Mandaue takes aim at record for biggest ‘bibingka’

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu—The Mayol family has been making the famous Mandaue bibingka (rice cake) for generations.

When the city government decided to take a shot at the Guinness Book of World Record for biggest rice cake, the family was asked to help.

Eight members of the Mayol clan took up the challenge in supervising the cooking to ensure that the bibingka would come out soft and tasty.

One of them was Christine Mayol Cortes, a high school teacher who grew up with the familiar smell of freshly cooked bibingka cooked by her grandparents, Lorenzo and Lourdes Mayol.

The process was tedious, said Christine, but it showed how dedicated the volunteers were in ensuring that a positive and progressive image of Mandaue City was projected to the world.

Close to 300 teachers and students prepared the bibingka, which measured 50.5 feet in diameter, 3 inches in thickness and weighed more than 5 tons.

At least 61 sacks of rice, 61 sacks of sugar, 10 cans of yeast and milk from 13,500 coconuts were used to make the batter.

The preparation started at 8 a.m. of May 9. It was supposed to be unveiled at 3 p.m. of May 10 before a crowd of 6,000 inside Mandaue City Sports and Culture Center.

But due to its sheer size, it took longer for the bibingka to cook.

The bibingka was finally presented midnight of May 11. But the wait was worth it.

People lined up to get a slice of the 182-square-meter bibingka.

It was not yet known if the Mandaue City government was able to break the record although documents had been sent to Guinness Book of World Record headquarters in London.

But for Christine, the family will continue making the bibingka—a family tradition that started when her forefathers first cooked the rice cake for people attending the carnival during the town’s fiesta.

Christine said the family would continue to make bibingka even as they pursue their other jobs.

“This is tradition for us, a treasure that we can pass on to the next generation. Our parents were able to send us to school by making bibingka. For now, the members of the seventh generation are also exposed to making bibingka. This is something we are proud of and we intend to keep it,” Christine said.

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BIBINGKA

Bibingka is a type of rice cake native to the Philippines. This is traditionally made from galapong (milled glutinous rice), coconut milk, margarine, and sugar. During dawn masses on Christmas season, side street vendors are a common sight preparing and selling this delicious rice cake along with “puto bumbong”.

TAGAKTAK

The tagaktak is a crispy, thin, triangular-shaped cake that’s made of grounded or pounded rice, sugar and some water. People who have eaten the tagaktak said that it is almost similar in taste to the breakfast cereal of rice krispies.

Usually known as a rice fritter. A triangular net-like snack made of ground sticky rice batter with coconut milk and sweetened by sugar. Its fine and crisp strands looks like a curly fried pancit bihon. To make it even crispier, kamote (sweet potato) flour is added into the batter. The secret of creating its net-like shape is with the use of a coconut shell with small perforations (holes) at the bottom like a sprinkler. A thick pan with cooking oil is heated over a medium fire. Then the perforated coconut shell is positioned directly over the heated pan and the batter is poured into the shell. The batter would pass through the small holes and come out like string of noodles and directly fall into the hot pan and immediately fried.

MAZAREAL

Masareal is among the special local delicacies of Mandaue City in Cebu. Off white and crumbly in texture, people love it because of its nutty and sweet taste. It is said that it is made by mixing dough, peanuts and sugar or syrup. There are a lot of home-made versions sold in Cebu but they say that the best (and the original) is from Didang's.

OTAP

Utap (often spelled otap) is an oval-shaped puff pastry in the Philippines, especially common in Cebu where it originated. It usually consists of a combination offlour, shortening, coconut, and sugar. In order to achieve the texture of the pastry, it must undergo a two-stage baking process.

ROSQUILLOS

 The cookies are circular in shape with flower-like edges and a ring-shaped hole in the center. It is a snack unique to Cebu and is a favorite snack of locals and expatriate Cebuanos in the United States. The late Philippine president Sergio Osmeña Sr. reputedly gave the name of rosquillos from the Spanish word rosca, meaning ringlet.

MANDAUE FOOD SPOT	5/6/2012
Delicacies Center opens in time for Mandaue City May 8 fiesta As a single mom, she prepared and sold bibingka or rice cakes, one of Mandaue City’s best known dishes. This was how Salvacion Soco supported herself and her five children in 1997 when she separated from her husband. “I had to find a way to raise my family. I saw the opportunity in the city's delicacies,” said Soco, 56, said in Cebuano. Soco is one of several stall vendors clustered in the Garbo sa Mandaue - Delicacy Center, which opened on Friday. Visitors who come to Mandaue City can easily find the city’s special delicacies – bibingka, masareal bars made of crushed peanuts and sugar milk, and crunchy tagaktak – in one site. The setup makes it easier for balikbayans and tourists to buy pasalubong, said said Lito Fruelda, president of the Taga Mandaue Inc. The temporary site, which opened days ahead of Mandaue’s upcoming fiesta on May 8, occupies a private lot covered by a one-year agreement with the owner. Mayor Jonas Cortes plans to build a permanent Delicacy Center later in the old Mandaue market as well as a showroom for Mandaue-made furniture. Starting out 15 years ago with P500 as capital, Soco would prepare the ingredients for bibingka from 10 p.m. to 12 midnight, then start cooking from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. By dawn, she would get ready to sell her bibingka at the Carbon market in Cebu City. In the afternoon, she would sell unsold food items by going house to house in Cebu and Mandaue cities. For variety, she later bought other Mandaue delicacies wholesale from friends – budbod, tagaktak, masareal. In 2009, she shifted to selling the goods at a sidewalk near the old Mandaue City public market, where more people passed by. Soco said she earned at least P1,000 a day there. All her children finished high school. Soco said she was happy with how their lives turned out. One son works at a restaurant in Saudi Arabia . The youngest son, 21-year-old Richard, helps in her small food vending business. Richard said he chose to help his mother rather than pursue a college degree. “We are not wealthy but we’re okay now unlike before when it was ‘one day-one eat’, Richard said in Cebuano. Soco was one of 100 ambulant vendors in Mandaue City who agreed to be relocated to the new public market after Mayor Cortes pushed for a clean market free of sidewalk obstructions and roving vendors. In the meantime, food vendors rent stalls at P1,875 a month in a private lot now called the Delicacy Center. The site is located at the corner of Suson and A. Del Rosario Street in front of a gasoline station in barangay Centro is owned by national artist Caridad Sanchez.