian Borromeo of Mexico, are consistent bestsellers with her patrons.

SANS RIVAL
Sans Rival – this is a very popular dessert found all across the country but is said to have its roots in Pampanga, particularly San Fernando. This is a Filipino take on the French daquiose, with generous layers of buttercream icing sprinkled with chopped cashew nuts interspersing with sheets of meringue. The entire concoction is smothered with the same buttercream and sprinkled generously with more nuts.

TOCINO DEL CIELO.
Mini-leche flan cups or tocino del cielo are typical desserts adapted from southern Spain.  Like leche flan, it is made from egg yolks and caramel, and cooked by steaming. In Barrio San Jose, Concepcion, Tarlac,  “tocino” is a kind of kalame (rice cake), made of galapong (ground rice), gata (coconut milk), similar to the tocino del cielo of Minalin.

TURRONES DE CASUY
“Turrones de casoy” are an age-old delicacy in Pampanga—crisp, crunchy nougats made from cashew, real butter, honey and egg whites wrapped in edible paper-thin “oblea” or wafer wafer. A Catholic nun from the Dominican order taught Felisa Lansang of Sta. Rita the original recipe for making this Spain-inspired delicacy in 1920. Her expertise in making this sweet treat resulted in a homegrown “turrones de casoy” (plus sans rival) business, the Ocampo-Lansang Delicacies, that has become famous in the Kapampangan region.

URARO COOKIES.
Small, flower shaped cookies, a specialty of Guagua. They are made from arrowroot starch extracted from several thick stems and roots  (rhizomes) of the arrowroot (Marantaceae) family of flowering plants. The result is a sweet, powdery-textured hard cookie that crumbles and melts in the mouth. Because of their small shapes and generally white color,  they are also called sampagita cookies. The uraros of La Moderna Bakery in Guagua are among Pampanga's bestselling take-home goodies.

PHOTO SOURCES:
Galang-galang, Masa Podrida: Mrs. Galang’s Kitchen, yutube series
Masa Podrida:
Panara: Fernando Santos FB page
Patcu: Robby Tantingco’s FB page
Polvoron: Emma Mary Tiglao FB page
Putung Babi; Cecile Yumul FB page
Samani: Singsing Magazine
Saniculas: Alex Castro photo
Sans Rival: my Lola Nor’s Meryendahan FB page
Tocino del Cielo; Ivan Henares FB page

Thursday, July 6, 2017

53. 20 FOLK GAMES THAT KAPAMPANGAN KIDS DON’T PLAY ANYMORE

Before the age of computer technology that brought us Tetris, Counterstrike, Super Mario, Dota, Angry Birds and Final Fantasy, it took very little for children to have great fun during their leisure hours. There were a lot of folk games to choose from, that did not require batteries, and complex gadgetry —sometimes it would just take a hole on the ground, two bamboo sticks, or even stones and shells to amuse one’s self. In the 1950s, Kapampangan writer E. Aguilar Cruz noted, “In my time, we children were still familiar with the rhymes learned from our elders and used them at play. But already, I must admit, the old games were being played less and less. Tubigan and sala-salaginto seemed too rustic for young moderns  even for their names alone.” Here’s a look-back at some of the old time games Kapampangan kids in the neighborhood played.
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BENDING. Children carry a slipper in all sorts of manner—balanced on top of the head, or on an outstretched arm, tucked under a bent arm or leg—across a distance without falling it to the ground.

BUKINGKINGAN. The local name of “pitik-bulag”. Player A covers his eyes with one hand.  Player B, his opponent, flicks the covering hand of Player A, while he holds up his other hand with a number of fingers. Player A releases his hand cover and quickly holds the other hand up. The number of fingers  he holds up must match that of Player B.

GILING-GILING ISTATWA. Participants intone “Giling-giling istatwa…Ing galo ya ing taya” (Go round and round the statue. He who moves is “it”!). After which, everybody stand immobile; the first to move becomes the “taya”.

