Mindanao Foods

Mindanao foods are exotic,using a no. of spices, namely: chili, onion, and ginger. In general, Mindanao cuisine is a mixture of Spanish and Malay influence.One of the most common ingredients used by Mindanaoans in their daily food preparation is coconut milk. Aside from the fact that coconut is abundant in the region, it also adds a distinctive taste.

Zamboanga Peninsula is the biggest area in the country that influenced by the Spanish. One of their example produced that bears the Spanish mark is Spanish sardines, one of the famous product in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte.Your trip in Zamboanga never complete without the taste of their famous curacha. In addition of Zamboangas delicacies Zambo rolls or lokotlokot.

CURACHA

Zambo rolls/ Lokot-lokot

Curacha is a chavacano name to a spanner crab or if translated literally it means roach. This crab is actually a natural highbred from a deep sea crab and a big spiny lobster that can be found in the deep sea of Zamboanga. Agusan del Sur of Caraga this region is best recommended for the sweet tooth,One of their sweet delicacies namely: Salvaro ( dry cassava) Peanut biscuit other called cay-cay, and other Durian products.

SALVARO

CAY-CAY

Northen Mindanao was attracting with the tourist in beautiful tourist spots aside from that it is also famous in foods as well. The City of Golden Friendship, Cagayan de Oro is popular in turones de mani. It is made by crushed peanut coated with honey and wrapped in waffer.The mouthwatering pastel of Camiguin island is also gaining popularity.In Iligan City is also popular in greaseless peanut and marinated wild pig, dipped in hot and spicy pinakurat. Binaki in Bukidnon is also famous,it sounds weird but it is taste delicious.It is made by young corn, milk,sugar and wrapped in fresh corncob.

TURONNES DE MANI

BINAKOL

The ARMM region is famous in rice delicacies, namely; duldul, pastil, katilapan, pawa. Native dishes like chicken with cury powder. In addition is the Muslim delicacies are putrid, sinigang na baka and tinadtag. In Gensan, tuna delicacies tuna hotdog, tuna longganisa, tuna tocino.Aside from tuna, Banggsi ( flying fish) in Saranggani prepared in many ways- fried and kinilaw or with coconut milk.Tasty crab also one of delicacies in part of the Mindanao.

TINADTAG

PASTIL

Mindanao Fruits There is no doubt that Mindanao is home to the sweetest and juiciest fruits in different sizes and colours. Filipinos enjoy the year-round availability of fruits and savour the fresh juices from these, particularly in Davao where the exotic and creamy durian is mostly grown. Aside from durian, Davao is known for its pink-coloured, juicy, and sweet pomelo. Other tropical fruits are also found in Mindanao. Listed below are different fruits grown in Mindanao.

DURIAN > Sweet, with a distinctive smell, rich in protein and known as an aphrodisiac. > This has been voted as the King of Mindanao‟s fruits from a survey run by www.mindanao.com. > Varieties of durian are grown in Davao City, making it the durian capital of the Philippines.

POMELO > Pomelo can boost drug effects. > Pomelos from Nenita farms are juicy and sweet. > Suha is the Tagalog name for pomelo, buongon, its Visayan name.

MANGOSTEEN > This can be processed into jam and marmalade > Kablon Farms of Tupi, South Cotabato is known for their mangosteen jams and jellies > This fruit is round, hairy, in bright, red colour, with white fruit or pulp inside.

Mindanao Music The popular kolintang (gong melody) is played in different instrumental combinations, but the Maguindanao ensemble is said to have the most developed melodic permutation. The ensemble is composed of a set of eight gongs of graduated sizes arranged in a row (kolintang), a suspended gong with a thin sound (babendir), a drum (debakan), one or two suspended gongs (agong), and a pair of gongs with narrow rims (gandingan).

Kudyapi Group: Maranao

Two stringed lute made of wood, one string for the melody, one for the drone. Eight frets originally held in place placed on the neck of the lute by a sticky rubbery substance, propolis, produced by honey bees to repair damages and openings in the hive. The lute is decorated with floral motives; the tail is carved to represent a stylised crocodile head.

TAGONGKO and KAPANIRONG

Besides the kolintang, other musical ensembles popular among the Maranao are the tagongko and the kapanirong. Tagongko is parade or entourage music played by male musicians dressed in their festive fineries. It is outdoor music, while kolintang is indoor music. The instrumental ensemble consists of a number of medium-sized gongs called mamalala; a number of small, high pitched, and shallow gongs called pong; one or more tambor (snare drums); and one or more garagara or panda'opan (cymbals). The last two are either of Chinese or European origin.

The kapanirong is a serenade (from the root word sirong which means "to go beside a house") by a group of young bachelors who would come to a maiden's house and play their music by the window.

