IP Cooking at PWC (Ata-Manobo)

Braving bad weather in the mountains, five Ata-Manobo cooks traveled all the way from Tapak, Paquibato to demonstrate how they cook their food to an appreciative audience of college teachers and students of the Philippine Women’s College of Davao on July 25. The cooks were Datu Roy Ali, Datu Roel Arthur Ali, Jr., Bae Epefania Pandia, Bae Lameda Dalag, and Bae Rosalyn Jurial. Heading the team was Datu Roel Arthur Ali, Sr. who is currenty the Deputy Mayor of the Ata-Manobos.

Binugsong te manok (roasted chicken wrapped in banana leaves) has a taste and aroma that the PWC teachers and students found very delicious.

Binaki (grated corn wrapped in alik-ik leaves) is a favorite viand by the Ata-Manobo but can also be a delicious afternoon snack.

The dishes that they cooked were humay te kuron (rice cooked in clay pot), binaki (grated corn wrapped in alik-ik leaves), tinalumbo te baboy (pork cooked in bamboo), binugsong te manok (roasted chicken wrapped in banana leaves), binugsong te tilapiya (roasted tilapia wrapped in banana leaves), and tinuog te kasile (roasted camote).

Every time a dish was cooked, the teachers and the students crowded the table to eagerly taste the dish. There were no left-overs, even of the rice cooked in a clay pot.  As it was recess time, some elementary pupils also watched the cooking demonstration and partook of the food. “Kailan kayo balik?” asked one of the pupils who scraped off every morsel of the succulent chicken grilled in banana leaves. 

Elementary students of  PWC eagerly pose with Ata-Manobo cooks Datu Roy Ali and Bae Epefania Pandia. The weighing scale on the table was used by Food Tech students who recorded the ingredients and procedure of cooking.  

 Datu Roel Arthur Ali was apologetic that he could not bring other ingredients for cooking, such as frogs and eels, for the more adventurous palates. It had been raining hard in the mountains and the rivers were swollen. But for the PWC teachers and students, what the Ata-Manobos had just cooked  was simply superb.

The cooking demonstration is part of the PWC’s on-going research into the culinary arts of the Lumads of Davao. The research aims to document and preserve Lumad cooking so that future generations of Filipinos will enjoy the unique and exquisite taste of tribal cooking. 

PWC of Davao Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Amelia B. Bonifacio listens as Deputy Mayor of the Ata-Manobos Datu Roel Arthur Ali, sr. explains the various ways that the Ata-Manobos cook their food. 

The Ata-Manobo cooks. From left to right: Bae Rosalyn Jurial, Datu Roy Ali, Bae Lameda Dalag, Bae Epifania Pandia, Datu Roel Ali Jr, and Deputy Mayor Datu Roel Arthur Ali Sr. The kid is Roel Arthur Ali VI.

(Published on Sunstar Davao, August 2012)

PWC Documents Uvu Cooking

             Armed with cameras, notebooks, and pens, the research team of the Philippine Women’s College of Davao (PWC) traveled to Sitio Macatabo, Barangay Carmen, Baguio District, Davao City on Sept 5. to document Uvu-Manuvu cooking.

The PWC Research Team with the Uvu-Manuvu tribe.

The Uvu-Manuvu cooks were Bae Nilda Landim, Rodelyn Aggas, Mercy Aggas, Vecetation Bangcas, and Datu Paulino Landim, the chief cook.

Datu Landim cooks food stuffed in bamboo tubes over an open fire.

            Aside from cooking the usual pork, chicken, cassava, and rice, the Uvu-Manuvu cooks presented a very rare delicacy: bakbak or frogs. For this special dish, 4 Uvu Manuvu boys had to trek for 3 hours to the Bunoyun River and camp out for the night to catch the frogs. The frogs were cooked in bamboo, while some portions were wrapped in alik-ik leaves and roasted.       

These bakbak or frogs were caught fresh from Bunoyun River.

            For the benefit of the PWC research team, Bae Nilda Landim showed how tinapoy is prepared. Tinapoy is fermented rice that is ordinarily prepared alone, in secret, and in silence by the cook. Violation of this rule will result in failure and spoil the tinapoy, making it inedible. Bae Nilda demonstrated the process of preparing tinapoy upon the request of the research team. She explained that since she was violating the rules of cooking tinapoy, she will throw away what she had made.       

Ka-lot is a poisonous tuber. The Uvu-Manuvu has found a way to make it edible through special cooking procedures.

To end the cooking session, Datu Paulino Landim showed the team the kal-lot, a tuber that is highly poisonous but can be eaten if prepared properly. According to Datu Landim, many hungry, retreating Japanese soldiers died at the end of the Second World War because they ate kal-lot. Unfortunately, the cooks could not show the team how to prepare the kal-lot properly because they only found a small kal-lot tuber  in the forest.

A variety of delicacies cooked in bamboo. Lutlot na bakbak, lutlot na humay, lutlot na manok, linaplap, lutlot na balanghoy, and lutlot na baboy.

            The cooking session with the Uvu-Manuvu is part of the PWC’s research into the Lumad culinary arts of Davao. The research aims to document and preserve Lumad cooking for the benefit not only of the Lumads but also of the entire Filipino people. 

(Published on Sunstar Davao, October 4, 2012)