HOLEN. Games involving marbles include rolling them in sequence into holes dug on the ground; or putting a number of marbles inside a drawn circle—the objective of which is to dislodge the opponent’s marble from the circle, by hitting it with another marble at an angle (“boljak”)--, which oftentimes cause pockmarks on the marble.

JAKENPOY. The hand game of “rock-paper-scissors” is played between two people using hand shapes to symbolize  a  "rock" (closed fist), "paper" ( flat hand), and "scissors" (fingers in V-shape). In this best-of-3 duel, rock beats scissors, paper beats rock, and scissors beat paper.  Our version is derived from the Japanese “Janken Pon” game, which means “starting with a stone”, which basically has the same mechanics. It is often called today in Pilipino, as “Bato-Bato-Pick”.

LABAN BABAGWA. Also known as “saputan babagwa”, this is a spider game fight conducted on a “tingting” stick. Positioned on the opposite sides of the stick, the spiders approach each other and attempt to enwrap each other with their web. Game ends when one spider gets fully enveloped with the web (“saput”). Spiders are often kept in empty posporo boxes, fed with chili pepper (“lara”) leaves to make them aggressive.

LABULAN GOMA. The simples game involving rubber bands is “labulan goma”. Two rubber bands are placed some distance apart on a table. Players alternately blow their rubber bands to get them closer to each other. A player wins when he blows his rubber band on top of his opponent’s “goma”, which he then collects. Other rubber band games: Sungkitan goma—rubber bands are buried in a sand mound. Players alternately fish for rubber bands by sticking a “tingting” into the sand; Tirisan-goma—a knotted rubber band is laid on the floor and players alternately step or crush the rubber band to get it unknotted.

LUKSUNG BABI. Literally means “jumping over a pig”, or piggyback jumping. Participants try to jump over the bent back of a player (the back of the “pig”) . If everyone succeeds, the “pig” increases the height of his back, by raising himself up. The jumper who fails to clear he distance becomes the next “pig’s back”. Tagalogs call their version “luksong baka”.

MARO. This is the Kapampangan name of the game popularly called “agawan base” (stealing bases) by Tagalogs. Two groups  try to protect their bases, and each base has an assigned guard. Members try to penetrate each other’s  base so it can be stolen by tagging it, but when the members themselves are “tagged” by their opponents, they become prisoners, who are lined up front as bait. A prisoner can only be “saved” and released  by a fellow group member by tagging him, allowing him to return to his base.

PIKU. The local “hopscotch”. A playing court is first drawn on the ground, consisting of squares and a home base—a pit stop where one can rest both feet. The game involves transporting a “batu” gamepiece--which may be a flat stone or pebble , a pottery shard—from one square to another, until the course is finished. This must be done by hopping, skipping or tripping the “batu”, forcing it to move to the next square without touching the drawn lines. Variations: pikung baru, sampaga, bale.

SALIKUTAN. Hide and seek game. Players conceal themselves in the neighborhood, to be found by one or more seekers. Th player designated as :it” or “taya” closes his eyes, and tart counting up to 10, while players hide. He then begins to look for the hidden players, shouting “Pung!” as he finds them. The game can end in many ways, but the most common is when the “taya” locates all players. The first to be found becomes the next “taya”.  Another salikutan variation has the seeker guarding his "home base"; the hiders can come out of hiding to race to home base; once they touch it, they are considered "saved”.

SINTAK. Sintak means “to throw with some force”. It is also the name of an old game played by Kapampangan girls as early as the eighteenth century. It is similar to jackstones—minus the bouncing rubber ball. The game of skill is played with five stones, in which one stone is propelled upwards, and while still in mid-air, another stone is picked up and the falling stone is caught at the same time. A variation is the Tagalog ‘siklot’, where the back of the palm is used to catch the stones.

