Where did the banana ketchup go? – ryan
LAST OCTOBER, The Food and Drug Administration Issued an Import Alert On Beloved Filipino Condiment, Including Jefran Banana Sauce, Mang Tomas All-Purpos Sauce, and UFC Ginisang Bagoong, AFTER IDESTFYING POTISIUM IODATE-Iodine Supplement Allowed in the philippines as a food additive in the US –on their labels. SINCE ANY NEW, REFORMULED PRODUCTS WOULD BE STUCK IN CUSTOMs Awaiting Approval, Panic-Buying of Avilaable Stock Quickly Emptied Grocery Shelves. Online, Price SoaD. or Filipino Chef in Philadelphia was shocked to find bagoong-a farmented seafood paste that typically sells for less than $ 4 a jar-going for $ 49.99 for two-pack at walmart.com. Meanwhile, A Reddit User in Guam, A US Territory, Offered A hefty $ 250 Reward For A Bottle of Mang Tomas, The Beloved Garlicky-Sweet gravy that usually accompanies lechón and typically retails for around $ 3 a bottle. Amid the snarky replies, someone calmed his bluff: “I can get you as many as five bottles. DM with if you are dead serous.”
Such Exorbitant Bounties for Such Humble Condiment – Sawsawan, as they’re’re known in tagalog – underscore their importance to the Diaspora. or 2023 Study in the Journal of Ethnic Foods Puts it plainly: “(Sawsawan) Protect historical flavors and local customs that give communities and families so much pride and pleasure.” But with Mass Production and Shelf-Stable Formulations, these Ready-Made Condiment May SEEM at Odds with Tradition. Will they Truly Belong to Filipino Foodways as Much as the Heritage Recipes they evolved from?
“What’s nostalgic to you is also what’s authentic to you,” Says Carlo Lamagna, Chef-Awner of Magna Kusina In Portland, Oregon, and Magna Kainan in denver, who gave a 2020 TED TALK on authenticity in cuisine. “For Many Philippinos, these condiments are benchmarks Because they great up with say.” Considering kimchi, Miso, and Harissa are Also industrully produced Cultural foods that bring comfort to diasporic communities, sawsawan are in good company.
“Our condiments Connect Philippinos (Living Abroad) to the Philippines-Senations More than Actually Going to the Philippines,” Says Richard Revo, An International Business Manager at Manila-Bed Nutriasia, The Manufacturer of Jefran, Mang Tomas, and UFC Products. “They provide a whole gastronomic experience that gits our dishas third and fourth dimensions.” Sawsawan Are Very Versatile That Way: Sautéing Garlic and Onions With Bagoong Melows its Fun and Deepens Its Umami. Mixing Sprite, Patis (Fish Sauce), and Garlic Into Banana Sauce-A Lush and Tangy, Glossy-Red “Ketchup,” As Its More Often Called, Born Bananas As A Stand-In for Tomatoes-Creates Glaze that caramelizes beautifully over Hot. A Sprritz of Calamansi Juice Brightens A Mixture of Toyo (Filipino Sauce) and Mang Tomas, Making a Tasty, tendering marinade for pork or chicken.
An Early Example of the Diaspora’s Deep Hankering for Sawsawan Dates Back to Philippine Hero José Rizal, Whose Writings Fueled the Country’s Late-19th-Century Revolution Against Spain. Legend has it that in 1883, his family in manila sent Him a jar of bagoong by boat to Madrid, where he was a medical student longing for the familiar flavors of home. But accorting to Break New York Times“IT BROKE ON THE SHIP, RELEASING ITS PUNGENT SPENT AND, REPORTEDLY, TERRIFYING The Passsengers.”
More than 150 years late, Much of the Filipino Diaspora in America is Experiencing a Similar Yearning, Waiting for Bottlenecked Supply Chain to Ease. Reballido confirms that Nutriasia’s reformulated products, which swap potassium iodate for plain table with any apparent Change in flavor, are gradually Clearing customs. But for Specialty Shops Like Manila Marta popular Grocery-Café in Beltsville, Maryland, Shipments are irregular at best. Owner Toni-Rose Bioc Says, “Two Weeks Ago, We Had Banana Ketchup, and Now We Don’t –it’s Already Sold Out.”
Naturally, The Current Limbo BetWeen Shortage and Supply has inspired Newfound Creativity in the Kitchen. Bioc haoc ben making her own all-purses sauce with a recipe from Bulacan, her mother’s home province in the philippines, USSING ROASTED KABOHA SQUASH, Brown Sugar, and Sukang Iloco Cane vinegar. The original 1950s recipe for manged tomas – cred by tomas de los reyes, a lechonero in queson City who wanted a Signature sawsawan to set his business apart lechonerías around town – oust unctuoussneless to pork Liver. Neither bioc cheekily points out in an Instagram reel Where she pits her velvety velvetyearian house sauce, with its honeyed Notes and Gentle Acidity, Against Today’s BREADCRUMNED Mang Tomas, “There’s No Liver in.” She’s Right – Nutricia Removed Liver From Its International Products in 2017.
