A taste of history and culture with Mama Sita

With each mouthful of food comes a long history of tradition and culture. More than just nourishment to sustain the physical body, what we like to eat helps define what we are as a people. Somehow, our food reflects what we value and hold dear.

Teresita “Mama Sita” Reyes, recognized the importance of food and culinary traditions long before it became the popular movement that it is today. Her descendants tell us the story that whenever she travelled abroad, she painstakingly prepared various local delicacies as pasalubong for relatives and friends who lived there. But then, she wanted to give her immediate relatives even more than the nostalgic “taste of home.” She wanted their children to love the Filipino flavors, too. Believing that even if the next generation was born and bred overseas they could be bonded to the motherland through food, she untiringly cooked and tested recipes in her kitchen. She made powders and sauces to make it easier for family members and other compatriots to quickly and easily cook Filipino food wherever they may be.

Today, Mama Sita is recognized as the woman behind the well-known brand of sauces and mixes. As her family continues her legacy of good cooking and bringing comfort food to Filipinos throughout the world, they have partnered with the academe to document and preserve vanishing or threatened food traditions.  Likewise, they have published numerous Filipino recipe books, and worked with talented chefs to create new uses for traditional Filipino ingredients to keep local food industries alive. Most noteworthy is an initiative called Mga Kwentong Pagkain that seeks to collect rich Filipino food lore before this is forgotten and lost.

Thus, it is fitting that the Malolos Heritage Society recently paid tribute to Mama Sita through an exhibit called “Mama Sita: Kababayan, Ina, Kusinera.” She is one of Malolos’ illustrious daughters, after all.  And at the historic Casa Real in Paseo del Congreso in Malolos, Bulacan, a series of photographs tells the story of how Mama Sita made it her life’s work to bring Filipino food into the new century.

At the opening of the exhibit Undersecretary Mary Grace Tirona, executive director, Commission on the Filipinos Overseas, acknowledged that Mama Sita’s innovations make it easier for the homemaker to cope with the demands of the times. She mentioned that while there is no time to grate coconuts, make homemade preserves or plant in backyard gardens, Mama Sita lightens the cooking load for both Filipinos here and overseas.

Tirona hopes that Filipinos continue to value and be proud of their culture wherever they may be.   â€Sana huwag makalimutan ang katutubong ugali at kabihasnan. Sana ipagmalaki natin ito sa buong mundo.”       

UKOY

(Shrimp and Vegetable Fritters)

Makes 25 fritters.

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup  all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch 

1 pouch  Mama Sita’s Palabok mix

 3/4 cup  cold water   

2 cups  kamote (sweet potato), cut into thin strips    

1 stalk  leek, sliced diagonally                                     

1 ½ cups tagunton or whole small shrimps

½ cup tokwa (tofu),cut into half-inch cubes

1 cup cooking oil  

Garlic dipping sauce:                      

½ cup Mama Sita’s coconut nectar vinegar

1 tbsp.  garlic, chopped  

dash of black pepper

pinch of salt  

Procedure:

To prepare the batter:   

1. In a mixing bowl combine all-purpose flour, cornstarch and Mama Sita’s Palabok Mix.

2. Stir in the water and mix until smooth.

3. Add in the sweet potatoes, leeks, small shrimps and tofu. Mix well.

Form the fritters:    

1.  In a saucer, form batter mixture into small 3-inch (45 g) patties. Gently slide into pre-heated pan with hot oil and fry until golden brown, about five minutes.

2. Drain excess oil.Serve hot with garlic dipping sauce.

Prepare the sauce:   

 In a bowl, combine vinegar, garlic, black pepper and salt.