A Berry Coffee Bow!

“among God’s gr8st Creations”  or aGgC (pronounced “agsi”) is a home-grown endeavor to introduce Quality Coffee Treats (QCTs). Inspiration comes from a lifetime of memories growing up in my city of Lipa in Batangas, Philippines. From our elders to me and my peers and no doubt to the next generations, a strong sense of family, tradition and pride of place are nurtured and endure through coffee.

It is both a source of pride and a challenge to be acknowledged as “from Lipa.” Lipa during the Galleon Trade became a primary source of the world’s coffee, and the Philippines stood as the fourth largest source worldwide. It was flaunted as the Philippine coffee industry’s golden age and through an edict, Spanish Queen Isabela in 1887 elevated my Lipa into “Villa de Lipa.” The boom years did not last as a “Coffee Rust” almost decimated the Liberica variety which was its major coffee product. The breastbeating gets more c ontained as, since, the city- the country too-was unable to regain its historical dominance in the international coffee trading arena.

But there is renewed hope for the future of coffee here and elsewhere. In the last 25 years, coffee as a viable commodity swept throughout the world, the Philippines included. A heightened interest in the brew and its versatility is a commercial success, with a burgeoning following among the young. Even health, and certainly, coffee, enthusiasts point to an enlarging medical affirmation of coffee’s contributions to well-being after having been, for long, sidelined by tea as a health beverage.       

In the Lipa of my childhood, we took it matter of factly that our “Barako” was served at all times of the day. The Liberica coffee variety is called by this term which interchangeably means strong and brave. The expansion of its meaning to include macho or chauvinist I think was a latter-day development when in the 80’s, dominance between men and women became hot topic. But we will not get into that!

The issue of caffeine never mattered, but fresh milk was always on the table to lessen any guilt.  Breakfast, it accompanied a Filipino diet of eggs, “longanisa” (pork sausage) or “bistik” (beefsteak slivers), or “tuyo” & “sapsap”(dried fish), or tinapa (smoked fish). I remembered how we poured it steaming hot, black with sugar, on our “sinangag” (fried rice) and did it taste so well with the saltiness of the naturally processed fish or the sweetness of the meats. We also mixed our mean Barako with condensed milk.

Morning and afternoon “meriendas” (snacks) would pair our Barako with, among many other snack items,  minatamis na sundot saging (cuesticks of ripe bananas fried with sugar) or plain hotcakes with margarine and evaporated milk, pinindot (coconut milk-based dessert of yam, sweet potato, cavendish, jackfruit, pinipig and sticky rice balls), or “suman” (elongated steamed ricecakes in banana leaves). (A substitute for Barako was Chocolate Tablea - grated, and cooked with milk, the Batidor used to foam it to richness.)

Lunch and Dinner were best washed down with hot Barako among the grown-ups especially before afternoon siestas (nap).  Energetic children did not feel the need for it but were often, on schedule and as a rule, slept in the afternoons, purportedly to ensure they grow up strong and fast; it was actually a ruse to keep us quiet as the adults had their “siesta”.

For teenagers who were allowed on weekends to stay up late to banter among “kapitbahays” (neighbours, mostly early love crushes), a nocturnal merienda happened as soon as the neighbourhood bakery was ready with the next day’s  supply of  “bonete” (bonnet bread) or the “pan de sal” (salted rolls). Ahhh! The witching hour was nippy but how wonderful to dip our favorite sweet-smelling breads, with either margarine, butter, or “quesong puti” (white cheese) or the regular Kraft cheese from the can into our piping hot Barako! 

 Based on these heartwarming experiences, I join the growing clamor to give our Barako a resurgence through a fresh take on our Liberica and with home-baked QCTs (I had developed a love for baking since it was introduced in my Home Economics class in Grade 5). About time it’s Coffeetime! Let’s enjoy good coffee and bite into luscious snack treats every time.

Thus, this October 2010, “among God’s gr8st Creations” (aGgC) takes a coffee bow!