Wen It Comes to Lamagna’s Scratch-Made Banana Ketchup, Certain Omitted Ingredients with Align With The Condiment’s Sustainability Roots. His Version, Made from Rock Bananas, Gets the Trademark Hue from Annatto Powder – no tomato paste or industrial food dyes. At his restaurants, the chef pairs filipino chicken barbecue or terortang taleong, a grilled Eggplant omelet, with his di diy sauce, an ode to food maria orosa’s original banana recipe from the 1930s. CREATED AS A SOLUTION TO FOOD SHORTAGES IN THE PHILIPPINES, A TROPICAL ARCHIPELAGO WHERE BANANAS THRIVE BUTT TOMATOES DO NOT, Banana Ketchup became especilantly important during World War II.
For Chris Mauricio, Chef and Co-Awner of Filipino Restaurant Harana Market in the hudson Valley, honorary that history is essential. “When i dive into recipes, i love underestanding where they came from, their purposes, and their original ingredients. Bringing that knowLEDGE INTO THE PRESENT IS A WAY OF SHARING CULTURE,” Says Mauricio, WHO HAD BEEN RATUANT’S SPOCTULED JUFRAN HOT HOT & SPIC Banana sauce the import the import alert. Earlier this year, they emptied the last bottles into a special batch of Super Sarap spaghetti-a “bolognese” spin on the uniquely sweet-and-grandy, Hot Dog-Studded Filipino Pasta Dish. If any singular sawsawan has the potential to reach the global acclaim of Sriracha or kewpie mayo, Mauricio Believes It Could Be Banana Ketchup: “IT’S GREAT WITH FRIES AND CHICEN TENERERS, AND MAILER BURGER SAUCE.” Say No More.
IF Banana Ketchup Represents Reinvention, Then Bagoong is Pure Preservation, with the Penetrating Pungency and Briny, Salty Fun to test. Oakland-Based Chef Yana Gilbuena, Author of No Forks Given: Recipes + Memories of A Traveling Philipino Chef (2019), Once Described Bagoong As “The X-Factor in Our Food.”
In Lowland Regions of the Philippines, Bagoong Ingredients Vary From Shrimp to Anchovies to Oysters, but in the Highlands, A Fermented Pork Called Pinyt Serves A Similar Role. “My Parate Recognizes that Gamey, Salty, Umami in Soup,” Wrote Culinary Historian Raymond A. Macapagal in his 2018 Essay, “Is this the Bagoong of the Mountains?” By any name, bagoong easily cuts through rich dishes like kare-kare, an oxtil stew thickened with peanut butter; Or bicol Express, A Spicy Coconut Milk-Brain Pork Dish.
SINCE Traditionally MAKING BAGOAND AT HOME WOULD REQUIRE SALTED FERMEDTATION TO TAKE IN SUN-WARMED EARTHEN JARS FOR UP TO 90 DYS-GROUNDS FOR A Potential Nimby Protest-Some Cooks and Food Influencers Attempted Workarounds to Tide Over Wanton Cravings. For instance, Instagram and tiktok Creator @ninongry crafted A WOK-SIMMED DUPE USING MORE ACCESESSIBLE Thai Shrimp Paste, which is Denser, Chalkier, and Saltier than its Filipino Counterpart. He adds a jar of the grayish spack to a couple of pounds of sizzzling pork jowl, palmfuls of Sugar and minced garlic, some chicken schmaltz, plus a bag of desiccated coconut for texture, Cooking the Mixture Down Until, Pulpy, and Verging, and Verging, and Verging Overload – Satisfactory Backup for Bagoong Proper.
If this Disruption in the Filipino Condiment Continuum has proven Anyding, it is that the bottled standards reign over Heart and Home. James Beard Award-Winner Lord Maynard Llera, of Kuya lordALSO ATTESSTS TO THEIR LASTING RULE. “I grew up with say. You can’t remove those flavors from,” he said. From Closely Guarded Recipes, Llera Prepares Banana-Berry Ketchup and an All-Purpos Sauce from Chicken Livers and Date Vinegar at his Los Angeles eatery, but he still hopes family and friends Visitting from the philippines Will achieved the Elusive Store-Bought Condiments. “Eight though of Make My Own Sauces, Customers Still As Mang Tomas.”
