Holy Week’s “bilo-ved” treat: why do we eat “binignit” every Lenten season?
By Pioneer Publication | posted 30/03/24
For every Lenten celebration, we cannot deny that we savor “binignit,” or similar to “ginataang bilo-bilo” for Tagalogs. With its bright to purplish-colored hue, this Lenten staple has been part of our Filipino bowls.
“Ginataang bilo-bilo,” akin to “binignit” in Cebuano, is a dessert snack enjoyed during Holy Week, especially Good Friday. The Tagalogs and Cebuanos may differ in how they call this sweet stew, but the cooking methods and the ingredients are closely the same.
Ginataang bilo-bilo, binignit may be same, but one thing set them apart
In making “ginataang bilo-bilo,” you need main ingredients like glutinous rice balls, jackfruit, coconut milk, saba, taro, and ube, as well as sweet potato and colorful pearl sago.
In Cebuano’s counterpart, “bilo-bilo” is omitted. In making “binignit,” landang, an ingredient akin to mini tapioca pearls is used.
Meanwhile, the cooking method is the same.
The million-dollar question: why do we eat this snack during Lent?
It is unclear why we eat it during Lent.
However, in a 2016 article for Cebu Daily News, travel writer, and rural tourism advocate Boboi Costas said that “binignit” existed even before Spanish colonization took place in the Philippines.
“My guess is that we’ve been eating root crops and fruits even before the Spanish came…[s]o it follows that whether it is the Holy Week or any other time, the “binignit” antedates the Cebuano’s penchant to have it during Lent,” he said in the article.
Costas also narrated that making “binignit” has been a “communal affair” — — — it called for neighbors to concoct it, uniting them into a single community cooking as one.
“Neighbors congregate on the street to prepare it,” he said. “When the time to eat comes, the whole neighborhood shows up.”
“Binignit” as a food of sacrifice and nourishment
Another claim is that “binignit” can be an alternative to meat during Holy Week abstention, mainly on a Good Friday, making it a perfect source of energy and an additional taste of sweetness, according to a Rappler article.
In a separate article by Rappler in 2021, Louelle Alix, a food historian and heritage worker, narrated that Cebuanos make “binignit” as source of energy despite a long fasting.
“They developed this dish called binignit that would fill them up, and still allow them to abstain from meat. It is full of carbohydrates that would ensure they would be full the whole day,” she said.
Also, “binignit” can be good for us. According to the National Nutrition Council, its ingredients can be a source of carbohydrates for energy, fiber for digestion, Vitamin C for immunity, and manganese for good metabolism, among many others.
Furthermore, cooking can be an hour long. To cook one, the food website Panlasang Pinoy recommends “combining coconut milk and water in a cooking pot and let boil; stir the mixture; add sweet potato, purple yam, saba banana, ripe jackfruit, and eddo (gabi); cover the pot; continue to cook in medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, and add muscovado sugar and sago pearls, then stir; cover and continue to cook for another 8 minutes; combine glutinous rice flour (galapong) and 1/4 cup water and stir until flour dilutes completely, then pour into the cooking pot.” The recipe also calls to “continue to cook until all the sweet potato, yams, and gabi are soft; you can add more water in the pot if you want your “binignit” to be soupy, add more sugar as needed,” and you are good to go!
Whether you are a Catholic or not, or may it be enjoyed during Lent or any other day, it cannot be denied that Filipinos love this Lenten treat, whether it may be called “bilo-bilo,” “binignit,” “pinaltok,” and many other terminologies that identify it. Throughout time, it became a testament to Filipinos’ long-practiced penance, creativity, and most importantly, unity. (RF)