SISINGLE. This is a singing variation of “talanan dutung”. It starts with a line of  children holding hands, with the lead child holding fast to a wooden wall, gate, tree trunk, or nay wooden object. With held hands swaying, they sing—“Sisingle, sisingle, dakal lang anak single, salibatu, salibatu, buntuk ng Kapitan Besyu. Boom-boom! Mamakbung!”. The last kid on the line now marches under the arm of the lead child touching wooden wall; this causes the arms of the first child to be crossed. The march continues, until all the children in the line have their arms crossed, and only then is the singing finished. At the last note of the song, the players break the line and scamper to look for a wooden object to touch. A player who fails to do so becomes the next “taya”, who calls for the next change of position.

SUNGKA. Sungká is ancient strategy board game that has versions all over the world—from Africa, North America to Asia—where it is known by names like mancala, chongka, congkak, bao, and oware. The board is played on a sungkahan, a carved length of wood with seven pits and two larger pits at both ends designated as “bale” (house). The game involves distributing the shells or pebbles around the pits, by dropping them  into the holes one by one, including putting one in his “bale”.  The objective is to empty all seven pits on one side and the player with the most number of shells in his “bale” wins. Old sungkahans, often carved with designs, are seen more in antique shops than in homes today.

SYATUNG. The tools of the syatung are two bamboo sticks, one at least a foot long, and the other, shorter by a third. The players take turn at hitting the shorter stick with the long stick, placed in a crevice on the ground. This causes it to somersault, which then is hit again in mid-air by the long stick. The object of the game is to land the shorter stick at a farther distance, which is measured by the same stick. The losing player has to run this distance while shouting “syatuuuuuuuung”, until he reaches the game’s starting point—the crevice on the ground. Variations of the name: syatu, shoktung.

TAMBUBUNG. Known as “patintero” in the Tagalog  region, it is the most widely played native game in the country. A playing field is drawn on the ground—3 sections, divided by a line in the middle. There are 5 players in each of the 2 competing teams. The object of tambubung is to get past the lines, which are guarded by players of the opposite team; one guard can traverse the middle line. Team loses when all its player gets tagged by a guard, and are eliminated.  The team then exchange places. “Tambobong” means a barn, or a granary. It is also the old name of Malabon.

TEKS. Teks are small playing cards with  illustrations of superheroes, comics, movie and TV series characters. These are used for trading, as well as for toss-up games, and were avidly collected in the 1960s-70s. Players bet on which side the teks card will come up, and the outcome is decided by flicking the teks in the air. Players often have favorite cards that they use for flipping;  all others are basically used as betting currency.

TILTIL-BAGUK.  This hand game with a fanciful name (“Dip in baguk” or salty shrimp relish)”is played by two children. One player holds his palm up in front of his opponent, and the other player “dips” his pointing finger in the middle of the open palm. The player then chants “tiltil…..baguk!”, after which he closes his palm in an attempt to entrap the opponent’s finger.

TOMPYANG. Children form a circle, put their hands on top of each other, count “metung, adua, atlu”, raise them up in the air, and bring them down again, some palms up and others palm down, eliminating whichever is the majority, until one hand is left. The object of this process is to choose either the “mano”(leader)or the “taya” (“it”, the dunce or pursuer) of the succeeding game.

TUKUPAN-SILIMAN. Kapampangan version of “Blindman’s bluff”. Tukupan-siliman means " to darken by covering eyes with cupped hands"The player designated as “taya” ( “it”) is blindfolded and tries to find his co-players gathered around him. The co-players move about, bluffing the blindfolded “taya” by calling out their locations and issuing misleading directions.


SOURCES:
Adapted from Dr. Lino L. Dizon’s article, ‘games Children Don’t Play Anymore”, Singsing Magazine, vol. 2, no. 1
Castro, Alex R., “Toy Stories”, Views from the Pampang, www.viewsfromthepampang.blogspot
PICTURE SOURCES:
Laban-babagwa: Fililipino Heritage, vol, VI. Felta Publishing.
Tukupan-Siliman: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/128211920616319627/
Bending, Salikutan, Sungka, Teks, Tompyang: Alex R. Castro photos