Batuan Paper

Bryan Atas

Humanities 1 - Manansala The Batuan Effect

Being an Ilonggo offers advantages. Aside from being able to watch Dinagyang live or in 4 different channels, it also enables one to regularly savor delicious Ilonggo dishes like Kadyos-Baboy-Langka/KBL, the Sinabawan and the Linaga. And one can’t help but ask, what makes these dishes special? Well, the key to good food is good use of ingredients. And guess what these dishes have in common – batuan. If a shroud of mystery covers this fruit, just imagine a greater mystery that surrounds this batuan plant. As a kid, I used to think that the batuan is a citrus-like shrub. Now I know that Batuan or Garcinia binucao is a tree reaching a height of about the same as a two storey building. In Manila Bulletin Online, one article entitled Gourmet’s Notepad by Boysie Villavicencio said that its closest relative is the Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana). My most recent encounter with this tree was when I visited my mother’s colleague, Dr. Nadala, in Lapaz. Dr. “Bing” Nadala has batuan trees in her backyard. Its leaves are smooth and leathery. It has small pea-sized red flowers that are somehow inconspicuous from afar. Its famous fruits are yellowish green to light green in color and somewhat round in shape. The fruits are usually harvested at a time when they are yellow green since batuan at its ripe most age have an acrid taste, very susceptible to rotting thus not desirable as a souring agent anymore. One interesting thing that I learned from Dr. Nadala was that the batuan tree has a “gender.” That is, they are dioecious. This simply means that one tree produces only male flowers while the other produces only female flowers. Sadly, the difference between a male and female batuan tree is only obvious during the time flowers turn to fruits. In male batuan trees, flowers just fall off;

while female batuan flowers slowly turn to buds then to fruits. In fact, I find it fascinating to see Dr. Nadala’s towering batuan trees standing side-by-side with leaves gently touching each other as human couples hold each other’s hands wherein one cannot survive without the other. Ilonggo’s call it “batuan” but it has other names in other places. According to a Research on Lesser Known Edible Tree Species compiled by Helen B. Florido and Fe F. Cortiguerra, it is known as “binukao” in Laguna and Bataan, “Balukat” in Ilocos Norte, “Bangkok” in Zambales, “Bilukan” Rizal, Bataan, “Kamangzi” in Tayabas, and “Kandis” in Palawan. Indeed, Batuan is not endemic to the region six. And in fact, it is cultivated in Lanao Experimental Section. Ilonggo’s think of batuan as a souring agent or in hiligaynon, “pampaaslum.” The same way those in Luzon use Sampaloc and Kamias as souring agent in their dishes. Batuan is very common in Iloilo that I was even able to buy it at SM for about 20 pesos per kilo and that’s about five pesos for four pieces last November. And by the way, I’ve read from Market Manila that the ECJ farm at Negros sells batuan purees too. Batuan’s use as a souring agent is versatile. It can be used in a number of dishes including Kansi and Paksiw. And according to an article in Manila bulletin Online by Mr. Boysie Villavicencio, some

Ilonggo Dishes that use batuan 1. Kadyos-Baboy-Langka (KBL) 2. Sinabawan 3. Linaga 4. Kansi 5. Laing 6. Roast chicken 7. Paksiw

use the batuan leaves as stuffing in roast chicken. I may not have the power to predict the future of Garcinia binucao but what I do know is that batuan’s fame is spreading rapidly and more and more Filipino’s are

realizing its capabilities. Let’s just hope that future will bring new and delicious batuancontaining dishes. So if someone wants to cook KBL but couldn’t find any batuan for sale, just look for that Garcinia binucao tree, it might even be in your neighborhood and you may not know it.

Bryan Atas is technically a 17 year old male; academically a freshman BS Biology student in University of the Philippines; but personally, he is a nature lover and deeply understands the importance of phytochemicals in botanical nutrition. Basically, he appreciates good food from natures’ basket. Email address: [email protected]