SAGADA, Mountain Province – There’s this humorous interjection embedded in tales of bygone yore among highland tribes in Cordillera that, “Cordillera men, especially the warriors, love their bellies above anything else.” Not that they don’t love their women; they love them more than anything else, alright.
That this interjection be true before; it still is, true today. For the cliché refers to a very particular aspect: Cordillerans love for a dish, the “etag” meat.
That the Cordillera women of yore, not wanting their men dashing off to the mountains, going on forages or on the warpath with empty stomachs, loaded their abdomens with loads of etag.
Such are the classic stories attached to the delicacy etag that it is also truest Cordillera highland males can endure hard work, ragged clothing and not seeing their wives for long periods of time, but have no patience upon seeing their menu, the “pinikpikan,” (singed chicken) is devoid of etag.
For etag, a heirloom food, had traversed from seasons of plenty into Cordillera empty seasons, or, across unknown, inhospitable lands or over broad and violent tribal conflicts. And in every journey, etag was virtually entombed in the Cordilleran tradition and culture.
Cordillera legends have it that it’s a special food offered to Kabunyan or Lumawig (Igorot god), in the company of pinikpikan and tapey (rice wine).
You may give passing attention to the food stored in your ref, but upon seeing etag hanging and lazily swinging near your kitchen window, it evokes stories of food preservation which is history of civilization itself.
One may presume the principles in making etag are remarkably simple, but the traditions that have developed around the preserved pork, whether complex or rudimentary, give extraordinary insights into Cordillera tribal folk’s histories, the cultures and the ingenuity of people in their will to survive and to progress.
Long before, in small, isolated self-sufficient Cordilleran communities, highland tribe folks searched for ways to preserve life, by preserving food. What they discovered, with extraordinary ingenuity and powers of observation, were a variety of ways in which they harnessed the elements and utilized natural chemicals to halt the inevitable food decay process – even as they possessed no scientific mind of explaining how or why these worked.
Thus, they created different manners of combining, salting, drying, – even fermenting – and smoking pork meat. Each community – Ibaloys and Kankan-eys – evolved techniques best suited to their climate, their food supply and their particular needs, culture and tradition.
Pork meat preservation in Cordillera didn’t simply kept the meat safe for eating; it also changed the texture and taste of the meat, sometimes in a way that seemed revolting to people not accustomed to it.
But when accustomed, they are the ones who yell to high heavens in search for it. Ask lowlanders who have tasted etag, have liked it that when they got married to highlanders, they are the ones impatient when pinikpikan is served with less of the etag.
In elegant Sagada, municipality of Mountain Province, its ancient hanging coffins and perpetual rainbow aren’t the only possessions the 11,510 (2020 census by Philippines Statistics Office (PSO) or so residents of this tourist- travelled town take pride in.
Equally close to the “I-Sagada” bosom is the delicacy, etag, which appears to be unique to this municipality, said Mary Capuyan.
No wonder that come February this year, Sagada will again prep up for the 12th Sagada Etag Festival, a yearly occasion that resonates in Mountain Province and elsewhere in Cordi highlands and embodying the spirit of unity and tradition.
At the core of the festival abides the tradition of the etag reflecting centuries-old methods symbolizing ancestral roots connection and a testament to cultural expression.
On another score for the “I-Sagada,” the festival highlights how domesticated pigs turned into etag continue to play an important role for rituals and as gastronomic vehicles for encompassing and executing social relatedness, cooperation and reallocated tasks through giving and banqueting.
Capuyan, who hails from Poblacion, Sagada, said etag is still considered an important and popular food of the town folks, prepared in a way which has been handed down from generation to generation.
Capuyan related Sagada residents singe a fresh carcass of a pig to remove the fur, a process done to preserve the aroma and taste of pork. Elsewhere in most parts of the Philippines, the common practice is to scald the carcass.
Cut in desired pieces or slabs, the pork is then salted, stored for about a week, air-dried or sun dried properly then hung over a slow fire emitting smoke. This is usually done in kitchens where wood is used for cooking or in separate makeshift kitchens, locally called “dalikan”.
