By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
Tamban, anyone?
One afternoon last week, we, the alumnae of St. Joseph College (Holy Spirit School of Tagb)Class 1962, gathered for a mid-afternoon get together at our home in Taguihon – my Blue Apartelle. And there we were, the pretty girls, once upon a time, but the prettier women today.
As we started to converse, we never missed the following varied topics: Who recently died? What was the cause of death? What are your maintenance meds? How many grandchildren do you now have? What are the currect events of the world, the country and the province? And, most importantly, the MARITES portion.
Our last topic was: kamahal na gyud sa isda ug uban pa. Bisan ang bolinaw milapas na gyud sa P100 ang kilo.
You can’t blame us because we were born in the 1940s, and prices of commodities at that time never reached as high as the ones we have now. In our time, there was no magician for the fish bought. By magician i mean that fish vendor who, according to the rumors spreading around, is the one who will transform the spoiled fish into a freshly-looking fish. Dili ba diay na magic?
Before, the fish were just skewered and displayed in front of the people. There was no secret as to how they were preserved. Lantaran gyud ang pagbaligya. The bolinaw, was just poured into a container we called “caltex” and nobody complained that he or she was shortchanged. Pakapinan pa gani ang bolinaw ug pila ka pudyot. Naa pay uban, nga tungod sa kalab-as sa bolinaw, modalikyat ug kuha sa isda unya ihungit sa baba. Life then was good and really good.
Now, there is that fist called tamban. During my younger days, tamban was more or less ignored by the common buyer because most people claim that the fist cause kabuhi or stomach discomfort. But now, tamban has become a favorite considering its price and its freshness. Now, tamban is sold by motorcycle- riding peddlers who use the megaphone to announce their products in the mountainside. They do not go to the poblacion because the tamarong and the tulingan are the ones in the limelight.
But, I tell you that the lowly tamban can be elevated to a gastronomic delight. I can make Spanish sardines out of the kind. Here’s the recipe my classmates gave me. Subscribe to the newspaper and you will have more recipes. Ha ha ha .
Ingredients: 1 k tamban; Recados: laurel, paminta, ahos, asin, atsal, carrots, vegetable oil, 1 sachet of tomato sauce.
I don’t use measuring devices. I use my tanchatancha style which I have proven successful. The procedure is below:
1. Clean and wash the tamban and take off its head;
2. Wash the headless tamban in water and drain;
3. Put salt to your headless tamban;
4. Fry the tamban until slightly brown;
5. Put the tamban aside as you sauté the recados;
6. Arrange the tamban in a pot. It’s better that you will put a portion of your sauteed recado before arranging the first two layers of fried tamban. Then put another in the middle portion and in the last layer the remaining sauteed recados. You can put in whole chili or pepper (espada) if you want it hot.
7. Pour water into the pot and make sure that the water is a little above the layers of tamban.8. Cook in slow fire until tender. Kinahanglan nga humok gyud ang tamban nga hasta bukog makaon. If you have a special pot, it’s easier for you. Switch on to automatic overnight and in the morning, you’ll have a savoury aroma of home-made sardines.
Happy eating!