My first food writing article

Last year, out of curiosity I joined a food photography and food writing seminar organized by the Filipinas Heritage Library. The seminar included a trip to Bulacan and Pampanga and from that trip emerged several photos and an article that thankfully, was deemed worthy of print in Yummy Magazine last May. Sadly, it got edited down to a few paragraphs which did not capture the essence of the article. Here is that piece and I do hope you like it... it's a tribute to one of the Philippines' kakanins called the "Tibok-Tibok." Enjoy!

The Tibok-Tibok: An Ode to Love from the City of Angels

Pure, unblemished and yes, unpretending. It is true love laid out in a bilao. And to me, it was love at first bite. This is how I fell in love with the tibok-tibok, a soft and silky milk pudding that tenderly melts in your mouth with each bite.

Honestly, I haven’t been much of a “kakanin” person. I fancied cakes, cupcakes, and anything with valrhona chocolate in it, influenced by Manila’s newest thing for dessert buffets. But the tibok-tibok has changed my perception of the kakanin – it is a refreshing change from the designer cupcakes with candy sprinkles, peppermint, bubblegum and strawberry frosting, and yes, even the rich valrhona chocolate that we have been stuffing ourselves with for months now. The tibok-tibok, with its sheer pureness, with its meek tenderness and with its plain white beauty, has made me a convert.

It was in Everybody’s Café in Angeles, Pampanga during a culinary trip where I met my first tibok-tibok. The Kapampangan women in our group said that it was named as such because it was ‘soft as a heartbeat’  (in Filipino, heartbeat is “tibok ng puso”). True enough, there is nothing quite as soft and as creamy as the tibok-tibok. You never even feel it in your mouth until you are swept away by its overwhelming creaminess which, they say, comes from using fresh carabao’s milk – no substitutes. This is probably what makes the tibok-tibok so light on the taste that after downing all those icing-laden cupcakes, you would swear them off the face of the earth.

As unassuming as it looks, this queen of kakanins requires simple ingredients. The key is in using the freshest carabao’s milk one can find. And in keeping with our culinary tradition, one needs good old galapong or rice flour then blended with some coconut milk and bit of dayap zest to make the tibok tibok’s flavor come alive. 

Perhaps, the appeal of the tibok-tibok is in its innocence. It is stark white in color minus the latik on top. It’s also not too sweet and with a sprinking of latik, you are treated to a nutty flavor that goes well with its light milky taste. For those wanting a little twist, it can be paired with some ube haleya. But alone, the tibok-tibok is a true delight. It believes in its own beauty and goodness. It needs no frosting to get you to love it.

I do believe that the tibok-tibok is the women of Pampanga’s ode to love. I can only imagine how it is painstakingly and lovingly made for their lovers, husbands, friends and families. I can almost imagine it being cooked, or created, by the women in total silence, like in the wee hours of the morning, so as not to disturb its freshness, its purity. I can almost see the lovely Kapampangan women softly whispering a prayer as each bilao of tibok-tibok comes out of their kitchen. And I can feel the delight of the lovers, husbands, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, to whom a tibok-tibok has been made and given as a gesture of kindness and of love.

My heart now beats for the tibok-tibok. I am happy to have had a taste of it and to have known how our women can create a love so pure and so real in a simple sweet pudding. It is a culinary masterpiece that comes from the heart.