I knew nothing about the origin of Budbud kabog, but one
thing for sure my grandmother on my mother’s side “Lola” Pilar Lozano Loyola -
Nuneza used to cook budbud kabog every time during town fiesta, family
gatherings, and special occasions. She served these with many other delicacies
and the out-of-town visitors will have an extra share as pabaon, a special
reminder of my grandmother’s wit in cooking budbud kabog.
My father’s side grandmother Lola Poning Jorquia – Adlawan
(a retired school teacher) also sell kabog by kilo as her past time routine
together with other native products. Another Lola, a sister of Lola Poning,
Lola Impiang Jorquia-Colita also known for her expertise. I grew up not minding
this delicacy, as a child I have other priorities, just like any other ordinary
kids, food is not first in line.
Many different stories regarding how “budbud” kabog was
discovered, but nobody can prove the authenticity of their story, all but
hearsays, legend as they call it. How
“budbud” kabog came into being and who first discovered it as a delicious
delicacy, are buried in the pages of undocumented history and will forever be
called a legend. Regardless of whether one of these stories is true or not at
all, Budbud kabog when cooked right is just simply delicious; but let me share
with you one of these folklore, as follows:
Long time ago, Kabog plant (a small-seeded cereal plant
known as millet) grew wild and is abundant in the mountain barangays of Catmon.
All the while the natives considered the plant as nuisance, hence, they freed
the land area they wanted to cultivate from kabog and planted it with corn,
camote, peanuts, and a lot more as a means of livelihood.
One day, a farmer took a rest after eating lunch inside a
cave to shelter himself from the heat of the sun. While inside the cave he sat
on the floor and noticed some yellow seeds scattered all over the cave’s floor.
He gathered some seeds and realized that those were the same seeds of the
plants they uprooted to give way for the plantation of corn and other crops. At
that point, he asked himself – if the bats liked to eat the seeds to sustain
their existence then, it must be safe and good for human consumption as well.
So he brought some seeds back home, he peeled the seeds
using his mortar and pestle and told his wife to cook it. For fear of poison
his wife added some sugar as a cure and after several minutes a smell of cooked
millet got their attention. They hurriedly opened the pot and put it on top of
a banana leaves to cool down (people back then usually uses banana leaves as
their plates or food wrapper, even now a days some still practices the same –
the aroma is just irresistible).
Not sure on what to do, he gave a small portion to his pet
lizard first thinking that it might be poisonous and after a while the lizard
was still fine. Still not contented, he gave his dog a moderate amount, the dog
seems to like it and was barking and wagging his tail for more.
So the farmer tried it himself and took a bite and to his
surprise it taste heavenly good that he and his wife were so happy they
celebrated that night. They named the seeds KABOG after the name of the bats
found in the cave.
Many variations of cooking kabog have been observed, and
some cooked their seeds combined with sugar and coconut milk and wrapped with
banana leaves, which is now popularly known as BUDBUD KABOG.
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