Masbate’s Carmelado

It’s white, sweet and creamy, and captures the heart of every person with a sweet tooth who visits the island-province of Masbate, some 1,000 km south of Manila.

BY DABET CASTANEDA
Bulatlat

MILAGROS, Masbate – It’s white, sweet and creamy, and captures the heart of every person with a sweet tooth who visits the island-province of Masbate, some 1,000 km south of Manila.

This native delicacy made of pure carabao’s milk and white sugar is called carmelado (literally, caramelized). Cut into thin rectangular shapes and wrapped in white Japanese paper, these are sold by women and children around the Masbate Port in packs of 10 at P10 ($0.19 at an exchange rate of $1=P53.15) per pack.

Origins

Vendors say the origin of carmelado dates back in the 1950s in a small village called Bacolod in this town, an hour’s jeepney ride away from the port.

Most of the households in this village cook and sell the native delicacy for a living. At the entrance alone of the village, more than 10 houses have signs that read, “Carmelado Sold Here.” The tricycle driver who brought this writer to this village said there are more homes around the village with the same sign.

The village is nestled between ranches where cows and carabaos abound.  

When this writer asked around who were the original makers of carmelado were, people in the neighborhood all pointed toward Consuelo Medina’s house. “Para s’yang carmelado,” (She herself resembles the carmelado) her neighbors said because of her white hair and fair skin.

The 67-year old Medina, or Aling Choleng to her neighbors, started producing the sweet and creamy native delicacy in the early 1950s. She said it was her Ninang (godmother) Diday who taught her the “perfect recipe” and correct way to cook carmelado.

She said she watched Ninang Diday cook. Her task was just to cut the sweet carmelado into two-inch long thin rectangular pieces and wrap them. Brown paper, she said, was used then because the Japanese paper wrapper became popular only much later.

The cooking

The perfect mixture, Aling Choleng said, consists of 15 235-ml bottles of pure carabao milk mixed with one kilo of white sugar. This may sound simple, she said, but it’s the way it is cooked that makes the difference.

As soon as the milk is delivered by around 9 a.m., Aling Choleng places it in a stainless pail and mixes it with sugar. “Hahaluin ng mga 30 minuto o hanggang matunaw ang asukal,” (I stir it for 30 minutes or until the sugar is completely dissolved.) she said, then it is ready to be cooked in fire.

Aling Choleng still uses old fashioned firewood for cooking. “Kasi mahal ang gasul,” (Liquefied petroleum gas or LPG is very expensive.) she said. It takes around two to three hours to cook the delicacy.

The milk and sugar mixture is placed in a large cooking pan called kawa. A long-stemmed ladle made of bamboo is used to mix until it is cooked. “Dapat mahaba ang hawakan ng sandok para hindi masyadong malapit sa apoy ang nagluluto,” (The handle of the ladle should be long so that the cook will be far from the fire.) she said.

Continuous stirring while cooking is the key to a perfect carmelado, said Aling Choleng, especially when the mixture starts to boil. “Lumaki na nga ang muscle ko sa braso sa kakahalo,” (My arm muscles grew big because of mixing.) she smiled. 

Aling Choleng said that the mixture is cooked if it does not stick to the pan anymore. The mixture is then placed in a flat, even surface, flattened with a rolling pin and then cut into rectangular-shaped slices. It is then covered with a piece of cloth to allow it to cool before being wrapped individually.

The old woman said it takes the whole day to make 180 pieces. “Pag nag-umpisa ako ng alas-9, matatapos ako alas-onse na ng gabi kasi matagal magbalot,” (If I start at 9 in the morning, I finish by 11 at night because it takes long to wrap.) she said.

A family business

Aling Choleng said carmelado had been her family’s source of living since she got married at 14 in 1955. Her husband, then 22, helped in the cooking while her nine children wrapped and helped sell them.

They were usually up as early as 2 a.m. to be able to vend the sweets at the pier by 3 a.m. in time with the arrival of ferry and fishing boats. By 8 or 9 a.m., they were making the rounds of government offices and hospitals. After all the sweets had been sold, which would be by around lunchtime, they would go home and start cooking again. 

Aling Choleng said she takes pride in the fact that all her nine children learned how to cook the native delicacy. Her eldest child Susan inherited the business.

She said some of her neighbors who now also make a living by producing carmelado were her former helpers who learned just by watching her. “Maganda naman yung natuto sila para may kabuhayan kaming lahat,” (It’s good that they learned how to cook the sweets so that all of us have a source of livelihood.) she said. Bulatlat 

BACK TO TOP ■  PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION  ■   COMMENT

© 2006 Bulatlat ■  Alipato Publications

Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.