Malolos Congress [Photo via Google Images]
Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 22:38:00 06/15/2010
Reggie Aspiras, One of our food columnists, sent a text asking what the Founding Fathers ate in Kawit on June 12, 1898. Contrary to popular belief, the declaration of independence was read from the window of Emilio Aguinaldo’s home in the afternoon, not early in the morning. At most, the Founding Fathers would have had merienda, or perhaps a dinner, to celebrate but unfortunately all that is lost to history. I would presume that bibingka was served sometime because in the book of accounts of the revolutionary government there was a budget allotment for “bibingquera ng presidente.” (Aguinaldo had a personal bibingka maker?) In another entry, we see that the foot soldiers were supplied with cigarettes and puto. I have yet find a reference to food served on June 12, 1898.
June is a busy month for historians in the Philippines because June 12 is Independence Day, and a week later Jose Rizal’s birthday is commemorated on June 19. Some history is discussed in classes that open all over the country around these dates, but we have forgotten a feast that was laid out months later in the town of Malolos, Bulacan, capital of the First Republic. Here the Founding Fathers of the Nation wined and dined their way to nationhood.
On Sept. 29, 1898 a fiesta was held in Malolos to celebrate the “solemn ratification of the declaration of Philippine independence.” What was served for lunch that day is documented through a wonderfully designed menu by Arcadio Arellano that was folded to resemble the Philippine flag, and opened to a festival of food in French:
Hors d’Oeuvre: Huitres, Crevettes roses; beurre radis; olives; Saucisson de Lyon; Sardines aux tomates; Saumon Hollandaise. [Entrees] Coquille de crabes; Vol auvent a la financiere; Abatis de poulet a la Tagale; Cotelettes de mouton a la papillote, pommes de terre paille; Dinde truffee a la Manilloise; Filet a la Chateubriand, haricots verts; jambon froid—asperges en branche. Dessert. Fromages; Fruits; Confitures; gele de Fraises; Glaces. Vins: Bordeaux, Sauterne, Xeres; Champagne. Liquers: Chartreuse; Cognac. Café, The.
Even in plain English the menu is still grand, so grand in fact that the late National Artist Nick Joaquin declared effusively, “The menu is a culmination, like Malolos itself, and should stand side by side with the Malolos Constitution.”
On top of the menu was a triangle with the date September 29, 1898 and on the flaps were the words “Libertad” and “Fraternidad,” obviously an allusion to the French Revolution. The word “Igualidad” runs down the center of the menu to complete the rallying cry of 1789.
For starters, the Founding Fathers were served: oysters, prawns, buttered radish, olives, Lyon sausages, sardines in tomato sauce, and salmon with Hollandaise sauce. The main courses consisted of: crabmeat in its shell (possibly torta de cangrejo better known locally as rellenong alimasag), filled pastry shells, chicken giblets a la Tagale (quite possibly the common adobo given a fancy name), mutton chops with potato straws, truffled turkey a la Manilloise (perhaps a pavo embuchado), beef filet a la Chateaubriand with green beans, and cold ham with asparagus. For dessert there was an assortment of: cheeses, fruits, jam, frosted strawberries and ice cream. To wash down the seven appetizers, seven courses, and four desserts, one progressed from Bordeaux to Sauterne, sherry and champagne, then to the liqueurs Chartreuse and Cognac, and finally to coffee or tea.
The Malolos menu inspires more questions than answers. Did the Founding Fathers eat everything as listed in the menu? Or was the food passed around in bandejados or platters, each guest choosing from the various courses and taking just enough for himself? What kind of cheese was served? Was it the hard type known to all as queso de bola that could withstand the long sea voyage from Europe to the Philippines? Where did the ingredients for this meal come from? Surely, the wines, cheeses and other European staples were available from Manila specialty shops. Beef and lamb were imported from Australia. Were most of the ingredients fresh—as in, freshly scooped out of a can? How do you explain the ice cream? Ice was not readily available in Manila until the Americans established the Insular Ice Plant in the 1900s. Ice for this meal was imported from the United States, cut out in huge blocks from Wenham Lake near Boston and shipped all the way to India, with Manila as a stop-over for refueling.
The Malolos banquet shows how food can be read as a historical document emphasizing that new research is sorely needed in an area previously believed to be overdone and over-studied. The food was French (at least on the menu), an allusion to France and the French Revolution, an overt expression of civilization.
For centuries, the Spaniards, followed later by the Americans, justified the colonization of the Philippines as a temporary period of education and civilization of its people. With this elaborate French banquet, the Founding Fathers flaunted high culture to emphasize that the Filipino people were not childish and immature, but rather they deserved independence and were capable of self-government. The Malolos Menu may be a footnote in Philippine history, but what a story that humble note makes.
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