Taloctoc, Kalinga Dishes

Taloctoc, Kalinga dishes are as simple as the lifestyles of the old folk. I am speaking about the early 70s when I was still a child in Taloctoc.

Of course life has changed nowadays and town life had caught up with the younger folk. When I grew up though, this was how we cooked some dishes:

Vegetables:

Boil water
Cut the vegetables into cubes, and place them all in the pot
Cover until cooked

Meat:

Boil water
Cut meat into cubes, wash and place in boiling water
Cook until desired tenderness

This is generally the method used for all dishes. No condiments are added whatsoever.

Try doing this and you would taste the natural and genuine flavor of what you are cooking.

I, however, prepared salt and pepper mixture, with meat because it is also a blast when you dip the cooked and tender meat in salt and pepper as you eat.

This explains why most people then had longer life spans. The food was our and unadulterated without toxic nitrites and harmful coloring reagents that could make you sick.

Try cooking a dish at home, especially if these are fresh products. Simply boil them and drink the broth; you’ll find out a unique taste you may never have tasted before.

Head Hunting in Kalinga, is This True?

When I was 5 years old, I witnessed a man who had been a victim of a tribal dispute. There in front of me was a dead man; his head was sewn to his neck as it was totally severed from his body apparently with a razor-sharp bolo.

Back then, there was no “bodong” (peace pact) between my village and another village so it was a full blown tribal war. The death toll was rising and more and more grieving families wanted revenge for their loved ones.

Headhunting was then the method of revenge of one village to another. It did not matter whether you’re a relative or not of the deceased, as long as you belonged to that village then you had to be careful.

There were times when we took cover in the forests when the avenging tribal warriors from the other village came to extract revenge. Children were the most affected, in my young mind, it was a traumatic experience. I could still hear the cries of people around me as everyone scrambled for safety. Women and children were brought to safety, while the men geared up for war.

A lookout/crier would be assigned every night and would warn the people when danger is near so we could all ran for cover.

My grandfather once told me that there were vicious tribes who even bring the head with them to their village and would dance around it all night long. But, I thank God; I had never witnessed such event.

My native folks were really gentle people but they were extremely protective of family and territory. No villager would venture into another without proper information and permission. I grew up amidst these dangers.

Great efforts were made to reconcile the tribal differences with what we call the “bodong” (peace pact). It was an agreement forged with native rituals from both villages.

Little by little as education was brought to the young and some pursued higher education, a semblance of peace started to be established, as they began to realize that there is nothing to gain by these continuous slaughter, of even, innocent people.

As I grew up to become a teen, there were some villages that still went on with their tribal wars but by then, they were using guns. These were the villages which just wanted domination and not peace.

Slowly though, through the efforts of well meaning elders and socially responsible villagers, the “bodong” began to be established between each of the villages. It was a long drawn out process though with lots of impediments along the way.

Up to this time, the “bodong” is still the key that is keeping most of the villages in peace. Although, this agreement was and is not executed in the presence of an attorney, it was, and is, a lasting and well respected pact that every villager observed.

I still have to go back to my roots eventually in the future. But I know the Kalinga people are peace-loving and have a strong noble spirit of unity and responsibility for one another.

I would like to invite you to my village –Taloctoc, the paradise I had known as a child; the tranquil verdant mountains, the clear, rambling Chico river, and the unadulterated air in the atmosphere.

Intakkon od Taloctoc, Kalinga! (Let’s visit Taloctoc, Kalinga!)

Unique, Delectable Dishes of Taloctoc, Kalinga

The dishes in Taloctoc several years ago when I was a kid (now, don’t ask me the exact number of years, lol) are totally different from those of today.

Dishes then were fresh and simple. What you can taste is the genuine quiddity of the food being cooked.

Take for example fish; fish which we caught with our barehands from the Chico river, were not mixed with any ingredient which could mask the taste. They were simply wrapped in banana leaves, placed in small bamboo poles and then cooked over slow fire. This brings out the real taste of the fish.

If you are able to taste this, I know you would agree that nothing could beat the savory taste of a pure, unadulterated fish dish.

Luscious, green leafy vegetables which we plucked from our nearby gardens were just cooked in boiling water. The broth that comes out from the freshly harvested vegetable dish tasted like no other.

Nowadays, the broth from a vegetable dish are so full of condiments, you could not really savor the vegetable flavor in it.

There were rare times that the old folks wanted something fancy; they would add then a little coconut oil or coconut milk to the dish and sprinkled it with pepper. That tasted like a "blast"!

Native folks often said: “Mampiya, impon agammo de amam.” (It’s delicious; you could forget your father-in-law.)

I have watched also how men butchered pigs and cows, cut them into pieces (I didn’t see it gross at that time) and just boil them until they were tender. No salt, no condiments, nothing whatsoever – just plain water. And, my! It was one of the best tasting meat dish I have ever tasted; natural, pure and savory.

At times during summer, the men went monkey or deer hunting. This is in preparation for the rainy days. They cut the meat into small, thin slices and allow them to dry under the sun. This will make the meat, dry and preserved.

When rainy days came, all they did was to cook the meat until tender and then mix vegetables, or sometimes they just roast it. Even then, the natural taste of the meat was still intact.

What was amazing was that, no one ever got sick of cancer. It was most probably because what of people ate. The dishes that were cooked came directly from nature without any preservatives or food colorings added. These preservatives and additives have been proven to have ill effects on people, so be wary of what you eat.

I miss these Kalinga dishes. Perhaps, in the near future when I can find time, I would visit Taloctoc and once again catch my fish in the river and cook it in the riverbank with my bamboo poles!

A KALINGA RECIPE

Some Kalinga recipes:

The Kalinga rice:

2 cups Rice
shrimps or fish

Wrap the rice with the banana leaves just enough to fit the bamboo container.
Put 3/4th cup of water.
Put the shrimp on top of the rice.
Cook over low fire.

You would be surprise how palatable food tastes without any condiments.
It brings out the natural taste of rice and shrimp.
Try it.



Image from: 1 Free Clip Art

There is one dish from Kalinga that I find also delicious , it is called "Gaddiw".

Two pinches of salt is mixed with the fish.
Wrap it with banana leaves.
Place this inside a bamboo tube.
No water is added. (just the water remaining after the fish is washed)
Cook over low fire.

This maybe eaten with rice and tomatoes.