Forgotten foods

If you were born in the 50s, 60s and 70s you probably came across local fruits like chico, atis and mansanitas. That was before globalization and WTO when we started to get Fuji apples (from China), oranges, kyatkyat, pears and other imported fruits. Where are these local fruits of our childhood? Are they some of the food we have already forgotten? It would be sad for children today not to know how to eat santol or langka, aratiles and the like. What can we do to not forget what fruits remain in our backyard farms?

Our Slow Food movement (www.slowfood.com) encourages everyone to list the fruits and vegetables they no longer see in markets in a compendium or catalog called the “Ark of Taste.” So far we have asked to list (or nominate) even coffee like Liberica (Barako), which is now seeing a resurgence in markets, and adlai, an ancient grain which is now being used by chefs as a grain other than rice. We only have about 60 products listed so far and we want more. The more we list, the closer we get to biodiversity as people become aware of what we want to save. All it takes is for you to recall what fruits we have stopped seeing in markets.

Every summer I look out for pajo or paho, a teeny weeny variety of mango that has a fantastically different fragrance and makes excellent pickled mango or burong mangga. I found some the other day at the weekend market and, not content with having the fruits, I searched for seedlings to plant. Luckily, through special interest FB groups, I found some eight – yes, just 8 – seedlings in a farm in Batangas. I’m going to plant them soon in our small farm in Amadeo, Cavite.

All it takes is an interest in doing our bit to preserve our culture, our childhood memories whilst preserving biodiversity. This is not such a big word. It is what the Bee Movie is about. It is about doing our part in looking after the different species that live with us on this planet and making sure they still thrive. Anybody and everybody can be a part of it. How?

• Be curious. What fruits from your childhood do you not see anymore? Mabolo? Macopa? If you can use Facebook to locate seedlings or fruits, go and find them and put one in your backyard. Or tell us and we will plant them.

• Be mindful. Eat local whenever you can – have your share of summer fruits and whatever comes your way for as long as it’s in season. Avocado, duhat and other local fruits have their seasons. Some naturalists say: “If you eat every fruit in season all year, you would have gotten your complete vitamin regimen.” So true.

• Be part of it. If you do not care to plant, at least consume it. This way the farmers will continue to plant and harvest.

• Talk about it. If you won’t plant, at least tell people about it. Before you know it, and with importation being more laborious and expensive, we may just rediscover all these “forgotten foods.” Use your social media accounts to share information with friends and family about preserving these local food.

That’s all it takes. If you have read this far, you can definitely be part of it. Help us list the fruits of your childhood. Don’t forget the snacks, food items and just about anything edible that you no longer see in markets. Remember, the consumer is a co-producer. If you stop buying, the planting stops too.

Like souring ingredients, for example. If we continue to buy instant sinigang mixes then people will stop using kamias, sampalok, tabon tabon, batuan and sua as souring ingredients for sinigang, kinilaw and other local fare. Though the instant mixes are developed for convenience of cooks, we do not need that convenience now. We have all the time to cook, we have all the time to stew and watch the pots boil. After all, we are now home more than ever before.

It is quite gratifying to know that after listing Barako in the Ark of Taste, in just a few years we have put Barako or Liberica front and center of our local coffee varieties. This way more people will propagate this “BIG” bean coffee we can again be famous for. It will also give our farmers a leg up in propagating a variety that’s sought after and can command a higher buying price.

We published the book “Barako: The Big Bean” in 2005 (Anvil Publishing) and it took some 15 years to get the awareness and consciousness apparent and palpable. But it happened.

Adlai (also listed in Ark of Taste), which used to just be considered hog feed, is now served in fancy restaurants or is part of the catering menu of famous local chefs. Thank you chefs and thank you people who are open to trying “new” old varieties of grain, coffee, cacao and other tropical produce we can be proud of.

So give it some thought. Everyone has a childhood memory of fruits, vegetables, grains and it would be sad if children of today had nothing to treasure but Fuji apples and kyatkyat. It’s time to rediscover our local fruits and, unwittingly, you may have already done biodiversity. It’s really not such a big word after all.

*      *      *

Chit Juan is councillor for Southeast Asia of the Slow Food Movement.