What did General Aguinaldo like to eat? Pinangat na isda and camote tops | ABS-CBN
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What did General Aguinaldo like to eat? Pinangat na isda and camote tops
ANCX
Published Jun 12, 2020 07:58 AM PHT
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Updated Jun 12, 2020 12:30 PM PHT

Aguinaldo was already an astute young businessman when he joined the Katipunan. His parents taught him the value of hard work and money. The family owned a small steamship that sailed around the islands of Mindoro and Panay, procuring and exchanging produce and light merchandise.
Aguinaldo was already an astute young businessman when he joined the Katipunan. His parents taught him the value of hard work and money. The family owned a small steamship that sailed around the islands of Mindoro and Panay, procuring and exchanging produce and light merchandise.
His father, Carlos Jamir Aguinaldo, was a fishpond and land owner whose ancestors were Chinese settlers who married the local indegenas and who introduced the making of salt (sal de Sangley). Salt beds are known in Kawit as irasan. He was appointed municipal governor of the Cavite El Viejo, the present-day Kawit, in the 1860s. His mother, Trinidad Famy, was a feisty Tagalog Chinese mestiza who was known in the neighborhood as kapitana. The couple had eight children, with Emilio being the seventh.
His father, Carlos Jamir Aguinaldo, was a fishpond and land owner whose ancestors were Chinese settlers who married the local indegenas and who introduced the making of salt (sal de Sangley). Salt beds are known in Kawit as irasan. He was appointed municipal governor of the Cavite El Viejo, the present-day Kawit, in the 1860s. His mother, Trinidad Famy, was a feisty Tagalog Chinese mestiza who was known in the neighborhood as kapitana. The couple had eight children, with Emilio being the seventh.
According to Angelo Jarin Aguinaldo, his Lolo Miong’s diet wasn’t as elaborate as we would like to think. In fact, he preferred to eat very simple food like pinangat na isda sa sampalok at kamatis (steamed fish with tamarind and tomatoes) with just small servings of rice. As a child, Aguinaldo was very impatient and always liked his food prepared quickly and unadorned. He also enjoyed eating steamed camote tops dabbed with a little bagoong, and his favorite fruit was the chico. This food perhaps shaped his character, so when the revolution occurred, he was prepared for a life of danger and frugality.
According to Angelo Jarin Aguinaldo, his Lolo Miong’s diet wasn’t as elaborate as we would like to think. In fact, he preferred to eat very simple food like pinangat na isda sa sampalok at kamatis (steamed fish with tamarind and tomatoes) with just small servings of rice. As a child, Aguinaldo was very impatient and always liked his food prepared quickly and unadorned. He also enjoyed eating steamed camote tops dabbed with a little bagoong, and his favorite fruit was the chico. This food perhaps shaped his character, so when the revolution occurred, he was prepared for a life of danger and frugality.
In the Aguinaldo Shrine’s museum, an ingenious picnic kit is displayed containing a foldable table, cutlery, plates, saucers, and beakers. This same picnic basket was used during their time spent as fugitives from the Americans. When a semblance of peace was established, Aguinaldo also brought this set each time he visited his estate in upland Cavite.
In the Aguinaldo Shrine’s museum, an ingenious picnic kit is displayed containing a foldable table, cutlery, plates, saucers, and beakers. This same picnic basket was used during their time spent as fugitives from the Americans. When a semblance of peace was established, Aguinaldo also brought this set each time he visited his estate in upland Cavite.
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Since most of his household staff originated from Iloilo and Negros, he became fascinated with Ilonggo cooking. Among his favorite dishes was steamed white chicken stuffed with tanglad (lemongrass) and asparagus. He also brought home to Kawit plant ingredients such as tanglad, langkawas (galanggal), alugbati (Malabar spinach), and batuan, a souring agent popular in Negros and Iloilo, and known only in the Visayas. These he managed to successfully propagate in Cavite.