The Dagingen a hanging two-bar xylophone neither belongs to the instruments for individual use nor to those for social use. It is a ritual instrument which is exclusively used during the important kaligà ceremonies. It consists of two small and round wooden logs of about 40 cm length and 5 cm in diameter held by a frame of woven rattan strips in the shape of a horseshoe. The shell trumpet budyung (by some Banwaon called lungga) is usually made out of a big shell of the species Cassis. It is merely used as a signaling instrument to summon the inhabitants of a village for a meeting or to warn them of an approaching danger, but the way it is played with sustained tones of any length does not imply any musical function.

The bamboo slit drum is mostly called bantula, in some places of the Bukidnon subgroup tagungtung. It is made out of a bamboo pole of wide diameter which remains closed at both ends by nodes. A slit is cut in the tube which is about 2-3 cm wide and reaches almost from one end of the tube to the other. The slit drum is beaten with two wooden sticks. The Banwaon use the slit drum which they call kuratungmerely as an instrument for making signals or for scaring away wild animals from the fields. The bamboo jaw’s harp of the Bukidnon is usually called kulaing. Among the Talaandig, the Maranao term kubing (kebing) is used, in the Higaunen area around Gingoog City, the term Kuging. The instrument is of the same type as most jaw‟s harps in the Philippines.

Ang kulintang ay kaibang tawag sa agong (gong), kulingkuling ang dating tawag sa campanilla (hand bell) at kalembang ang tawag pa hanggang ngayon sa campana (church bells). Sa tunog na lamang ng mga pangalan, natatanto na ang tunog ng mga pangkat tugtugin.

Bumbong (tambor, drum) na gawa sa kawayan (ang bamboo ay hiniram ng mga Amerkano at kasama na sa salitang English ngayon), o kahoy na binalutan ng balat hayop (leather), karaniwang kambing (goatskin). Bantula ang tawag ng mga Bukidnon sa bumbong. Taguntong ang isa pang tawag nila. Ang tinawag na gimbal ng mga Mansaka ay hindi tanso kundi ang bumbong na kahoy na binalot ng balat.

Yangyang (right flute) at Kebing (jews harp) sa Mindanao. Karaniwang gawa sa kawayan, naulat din ang paggamit sa Mindanao at Visayas ng ihip na gawa sa kabibi (concha, conch shell). Sa Mindanao, ang tawag dito ay budyong.

Kudyapi, tinawag sa Mindanao na kutiyapi, piyapi at kudlong o kuglong. Tinawag na laud ng mga Espanyol (at lute ng mga Amerkano), masipag nilang sinupil ang paggamit nito (pati na ng mga kulintang) dahil sa ugnay nito sa mga dating pagsamba ng mga katutubo, at pinalitan ng kahawig na guitara (at pinalitan ang kulintang ng campanilla at campana ng mga catolico).

The Higaunon people of Northern Mindanao The Higaunon is one of the mountain tribes in the Philippines. Most Higaunon still have a rather traditional way of living. Farming is the most important economic activity. The belief in the power of the spirits of ancestors and in the influence of more than one god, is strongly rooted in the hearts and minds of many Higaunon. The belief in many gods and spirits of ancestors Most Higaunon still have a strong belief in the existence of gods and spirits. The „upper god‟ is Magbabaya, the creator of all aspects of life. There are several „lower gods‟. Each „lower god‟ has dominion over a specific part of the natural environment. There is a lower god (Igbabasok) who has dominion over the farms, a lower god (Pamahandi) who has dominion over treasures and properties, a lower god (Bulalakaw) who has dominion over the waters and fishes and there is a lower god (Panalagbugta) who has dominion over lands. The (ancestor) spirits have control on all aspects of the daily life of the people. This belief, called “animism”, influences the Higaunon people deeply. They believe that all problems like illnesses, bad harvests and even the death, are due to their failure to satisfy the spirits.

The T'boli and B'laan, two indigenous groups On Mindanao live 18 tribal Filipino groups. The most well known are the T'boli and the B'laan (or "Bla-an"). The other groups are the Ata, Bagobo, Banwaon, Bukidnon, Dibabawon, Higaunon, Kalagan, Mamanwa, Mandaya, Mangguwangan, Manobo, Mansaka, Subanen, Tagakaolo, Teduray and the Ubo. Most characteristic of these 'indigenous groups' is that they live in a traditional way, comparable with how the ancestors lived centuries ago. The T'boli and their subsistence activities The T'boli (pronounce "Tiboli") people live in the southern part of the province Cotabata, in the environment around lake Sebu, west of the city General Santos. It is estimated that are between 100000 and 150000 T'boli. In the past the T'boli practiced the primitive way of agriculture "slash and burn". "Slash and burn" means that the people will clear a part of the forest by cutting the big trees and burning the lower and smaller trees and bushes, after which they use the cleared plots as arable land for some years without any fertilization.