00:00This vast place in Capas, Tarlac is recommended by tourists who want an action-adventure.
00:11But despite the beauty of the place, there is still a terrible past.
00:21The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
00:26Many villages were destroyed by the volcano.
00:31The community of the people of Ayta is one of them.
00:45So this is called Crow Valley here in Tarlac.
00:49As you can see, this is all mud.
00:53It was just filled with rocks.
00:56Those mountains are where the people of Ayta live.
01:01And they are our food now.
01:05This vast place used to be a farm.
01:09There are bushes, rice fields, and many other things.
01:13The people here get a lot of root crops and other plants to eat here.
01:19But since 1991, when Mount Pinatubo erupted,
01:23even Tarlac was affected.
01:26The land here became barren.
01:34But the people of Ayta have a solid and strong way of life.
01:38They continue to live in spite of the tragedy
01:42with the help of the blessings of the forest and mountains.
01:50These trees seem familiar to me
01:53because I have climbed many mountains and I know many people here.
01:58This is what we call Kalibangbang.
02:01Brother, is this called Kalibangbang?
02:05Yes.
02:07I am Kara.
02:09What is your name?
02:11Jun Gutierrez.
02:15From here, the Ayta community is getting closer.
02:19Vice Chairman Jun is in their place.
02:22Just the cheap ones.
02:24Yes, just the cheap ones.
02:26Like this?
02:28Yes, for example, this one.
02:30We will buy this one.
02:32Yes.
02:34Because this is the tasty one.
02:36This is the tasty one?
02:38Yes, this is the tasty one.
02:40As long as the color is light green.
02:42Like this, ma'am.
02:43Like this.
02:45Nowadays, when we cook soup,
02:49we use the mix, right?
02:55But in the past,
02:58this is what we used to make Kalibangbang.
03:02This is sour, right?
03:04Can I taste it?
03:06Yes, ma'am.
03:08Oh, it's delicious.
03:10It's sour.
03:11It tastes like lemon.
03:16Before we go to the kitchen of the foreigners
03:19and teach them how to cook,
03:21the ancient Filipino food is said to be sour.
03:24Because Filipinos are familiar with sour plants
03:27like Kalibangbang.
03:30This leaf is often boiled
03:33for the sourness to come out.
03:35But not all Filipinos are familiar with this sour leaf.
03:42It's sour.
03:44It's very sour.
03:46What is this?
03:51Is this vinegar?
03:53Vinegar with water?
04:00It's sour.
04:02Maybe this is calamansi.
04:05Jun often gets Kalibangbang.
04:07This is the flavoring for almost all dishes.
04:11It doesn't have chemicals.
04:13Yes, it doesn't have chemicals.
04:15It's a natural food that Filipinos use like this.
04:19Because this is what our parents taught us.
04:23Kalibangbang cannot be bought in markets and supermarkets.
04:27Only in the mountains, you can taste it for free.
04:30I really want to be with the Filipinos
04:32because they are very good at finding food in the mountains.
04:38That's what they need to go to the market.
04:40Their market is the whole mountain, the whole forest.
04:43I'm getting curious.
04:45Can you show me?
04:47Can you teach me how to cook using Kalibangbang?
04:52Let's go.
05:03Jun and I joined him in the forest
05:06to get some other vegetables that Filipinos usually eat.
05:14You will notice that it's curled up.
05:18It's curled up.
05:20Okay.
05:22And when you cut it…
05:25It looks big.
05:27Yes.
05:28Let me see.
05:33Here it is. I can see it now.
05:39Kalut is a type of root crop.
05:42This is the alternative to rice.
05:45It is harvested from the soil with a deep groove.
05:49It looks like an ube.
05:51The farmers here do not grow rice on their own.
05:58Their source of carbs, carbohydrates,
06:02are usually root crops.
06:04And one of the root crops here is what they call Kalot.
06:08This is Kalot.
06:14The Kalot that we harvested is already ripe.
06:17It is already rooted and does not taste good when it is cooked.
06:21So we just turned it over and planted it again on the soil.
06:26The soil will be turned over so that it can be harvested in the next harvest.
06:33When it rains, it will come back to life.
06:37And it will grow like this again.
06:41But Kalot, which looks like a common root crop,
06:44does not taste good.
