FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION.
It is impossible, without including about everything edible in a vegetable line to be found in the district, to give a full list of foods; hence no such attempt will be made. Chief of all is the rice, many varieties of which are grown in the mountain-side clearings.[11]
[11] Back of the coast there are no irrigated fields to be found in the Davao District.
Next in importance is the camote, or sweet potato, and then follow in the order of their importance: corn, banana, sago and cocoanut.
Fish, eels, crabs, grasshoppers, monkeys,[12] deer, pigs, and chickens form a part of the food supply; in fact, the people seem to draw the line at nothing but crows, snakes, mice, rats, goats, horses, dogs, and cats. Despite the assertion of a number of worthy informants that the last three are on the prohibited list, it is the opinion of the writer that it is the scarcity of the supply rather than any feeling of prejudice which causes them to be included.
[12] Some people refuse to eat monkey meat.
Salt and pepper are used as condiments. The former is secured in trade with the coast natives and Chinese, while the latter is produced by mashing the fruit of a small wild pepper, locally known as katombal.
Rice, after being allowed to dry, is stored without being separated from the straw. When a supply is needed a bundle is laid on a piece of hide and is beaten with a wooden pestle, wielded by a woman or a slave. This separates the grain, which is gathered up and placed in a wooden mortar, where it is again beaten with the pestle until the outer husk has been loosened. To remove the chaff the rice is taken from the mortar, placed on a flat winnowing tray (Fig. 13), and tossed and caught, until the wind has carried away the lighter husks, thus leaving the grain free. This is placed in a pot, a small quantity of water is added, and the vessel is placed over the fire. Here it is allowed to remain only until it begins to boil, when it is placed on the ashes, near enough to the fire to keep it hot. From time to time the woman turns the jar until the contents is cooked through, wren each grain stands out free from its fellows.[13]
[13] This is the usual way of preparing rice throughout the archipelago.
Other vegetable foods are eaten raw, or are cooked with water and salt, with perhaps the addition of a little meat broth or a sour[sic].
[Transcriber's note: "sour" should read "soup.">[
Small birds and fish are cooked without other treatment than a hasty cleaning; but the flesh of larger fowls, deer, and pig is generally cut into small cubes and cooked with condiments in a jar or small Chinese caldron. Birds are sometimes prepared by placing them on a spit, covering them with green banana leaves, and suspending them above the fire until roasted. This primitive paper bag cooking yields a most excellent dish.
Grasshoppers are relished, and are secured in the following manner: A clear grass spot is selected and several deep holes are dug in one end. Back of them, and leading toward them, is a high tight fence made in a V. By beating the grass with boughs as they walk toward the trap, the people drive the grasshoppers before them until they are finally forced into the pit, from which they are collected by the bushel.
I was told that meat was sometimes salted, dried, and stored away for future use. The climate seems to be absolutely opposed to such foresight, and the one time that I saw the process being used, the odors were such that I beat a hasty retreat and chose to accept, without proof, the verdict of the natives, that venison thus prepared was excellent.
Of almost as much importance as food is the use of the betel or areca nut,[14] which is chewed almost constantly by young and old of both sexes. The nut is divided into quarters and a piece of buyo leaf[15] is wrapped about each bit. To this is added a little lime and a pinch of tobacco, and it is ready for the mouth. The resultant deep red saliva is distributed indiscriminately on the floor, walls, and furniture where it leaves a permanent stain. To hold the materials necessary for this practice brass betel nut boxes, secured from the Moro or of their own manufacture, as well as plaited grass boxes and pouches are constantly carried (Plates XVIIa and XLI). The brass boxes generally have three compartments; the first for nuts, the second for leaves and tobacco, and the third for lime. Lime is also carried in small bamboo tubes (Fig. 14), in the decoration of which a great deal of time is consumed. The open end is fitted with a rattan sifter so that the powder is distributed evenly on the nut and leaf.
[14] Catechu L.
[15] Piper betel L.
Aged persons and those whose teeth have been so mutilated that they cannot chew, make use of an outfit which includes a small mortar and pestle (Plate XVIIb). Cutting open green betel nuts, the chewer wraps the pieces in leaves and, after adding a liberal supply of lime, mashes them in the mortar until all are reduced to a soft mass.
Lime is secured by placing snail shells in a fire, from which they are taken while hot and dropped into cold water. They can then be crushed into powder with the fingers.
Although the Bagobo raises a considerable quantity of tobacco he seldom, if ever, smokes it unless the leaf is furnished him, already prepared, by an outsider. Sometimes a small ball made of the green leaves is placed between the teeth and upper lip, where it remains until all the flavor has been extracted.
The outfits for betel nut and tobacco, aside from the brass boxes which fasten at the side, are generally carried in the sacks worn on the backs of the men or in the elaborate shoulder bags worn by the women. However, a small waterproof box is frequently seen attached to a man's belt, and in this he carries his betel nut, tobacco, and fire-making outfit.
The usual method of making fire is by the use of flint and steel, but when this is not at hand a flame can be quickly obtained by rubbing two pieces of bamboo rapidly together until the friction produces a spark.