DAVAO CITY, Philippines — When Catholic faithfuls observe the tradition of fasting during the Semana Santa or Holy Week, you can see delicacies like biko, Binignit (ginataan) and Champurado on top of the table these days.
Those observing the Holy Week, go for alternative food to fill their stomach.
The Holy Week is observed to commemorate Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection.
As people avoid meat, native merienda is the best alternative, a reason why sugar, coconut milk, banana and glutinous rice (pilit) are in demand.
The busiest section in the market is no longer the meat section, but the vegetables section, looking for the above stuff..
Today, Good Friday, every kitchen is equipped with fancy rice (pilit) and coconut milk, to prepare binignit, biko or champurado.
Biko is cooked with “latik” (LAH-TIK), coconut syrup made from mixing coconut milk and brown sugar cooked over medium heat until it forms into a thick syrup.
In Luzon (northern part), the word “latik” is made from coconut milk cooked slowly until it reduced into golden brown curds and used for toppings in Filipino desserts. This is called “lunok” among the Visayans.
Biko is the Filipino term for sweet sticky rice cake.
It consists mainly of 3 ingredients, namely: sweet rice, coconut milk, and brown sugar. Some serve it with toppings, some don’t. Others also add vanilla extract, but it’s optional.
Binignit is a Visayan dessert soup from the central Philippines. The dish is traditionally made by Visayans with slices of sabá bananas, taro, and sweet potato. It is comparable to various savoury guinataán (coconut milk-based) dishes found in other regions such as bilo-bilo.
Everyone knows champurado and biko but binignit–sounds strange to non-bisayan.
Binignit is cooked along with coconut milk, sweet potato, banana and glutinous rice (pilit).
Almost every Catholic house now is cooking either biko, binignit and champurado as food for Biernes Santo.-Newsline.ph