06:46But if it is cleaned and cooked properly, it can be eaten safely.
06:52So if I eat this now, will I die?
06:56You will feel it, ma'am.
06:58You will not die easily.
07:00But you will feel dizzy.
07:02Oh, I will feel dizzy.
07:04Yes. And if you do not eat it, you will die.
07:08You will die.
07:10And you will die immediately.
07:11You will really die.
07:13If it is dangerous to eat, why do you still eat it?
07:19We eat it because our parents taught us how to cook it.
07:27Soak it for 3 nights.
07:31Before you cook it, slice it thinly.
07:37If it is thick, it will take a long time to cook.
07:42It needs to be sliced thinly so that the taste will come out.
07:46The taste is there in the Kalot.
07:50This is where you will find out how resourceful the farmers are.
07:56Because even if they do not have anything to eat,
08:00they can still find food under the soil.
08:07If there is no Kalot to harvest, the farmers will also grow rice.
08:12The rice that they harvest here is really for the family to eat.
08:20Because they do not have machinery to produce a lot of rice.
08:27They carry the rice manually.
08:32Is this the one?
08:34How long will this take?
08:37It will take a while.
08:40This is done for the coating of the rice.
08:44If you look at the rice, it has a covering.
08:48The yellow color needs to come out so that the white color comes out.
08:56So you need to cover it.
08:59This is a workout.
09:08So this is the rice.
09:11The rice has been left here.
09:14The rice is not yet harvested.
09:17If you look at it, they did a good job.
09:21The crushed rice that cannot be eaten is still here.
09:26The rice that can still be eaten is on the other side.
09:30The rice that can still be eaten is here in the middle.
09:35Your rice will be small.
09:37This is rice from the mountains.
09:40From the mountains, okay.
09:42That's rice.
09:44Some of the rice will be used to make Balinsuso.
09:48They spread it in the mountains
09:51so that we can taste other foods from the mountains.
09:56The rice will be wrapped in banana leaves
09:59before putting it in the pot.
10:03It will boil until it's cooked.
10:07And when it's cooked, it's ready to be offered to the gods of the mountains.
10:15And now, it's time to shine with what we've tasted a while ago.
10:19Along with another vegetable that we will make Sinigang.
10:26It's a new type of spinach that they often use as a vegetable.
10:31It's an extra challenge to get it
10:34because you can't hold the spinach for a long time.
10:39The skin is hard.
10:43So if possible, don't touch it too much.
10:47And if you touch it, you'll get hurt.
10:50Mix the boiled water of the spinach before adding the spinach.
10:57And to fight the saltiness and sourness,
11:00we'll also add the kalibangbang.
11:04After an hour, when the spinach is soft,
11:08the traditional Italian veggie dish is ready to be served.
11:12It's so good.
11:14The flavor of the kalibangbang leaves is so good.
11:18You can't compare it to the one in Sampaloc
11:21because it has a different flavor.
11:25It's delicious.
11:28If you don't like vegetables,
11:31there's a meat alternative for the Italians.
11:34Tugas.
11:35If you don't like vegetables,
11:38there's a meat alternative for the Italians.
11:41Tugas or palakas.
11:43The cleaned tugas will be boiled in salted water.
11:47Mix it with the kalibangbang.
11:50And when the meat is soft,
11:52you'll have a kalibangbang tugas.
12:00It's crunchy.
12:02It tastes like chicken.
12:03Because of the amount of spinach,
12:05the kalibangbang can be salty.
12:07Even the sisig version of the Italians
12:09has kalibangbang as well.
12:13Add the heart of the banana.
12:15Add salt and squeeze it to get rid of the excess.
12:18Saute the garlic and onion in oil.
12:21Then, add the heart of the banana.
12:26When it's cooked,
12:28mix it with the boiled kalibangbang.
12:33This is the heart of the banana.
12:38It's delicious!
12:40You won't think that it has no vinegar.
12:42The only thing added to make it sour is the kalibangbang.
12:48The Italians have lived for more than 30,000 years in the Philippines.
12:53That's why it's true that
12:55the traditional dishes they used to cook
12:58are still alive and can be tasted until now.
13:04Let's go!
13:06Let's eat!
13:33Thank you for watching!
Comments