Food Historian Ige Ramos Serves Cavite’s Unsung Cuisine
/Book Review: Republic of Taste: The Untold Stories of Cavite Cuisine
Ige Ramos Design Studio, 2018
Republic of Taste: The Untold Stories of Cavite Cuisine by Ige Ramos places Cavite on the culinary map of the Philippines next to provinces famous for their gastronomic offerings. (Design and Photo by Ige Ramos)
A Manila visit for me is not complete if I don’t see Caviteño Ige Ramos, Filipino food scholar. He triggers an appetite for learning as he uncovers a cauldron of stories on Cavite’s cuisine. Everyone who listens to his culinary anecdotes leaves the table hungry for more.
I purchased a copy of Republic of Taste: The Untold Stories of Cavite Cuisine by Ige Ramos last year. It is a cookbook, history resource, memoir, geographical guide, and a collection of culinary essays on Cavite served in 160 glossy pages.
Guillermo G. "Ige" Ramos Jr., is a Cavite food historian, cookbook author, book designer, chef and artist. (Photo by Stanley Ong)
Ige’s book leaves readers riveted with exquisite photographs, illustrations, maps, stories, and recipes bound together in a flawless design. Its introductory pages on Cavite’s history, the exposition of the breadth and depth of the province’s cultural fabric show that he has spent years researching, writing, and creating a culinary masterpiece.
Cavite is a province 21 kilometers southwest of Manila and is the heart of the Philippines. Cavite City was the portal for the Galleon Trade during the Spanish colonial period starting in the 16th century.
In Republic of Taste, Ramos shows the cuisine of Cavite as a product of history and terroir. Origins of heritage recipes are traced to Cavite’s history and geography. Recipes reflect influences from foreign traders and colonial invaders. Back stories reveal unique anecdotes from our ancestors’ era.
Ige shares more than 60 heirloom recipes never before published, gathered from oldtime Caviteño families. One drools over recipes for sawsawans, ensaladas, adobos; for quesillo, bacalao, calandracas, tortang Chabacano, pipian, valenciana gentriseno; plus, descriptions of Panciteria Caviteña, almusal with Imus longganisa, kakanin, merienda fare and more.
Bacalao - the Cavite version is served with steaming white rice and freshly-grated mango in salted brine. This dish was originally made using Basque salted cod imported from Bilbao or San Sabastian, Spain. Today, this has been replaced by labahita or lapu-lapu and colored with annatto seeds. (Photo by Stanley Ong)
“This book is not a definitive encyclopedia of Cavite’s cuisine. I am merely scratching the surface,” said Ige.
After devouring Ige’s book, fans of Philippine cooking will have a new understanding of culinary traditions that have been there all along. This book is a gem for food enthusiasts who welcome the resurgence of vintage recipes.
“Ige Ramos has chosen to trace Cavite’s past through its food and in the process found a history rooted in its food: how geography determined the products of the land,” writes historian Ambeth R. Ocampo in the foreword.
As an outsider, my affinity for Cavite was limited to enjoying halo-halo in the ‘70s at Digman’s in Bacoor or the tastiest fresh mussels and sweetest fruits from roadside vendors, on our way to vacation resorts. I overlooked Cavite’s rich heritage and strategic importance in the struggle for Philippine independence. Ige Ramos’ Republic of Taste has awakened my desire to know more.
On a trip to Cavite, Ige reconnected me with history at the President Emilio Aguinaldo shrine in Kawit. Then, we purchased pasalubongs at the famous Robinson’s Tamales, whose intricate family recipe is decades upon decades old. We were ravenous, so Ige brought us to Asiong Caviteño Restaurant owned by Sonny Lua, from one of Cavite’s oldest families. We feasted on pancit choco en su tinta (squid noodles), homemade pan de sal and halayang sampaloc (tamarind jam); each treasured recipe is in this book. It was an afternoon of savoring “Hokkien, Malay, Mexican and Basque confluence in Cavite cuisine.”
Cavite City's Tamales from Robinson's - These savory, peppery and nutty tamales are made by the Robinsons, the last family producing tamales on a commercial scale. Recipe was handed down from Francisca Sacramento Robinson vda. de Guevarra to her son Florencio & his wife, Ellen. The first generation to cook these delicacies was family matriarch Illuminada Guerrero Sarmiento who married Henry B. Robinson, a member of the US Naval Expeditionary Forces, who fought under Admiral George Dewey in the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898. (Photo by Stanley Ong)
“With the Philippines’ rapid urbanization and the rural-to-urban migration, I wouldn’t be surprised if these traditions vanish in our lifetime,” fears Ige.
That said, Ige welcomes food enthusiasts and kindred souls who visit and get an introduction to artisans and purveyors of Cavite’s food specialties.
Ige’s notion of a Filipino foodie: “One must have a nose to distinguish the scent between fresh bagoong (shrimp paste) and rotting fish. One should have an aptitude for adventure and draw pleasure from eating street food unique to us – tusok-tusok (fish balls), betamax (barbecued pig’s blood) or tokneneng (deep fried, unfertilized duck’s eggs).”.
Up next on Ige’s plate is his newest book launched last September: Lasa ng Republika: Dila at Bandila, perhaps the first of contemporary culinary writing in Filipino. It will be part of his series of 10 books, a boxed set by late 2020. “It’s food writing in Filipino. It covers Philippine cuisine, and not just Cavite,” Ige said.
Lasa ng Republika: Dila at Bandila by Ige Ramos, written in Filipino is the first of a 10-series of books on Philippine cuisine. (Design by Ige Ramos)
“I don’t just promote Cavite. I promote Filipino food and culture. I am Filipino first, Caviteño second,” he stressed. “We must remember that without memory, there would be no society. A nation without a culinary memory is a nation without a soul.”
Elizabeth Ann Quirino
Elizabeth Ann Quirino, based in New Jersey is a journalist and author of the “Instant Filipino Recipes: My Mother’s Philippine Food In a Multicooker Pot” Cookbook. She is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and blogs about Filipino home cooking on her site thequirinokitchen.com.
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