Capuyan stressed that the longer pork is salt-cured and air-dried, the more it possesses flavor. Under smoke-process, it turns darker in color during the long smoking duration.
Care is followed in the smoking process. To create very small but steady smoke, the person doing the smoke-curing process would often add selected and fresh tree leaves to the embers to generate smoke volume, Capuyan revealed.
Guava, rosewood, alnus and oak leaves are preferred in the smoking process as these emit pleasant smoke and add aromatic and smoky flavor to the pork. Smoking process requires many hours daily to achieve desired dehydration.
As it undergoes the smoking process, sometimes, a thin layer of milky white molds may appear similar to the process of aging cheese. But this can be rinsed off during the cooking, Capuyan related.
Extreme care is executed to prevent flies from infesting the pork being smoked. Once flies land on the meat, chances are, they will lay their eggs on it. The eggs, following the natural life cycle, develop into maggots, resulting in maggot infestation of the pork.
Nowadays, it was observed how etag makers have developed a way to keep flies away from pork being smoked. They meticulously envelope the pork inside meshed screens (like the screens used on windows and doors to keep away flies) mindful also that the pork inside the screen do not touch the mesh.
They then position the meshed pork over a smoking dalikan. It was observed the mesh helped keep the smoke lingering longer over the “imprisoned pork,” thus helping in smoking process.
As soon as the meat slabs turn to the desired reddish-dark color it’s an indication it has reached smoking quality and can be stored, or left hanging over cook areas.
Capuyan narrated etag can go with almost all vegetables grown in the highlands. But many prefer to simply cook it with the popular chayote, (Sicyos edulis Jacq.) either its fresh shoots or its fruits, or with unripe papaya.
Etag can also be cooked in any manner – steamed, grilled, boiled or fried – without it losing its unique taste, Capuyan swore.
Among the many ways etag is cooked is its being combined with “pinikpikan”, a dish requiring a chicken to be butchered by slowly beating the underside parts of the wings to allow blood to clot after which the chicken is singed off its feathers.
The word “pinikpikan” or “pikpikan” derives from the root “pikpik,” which means to beat softly, a procedure based on an ancient ritual that Cordillera tribes use. In the ritual, ancestors and spirits are called upon to assist in consolidating decisions.
The live chicken is hung by its feet and then struck on the inner wings and neck with a short stick without breaking skin or bones. A powerful strike is then delivered at the back of the fowl’s head.
Lifeless, it is then scorched, giving the skin a unique texture and flavor that makes pinikpikan famous.
Cleaning further the chicken of leftover feathers, it is sliced open lengthwise and a tribal leader peers closely at the bile, which is thought to indicate what was requested throughout the ritual.
Then chopped into desired cuts and cooked, together with the etag, it does not require various seasonings to bring out its flavor, Salt is all that is needed when using etag with pinikpikan.
Such a special dish is usually served during weddings, betrothals, baptisms, in times of sickness or want, canao and other occasions.
Capuyan explained “Sagadians” have yet to solve the riddle as to etag’s origin, but it’s commonly believed the delicacy was spawned during pre-Spanish times. Sagada forefathers have been using etag as part of offerings to the deities. Today, the practice of using etag as an offering still persists.
So popular is etag that Capuyan recalled about the late Alfredo Lamen, then governor of Mountain Province, known province-wide during his heyday of keeping etag hanging in his kitchen. It was humorously retold that Lamen often roared his head off upon seeing no etag beckoning him from his kitchen while those who filched or partook of his etag smiled in malicious glee.
Other I- Sagadans who have moved out of the municipality still keep etag tradition alive in places where they moved on, like Mary Capuyan, now living at Dizon Subdivision, Baguio City, became kagawad in said barangay and known for her very active participation in Dizon barangay affairs.
Tourists who have tried the delicacy find it quite palatable, its taste subtle and inviting.
Etag to the Benguet people is called “kinuday,” an Ibaloy term, who also practice preserving their “watwat,” or pork share given to them during occasions. Another term is “kini-ing,” spoken by the “Kankan-ey” folks. kinuday or kini-ing are also interchanged during oral description of it by Cordi folks, whether Ibaloy or Kankana-ey.
