Wherever you find yourself in the Philippines, there is bound to be a sticky rice delicacy unique to that place. These are called magsaysay, from Hilongos, Leyte. The first thing one notices is that they are huge, but the most remarkable is that they are filled with a rich, gooey chocolate center whipped from native cocoa.
The more I learn about our local delicacies, the more I appreciate that what makes them special is the dedication and sheer grunt work it takes to turn them out of the most ordinary ingredients. Here be lonely, repetitive work, suited to individuals of a certain disposition, i.e., a doggedness to do one thing particularly well, again and again. So what if it’s only ginusang?
It took me a while to figure out the vegetable chips. Mostly because I was so preoccupied with eating them (they were damned good), but also because Ma kept complaining about how salty they were. “What are you talking about?” I said. “They’re perfectly fine.”
