Kalamay (also spelt Calamay), which means "sugar", is a sticky sweet delicacy that is popular in many regions of the Philippines especially Bohol. It is made of coconut milk, and ground sweet rice.
It's not easy to prepare as you have to spend around 2 hours cooking it with continuous stirring to achieve the tough-leathery texture. It is usually stored inside empty coconut husk or boa.
It's not easy to prepare as you have to spend around 2 hours cooking it with continuous stirring to achieve the tough-leathery texture. It is usually stored inside empty coconut husk or boa.
they say that a trip to Bohol would never be complete without bringing some of its signature delicacy, a simple yet sweet treat in the native coconut shell, the Calamay. So don’t forget to bring home some of these for those with a sweet tooth at home.
Calamay is known across the archipelago and there are many versions of it in different regions of the country. This is so because of its procedure so easy to follow and the ingredients are very common.
Basically, its composition is made up of well-milled glutinous rice, coconut milk, sugar plus chopped peanuts as optional. The milled rice is then poured into the half-heated coconut milk. Constant stirring is needed until the right consistency of stickiness is achieved. This what makes Calamay famous. Two hours of constant stirring over low fire is not a joke. It resembles the patience, dedication and hard work of every Boholanos. There are many manufacturers of this delicious speciality around Bohol but the best-tasting ones can only be bought at Jagna, Bohol. Jagna is known as the “Calamay Country” where the finest Calamays are made. Calamay mixture is then placed in a clean coconut husk sealed with a red band.
According to a report, the calamay industry has been giving the members of Jagna Calamay Makers and Vendors Association (JACAMAVEA) enough income to bring food to their tables. However, they also suffered a great loss when the seaport at Jagna was temporarily closed. Now that the port was reopened, the business is back.
There are no reasons to leave Bohol without these simple sweets. Vendors in every port of Bohol are strategically displaying their products, often by three’s for a hundred pesos. There are also sold in plastic canisters but tourists tend to buy the ones in coconut shells.
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History and making of calamay
By: Leoncio Balbin, Jr.
After World War II, the Philippines was totally devastated and Candon was not exempted.
But in the village of Bagar, several coconut trees were left standing.
During that time, six elderly women in a casual conversation thought of coming out with new ways of using the food materials spared from the war including the said coconuts.
They were able to amass brown sugar, glutinous rice, vat and, of course, coconut.
Maximizing the coconut, they included its milk. They mixed all the ingredients and stirred it up until it became sticky.
They cooked it and when they tasted it, much to their surprise, it was pleasantly delicious.
Thus started the making of Calamay (glutinous rice cake ) in Candon.
More than six decades had passed and yet the same style of cooking, as well as the same ingredients, were being used in the now City of Candon.
Only the preparation of materials like the mechanized grounding of glutinous rice was improved due to the advent of technology and the increase in demand.
Lisa Abaya, President of the Calamay Vendors Association of Candon City, said that calamay was then consumed only locally in Bagar until other people tasted it and it became a hit.
Abaya, now in her 40’s, said that one of the six elder women, Rosa del Rosario, was her grandmother.
Abaya said it was she who transferred the knowledge of making calamay to her mother, Caridad Dario and, later, to them.
Abaya said that calamay was initially sold in containers made of coconut shells and wrapped in banana leaves during 1960’s.
They changed the banana leaves into plastic because the former easily spoils the calamay .
Abaya knew what she was talking about as she could still remember when she was a little girl helping and joining her mother in cooking and selling the product.
She, however, admitted that she could not recall how the product got its name.
Her guess is it could have been derived from the early manner of cooking.
Since it involved practically all manual or using of hands, its name may be coined after the Pilipino word kamay.
Calamay up to now is baked and cooked with the same formula.
They first cook the young coconut slivers in boiling water and then add the coconut milk.
They then mix the ground glutinous rice and sugar. They stir it until it becomes sticky and nearly dry.
Calamay in Candon has gone a long way even if it stayed the same.
It is the city’s choice as its One Town One Product entry to the Department of Trade and Industry project.
The product has circled the entire world as it is a favourite pasalubong (present) by Candonians and Ilocanos to their relatives in the country and abroad.
In 2006, it placed the city in the world map when arguably the world biggest rice cake was baked here.
The Bagar calamay makers churned out 2,547 kilos of calamay, besting the 2, 097-kilo rice cake baked in Niigata, Japan in 2002.
The Candon calamay used 200 gantas of glutinous rice, milk from 2, 000 coconuts and 1,200 kilos of brown and white sugar, using 132 vats.
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