Legend tells of two brothers who chased a wild boar into Kabunyan, the sky world. There, they shared a meal with the god Liddum, who served them raw rice. The brothers decided to teach the god to cook his rice, after which they had a feast with the sky world deities, who for the first time enjoyed the taste of cooked rice. A fair trade was made: the brothers took home precious grains of the “skyworld rice” in exchange for fire (so that Liddum could always cook his rice) and from then on their people have cultivated the rice for generations. This is the story of heirloom rice.
How the songs trace the origins of the native rice varieties in Northern Luzon could still hold a grain of truth. But as to what it is exactly, we cannot anymore guess. What we do know is that these heirloom grains have influenced a people to live the way they do, up in their mountainous homes in the Cordillera Region.
The rhythm of their lives steps into the beat of the earth, with its shifting seasons that dictate the time for sowing and reaping, for feasting and waiting. Men and women take to their assigned tasks, muddying their feet on the terraced slopes of the mountainside. They plant heirloom grains of different varieties: balatinaw, a deep purple grain with a fruity flavor and chewy texture; minaangan, a red rice with a somewhat nutty flavor and a pleasant bite; kalinga jekot, a medium grain sticky rice with a rust-bran coat; and ominio, a dark purple glutinous rice related to the balatinaw. Because these grains have been planted for generations, the farmers have honed their craft, intertwining agricultural techniques with folk practices passed on from father to son, mother to daughter.
Mama Sita Foundation's Heirloom Grains Project seeks to preserve the heirloom varieties grown by these communities by raising awareness, making the grains easier for the consumer to buy, and supporting the farmers that grow them.
This is how the idea of Mama Sita's Heirloom Rice Champorado was born.
Combining foods that have long been part of the Philippine flavor landscape, Mama Sita Foundation saw it fitting to create small batch artisanal products to help increase awareness of the richness of Philippine cuisine.
First up is heirloom rice, which inspired the whole enterprise; next, pure tablea cacao from Mindanao, where there is a renewed interest in growing cacao for artisanal chocolate; and last but not the least, sugar from Negros, where sugarcane has long been grown, harvested, juiced, and then refined into pristine sugar granules. Together, these three key ingredients make a hearty and healthy champorado, a chocolate rice porridge that changes the game by using heirloom rice grains.
Could the god Liddum have given more gifts to the brothers if they returned to trade some more? Perhaps that question is not as important now as the task that lies before us. For it's up to us, who today still possess the gifts we have received—whether by trading with deities, trading by Galleon, or harvesting from our toil—to preserve what we have.
For generations, our farming communities all over the country have kept, developed, and worked to make our food sustainable. Mama Sita Foundation's Heirloom Grains Project supports them in their endeavor. We hope that in doing so, we continue to bring the best of Philippine heritage flavors to the world.