Since most of his household staff originated from Iloilo and Negros, he became fascinated with Ilonggo cooking. Among his favorite dishes was steamed white chicken stuffed with tanglad (lemongrass) and asparagus. He also brought home to Kawit plant ingredients such as tanglad, langkawas (galanggal), alugbati (Malabar spinach), and batuan, a souring agent popular in Negros and Iloilo, and known only in the Visayas. These he managed to successfully propagate in Cavite.
If you have the opportunity to visit the Aguinaldo house in Kawit, make a special request to the guide to take you inside the kitchen, which is normally off-limits. The highlight of this room is the wood-fired, eight-burner cooking stove-oven-boiler with the General’s name emblazoned on the door. It was assembled during the renovation of the mansion which took place at the height of the American occupation between 1919 and 1920. Together with the cooking stove, there is an icebox that used imported dry ice from Boston.
If you have the opportunity to visit the Aguinaldo house in Kawit, make a special request to the guide to take you inside the kitchen, which is normally off-limits. The highlight of this room is the wood-fired, eight-burner cooking stove-oven-boiler with the General’s name emblazoned on the door. It was assembled during the renovation of the mansion which took place at the height of the American occupation between 1919 and 1920. Together with the cooking stove, there is an icebox that used imported dry ice from Boston.
In 2018, to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines - Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo, Museo De La Salle, and IRDS-Republic of Taste Food Network collaborated to create Sinag: Tracing Emilio Aguinaldo’s Palate.
In 2018, to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines - Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo, Museo De La Salle, and IRDS-Republic of Taste Food Network collaborated to create Sinag: Tracing Emilio Aguinaldo’s Palate.
Sinag is a chronological infographic exhibition (now available to view here) that uses elements related to cuisine, natural heritage, and landscape of the country’s first President and his relationship with food that connected him to places during various stages of his life. The author of this article worked with the students of the Graphics and Multimedia Department of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas to develop the infographics based on Aguinaldo’s nationalist iconography and symbols. The sun in the Philippine flag is used as a framework to demonstrate the role of food in nation building and the search for national identity. The creative collaborators in this project believe that infographics has the power to communicate concepts and ideas immediately in the digital age.
Sinag is a chronological infographic exhibition (now available to view here) that uses elements related to cuisine, natural heritage, and landscape of the country’s first President and his relationship with food that connected him to places during various stages of his life. The author of this article worked with the students of the Graphics and Multimedia Department of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas to develop the infographics based on Aguinaldo’s nationalist iconography and symbols. The sun in the Philippine flag is used as a framework to demonstrate the role of food in nation building and the search for national identity. The creative collaborators in this project believe that infographics has the power to communicate concepts and ideas immediately in the digital age.
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Click on the arrows for slideshow
Talang Buhay ng Supremo Andres Bonifacio sa Kabite, a new book published by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), makes public the manuscripts in the handwriting of General and First President Emilio Aguinaldo about the days of the Supremo in Cavite. This book is important because it concerns the two most important heroes of the Philippines’ quest for independence. Here, Gen. Aguinaldo narrates important and controversial events as he and other revolutionaries experienced them. The foreword is written by the eminent historian Rafael Ileto who, in his younger years was a staunch Aguinaldo critic. This publication hopefully, will provide answers to many questions about Bonifacio’s stay in Cavite during the revolution from Aguinaldo’s eyes. — Elizabeth Angsioco
Talang Buhay ng Supremo Andres Bonifacio sa Kabite, a new book published by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), makes public the manuscripts in the handwriting of General and First President Emilio Aguinaldo about the days of the Supremo in Cavite. This book is important because it concerns the two most important heroes of the Philippines’ quest for independence. Here, Gen. Aguinaldo narrates important and controversial events as he and other revolutionaries experienced them. The foreword is written by the eminent historian Rafael Ileto who, in his younger years was a staunch Aguinaldo critic. This publication hopefully, will provide answers to many questions about Bonifacio’s stay in Cavite during the revolution from Aguinaldo’s eyes. — Elizabeth Angsioco
Photos by Ige Ramos
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