He who does not love his own language is worse than an animal and smelly fish.
-Jose Rizal-
.
. . And he who does not know what is a smelly, dried and salted fish
must try it. Every Filipino knows what dried fish is and it has been
the crowds’ favorite over centuries. We know that Philippines isn’t
the richest country in the world and the masses can't afford chicken,
beef, or fresh fish every day. What is eaten on a daily basis is fish
bones, or, if the budget is available, dried fish. Dried fish is known
as bulad or buwad (which in Cebuano is also the verb meaning "to dry in
the sun") while in Tagalog, it is called as tuyo.
Dried Fish is
one of the Filipino cuisines that has a huge percentage in the market
sales since tons of it is consumed everyday throughout different
islands. Its strong and salty taste is the primary reason why people
love it so much. Dried fish is something dark gray in color but becomes
orange or light brown when fried. This dish is even tastier depending
on where the dried fish is dipped. A pinch of dried fish dunked in
native vinegar mixed with crushed sili, with a plate of hot rice, is
pure heaven.
There are a lot of varieties in dried fish. It can be a
whole (tibuok), split (pinikas) and dried fish skeleton or the fish
bones. The buwad pinikas is most preferred. This is a fish split along
the back of the head, through the spine and tail. Danggit (small thin
fish) belongs to this variety of buwad. The buwad pinikas is thinner,
crispier and easier to eat since you can see all the bones and gets
cooked thoroughly. Another common type is the buwad bolinao which is a
very tiny dried fishes. It is eaten in number of bits depending on how
much you get and then dipped in vinegar. You don’t also need to worry
with its bones since its too small so you get less chances to get
choked. Other than these are the dried katambak, nokus, tamban, toloy,
shrimp, molmol, bodboron.
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| Danggit |
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| Kuya Archie |
Dried
fish is prepared easily but needs a lot of time. The process of salting
and drying preserves the fish that can be stored for months. According
to Archie, a buwad seller, “… magdepende man sa panahon gud kanang init
kayo ba pero muabot gyud ug bulan ang pagbuwad…”.He said that it takes
months seasonally to dry and preserve fish. In preparing a dried fish
you start it by washing the fishes to be dried. Next, prepare
the brine solution, a mixture of water and salt. Then wash and place it
in a container and cover it to protect from dust and flies. Now that’s
the time you start drying it under the sun. Fry it in oil and then it is
ready to eat. The entire fish can be consumed, including the tail, the
spine, and the head. The head, when soaked in native vinegar, has an
indescribable aroma, rich and powerful. The way Filipinos eat dried fish
has been a tradition. Even if we have already been influence by
different foreign countries, we still stick on our own way. It’s also
one of the reasons why we love this dish because it’s one way of
bringing back our ancestors way of eating. We usually love it with just
our bare hands, pinch it to pieces and dunk it to the vinegar. We love
sharing it with our families and friends, then start chitchatting. In
other ways, some people prefer using knife-and-fork eating. Even though
its hard to eat dried fish in this manner, they still try it for the
sake of formality.
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Some says that dried fish is only fit for the
poor. There was a time when it was unthinkable for the educated and
decent people to even consider tasting this food, for the fear of
allergies and only the rich can afford to be picky. They don’t even try
to visit on the markets because of the strong odor. But there are
restaurants that serve dried fish mixed with expensive add-ons and these
are more preferred by consumers of rich and high class society. Based
on the socio-economic status, they love dried fish less since they can
afford a lot of types of cuisines from different influences. But those
consumers from the middle classes, specifically those people who works
to sustain their daily needs, love dried fish. They try to find dried
fishes in their place or buy packs from the market. Marc, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Allego who both works for the family says “Ganahan ko kay
mudaghan akong kaon basta nay buwad sa lamesa nya basta sad kung si mama
ang muluto…” One can eat a lot of plates of rice when there is dried
fish served in the table. You can also identify who has just eaten
buwad because his lips become pale since he has been dipping on the
vinegar.
And the people who has mostly been with the dried fish in their lives
are the ones who belong to the low class society. They are the people
who strives hard to live. Primarily, a lot of them are buwad sellers,
makers and others. Probably, this business has also being passed by
their parents so they had no choice but to live with it. But inspite of
all their problems, the dried fish has been there to help them
financially . Others also has been consuming dried fish since it is what
they can afford with dried fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But
in the poorest family, specifically those who have no homes, they get
full with just smelling the dried fish that is hung. With dried fish in
their lives , they were still able to cope up with life.
Dried fish
which means drying in the sun is worth the people who have been under
the sun all day to make things they need to do to earn a living. Some
may think that dried fish is disgusting because of its smell, but it has
helped a lot to many people. Whether you belong to high, middle, or
low class of society, you should try eating dried fish and you will
realize how tasty and highly addictive it is once you get used to it.
