This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 13, May 7-13, 2006
Pride of Ilocanos–Giant Rice
Cake, Dinengdeng BY
ACE ALEGRE Tagudin Mayor Roque Verzosa
said 200 persons helped make the giant rice cake using 250 gantas
(roughly 560 kilos) of malagkit (glutinous rice), 1,000 pieces of
coconut, and 125 gantas (roughly 280 kilos) of molasses (sugar cane
juice). The rice cake was placed on
a gigantic bilao (flat basket of woven bamboo strips) that took three
weeks to make. The giant inkiwar
was displayed at the town plaza where some 3,000 villagers from the 43 barangays
of Tagudin and other visitors eagerly lined up for a piece. Verzosa said Tagudinians
have become better at making the giant rice cake, observing the standards in
sanitation in food preparation. Agoo's 1001
dinengdeng menus Dinengdeng
is a popular Ilocano vegetable dish, consisting of locally-grown legumes and
sprouts. It is mainly flavored with bagoong isda (fermented fish paste),
and grilled fish. On May 1, thousands
gathered at the newly-renovated Imelda Park at the town center for the 2nd
Dinengdeng Festival. “There is nothing like
dinengdeng, and nothing like Agoo dinengdeng,” said Agoo Mayor
Eufranio Eriguel as he led La Union Governor Victor Ortega around the 1001
dishes for a taste test. The governor could only nod in approval as he chewed a
mouthful of dinengdeng sabong kalabasa (pumpkin flowers). © 2006 Bulatlat
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The towns
of Tagudin in Ilocos Sur and Agoo in La Union made Ilocanos proud as they cooked
up two things closest to their heart.
Bulatlat
A sticky rice cake the size of a small swimming pool and a vegetable dish cooked
1,001 ways. Ilocanos may not be known as the world's best chefs but on May 1,
they made their own claim to fame, with a giant inkiwar (rice cake) and
dinengdeng (vegetable stew) cooked in more ways than you can taste.
Giant inkiwar of
Tagudin
In Tagudin town, Ilocos Sur province, Tagudinians struggled to make it to the
Guinness Book of World Records with a 10-meter in diameter inkiwar.
Verzosa said it took them a week to prepare the giant fete, in time
for fiesta day when thousands of Tagudinians come home from abroad to
join the revelries.
Inkiwar
is an Ilocano word meaning “to stir.” And stir the cooks did for days,
patiently and continuously, on 20 giant silyasi (vat). They didn’t cook
with blue flames, but the Ilocano way – flames from dried bamboo over giant
makeshift ovens dug in the ground.
Festival chairperson Antonina Ocania said they had better preparations for the
giant inkiwar festival this year than last year. She beamed to reporters
while she sliced and gave out chunks of the sticky cake.
Ocania said they spent P185,00 for the inkiwar, almost double the
P100,000 they spent in 2005.
The fishing and farming town of Agoo in La Union showed how it can cook a
favorite Ilocano dish in more ways than 1,000.
Agoo "chefs" dressed in native Iluko pandiling and patadyong
(blouse and skirt weave) paraded their 1001 fares made of different vegetable
ingredients: dinengdeng kalabasa (pumpkin), dinengdeng patani
(lima bean), dinengdeng kardis, dinengdeng talong (eggplant), and
dinengdeng okra.
The people of Agoo promised to hold another Dinengdeng Festival next year, as
the Tagudinians vowed to make the giant cake again, to honor St. Agustine, their
patron saint. Bulatlat