By: Kim Atienza
Last September, our Matanglawin TV show (Sundays, 9:45 a.m. on ABS-CBN), travelledto Black Island in Palawan.
We met up with its locals, who guided us to the cave where the elusive balinsasayaw birds’ nests can be found.
Such nests provide the basic ingredient of what we know in classy restaurants as bird’s nest soup. This can be found mostly in Black Island. Known as swiftlet in English, these birds can be found only in Palawan, particularly El Nido and nearby areas, including Black Island.
Yung laway nila ang humahabi ng pugad nila at ito ang ginagawang bird’s nest soup. Kilala rin ito bilang nido soup.
There are different kinds of balinsasayaw birds, but not all of them can create nests that are edible. Only five types of them can do so. These are white-nestswiftlet (Collocaliafuciphaga), black-nest swiftlet (Collocalia maxima), grass-nest swiftlet (Collocaliaesculenta), mossy-nest swiftlet (Collocaliavanikorensis), at Himalayan swiftlet (Collocaliabrevirostris).
The most common source of bird’s nest soup is the white-nest swiftlet.
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Alongside with the hunt for the peculiar bird’s nest, the episode also featured the indigenous group Tagbanuas, and their primitive practices that date back to their ancestors’ time.We also showed the lifestyle and practices of the local community.
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TRIVIA PA MORE: Here are more excerpts from the very useful book Living With Folk Wisdom by Abercio V. Rotor, Ph.D.
In the provinces, it is a tradition to go hunting for mushrooms in bamboo groves, on anthills, under rice hay and banana stalks during the monsoon season, especially after a period of heavy thunder and lightning.
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Aligning plants along with the sun’s path improves harvest.
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There is less overshadowing among plants compared to north-to-south, or any direction, especially when intercropping is practiced (e.g. corn with peanut, sugarcane with mungbeans, and coconut and coffee).
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Coconut farmers can detect a macapuno nut just by its sound upon hitting the ground.
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Send your questions on anything and everything to Kuya Kim through my Twitter account @kuyakim_atienza using #AlaminKayKuyaKim.
Ating tuklasin ang mga bagay-bagay na di niyo pa alam. Walang ’di susuungin, lahat aalamin. Ito po si Kuya Kim, Matanglawin, only here in Tempo.
