09/03/2025
Kakanin was very much a part of my childhood. Biko, suman, biniribid, ibos, palitaw, and kutsinta were just some of the delicious goodies I enjoyed at my grandma’s house during summer breaks.
An hour past 1 in the afternoon, Inay Iyon would lovingly make our snacks in the wooden kitchen that Itay Vito had built. There’s no oven nor stove, only the ever-reliable dapug and talayop (old-fashioned way of cookery using wood, rice husks, and hollow bamboo). It was mesmerizing and such a quiet joy to observe Inay Iyon prepare the ingredients, taking her time as if kakanin was a non-laborious dish. She manually removed the coconut husks using a sharp palaw, expertly cut the coconut shell in one strike, and used the kudkudan to shred it. All other ingredients, she gets from the many plants and fruit-bearing trees in the backyard. Eggs are easy to access too since she raised a few roaming chickens and ducks. Not to forget the turkeys and pigs whom Inay named and greeted every day. (What she cooks using those will be for another post.)
Having snacks with my older cousins was such a joy. And because there were quite a few of us, we would patiently line up to have our coconut leaf make-shift spoons that Itay Vito personally handmade before getting our portion of Inay’s well-prepared merienda. We would sit around this big wooden table, and have our fill while giddily chatting about nothing and everything.
The Cassava Bites is an ode to the childhood season I had the privilege of experiencing. Taking the ingredients and procedure in baking the cassava a higher notch is equivalent to all the simple yet meaningful moments during those sweet summer days.
How about you? What happy memories do you have with your grandparents? 💗
