Refined salt and how it is made the old way - a tourist attraction.

  San Vicente IS to the World Series

Refined salt and how it is made the old way

The inna or filtrate is “cooked” in large iron kettle (tallasi) under low fire as the crystalline fine salt forms. 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Nagtupakan and San Sebastian are two villages (barangay) of San Vicente (Ilocos Sur) famous in making refined salt – salt as fine and white as refined sugar, you can mistake the two. This is how the native folks do it with a very old technology.

First the salt field is “irrigated” during the day by high tide coming directly from the sea, but instead of being drained in the succeeding low tide, the floodgate is closed trapping the seawater which leaves a crust of salt on the salt field. This is repeated to enrich the harvest.

The salt crust is “cultivated” by hand or with bullock using a light harrow to scrape the topsoil which contains the salt crust called ati’.  The gathered ati’ is piled on the field or stored in a nearby shack for future use, thus allowing salt making even during the rainy season.

This is the process proper of extracting the salt from the crust. The crust is placed in a trough made of long wooden planks which looks like an oversized coffin. The bottom is lined with a layer of rice hay and a layer of sand on top of it.  This serves as filter.  Seawater is poured into the trough containing the crust to dissolve the salt.  The solution is filtered leaving behind the silt and clay. The filtrate which is a high concentrated salt solution is collected at one end of the trough. This is called inna, from which was derived the terms ag-inna, referring to the process.

The inna or filtrate is “cooked” in the open in large iron kettle under low fire. More filtrate is added as it evaporates to increase the yield.  The salt is turned regularly to prevent the formation of crust at the bottom and to hasten cooking.  Just like in the final stage in cooking rice, the in salt yield is allowed to dry completely.

The salt product is placed in a large bamboo basket for tempering, allowing the salt to become mellow (like wine).  During this stage the salt attains its true fine texture, whiteness, and dryness. 

Salt making with this indigenous technology is now a dying industry.  Ironically it is in the endangered stage of a craft that earns its place in the list of tourists’ attractions. There are reasons why the industry is dying and these are as follows:

• ·         High cost of production
• ·         Dwindling supply of firewood
• ·        The younger generation would rather go other jobs, or pursue careers
•         Product competition – commercial salt, local and imported, has flooded the market.
•         Advanced technology such as solar desalination of seawater has replaced traditional processes.       
•          Water pollution has rendered many salt fields unsuitable for this industry.
•          Comparative profitability of other industries like prawn farming, seaweed farming and fish cage culture have replaced the industry.   

If you happen to go up north, visit the indigenous salt making villages, seven km west of Vigan, and test for yourself which is salt and which is sugar just by looking at these two similar products in all their fineness and whiteness.  ~

Avoid artificial food coloring: it can cause cancer and behavioral problems in children

 Avoid artificial food coloring: it can cause cancer and behavioral problems in children

Dr Abe V Rotor
 Living with Nature School on Blog

 

Why food coloring?
Food coloring, or color additive, is any dye, pigment or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or drink. They come in many forms consisting of liquids, powders, gels and pastes.
People associate certain colors with certain flavors, and the color of food can influence the perceived flavor in anything from candy to wine. Color additives are used in foods for many reasons including:

· offset color loss due to exposure to light, air, temperature extremes, moisture and storage conditions
· correct natural variations in color
· enhance colors that occur naturally
· provide color to colorless and "fun" foods

Sometimes the aim is to simulate a color that is perceived by the consumer as natural.
Beware of colored candies, birthday cakes, and drinks. They are linked to cancer and behavioral problem in children.

The case of shoe dye* in tamarind sweet - a personal experience

Dr Abe V Rotor

All of a sudden when answering the call of nature, I was alarmed to see the color of my urine bright red. I cried, Blood!

I tried to compose myself to be able to reach the hospital in the earliest possible time. But what surprised me at the same time was that my fingers were also stained red. I examined the “tamarind sweet” I had just eaten. I found the culprit - jubos, the dye used on shoes!

There are products made to appear like cocoa, coffee, orange, strawberry, grapes and the like, when in fact the ingredients are mainly sugar, artificial flavors and food dyes.

How many food preparations are artificially colored for better presentation? Since that time on I have become more careful with colored foods. Ube cake, anyone?

One test to know if a food color is artificial is that it is detected in the urine. Natural colors, on the other hand, are either degraded by our excretory system or absorbed as a useful nutrient, as in the case of the yellow pigment of corn which is carotene. Carotene brightens the skin, deepens the yellow color of egg yolk, and lends freshness in meat. Carotene and xanthophyll from carrots and squash, lycopene in tomato are useful to our body. They make us glow, so to speak, improve our vision, and fight off cancer.

Food dyes are like artist's colors. Primary colors come up with various secondary and tertiary colors, including designs, saturation, hues and accents.

There are some things to consider about food dyes, specially if you suspect a food or drink to be colored artificially.

Be familiar with the natural colors of fruits and other food products. There are rare ones though. For example, purple rice cake (puto) comes from a variety pirurutong or purple rice. Ordinary rice flour and ube flour produce the same color. This can be imitated with the use of purple dye.

Fruit juices carry dyes to enhance their natural colors. Example, calamansi juice is made to appear like lemon or orange. Softdrinks would look dull and unattractive without artificial colors. Dyes mask natural variations in color and enhances naturally occurring colors. The sparkle and crystalline color of wine may be the result of judicious color blending.

A typical food cart in Manila  

Processed foods like smoked fish and ham are colored, usually golden yellow, or deep brown to make them look attractive. I once observed in a factory the practice of spraying a solution of yellow pigment on smoked fish to make it look newly processed and the body fat visible.

Other uses of artificial color or dye are in medicine to protect flavors, and minerals and vitamins from damage by light. Thus multivitamins are usually colored usually with bright yellow which appears in urine. Colored coatings of medicines and drugs are used to monitor prescribed doses in patients.

Cloudifier to make vinegar look like Sukang Paumbong or sasa, or something natural, is actually adding a few drops of milk to a dilute solution of acetic acid. This overnight formulation is popular in the market, because it is cheap, but the truth is that glacial acetic acid is not good to health.

Easter eggs

Cakes and other bakery products may deceive the eye and even the palate. Nothing beats the icing of birthday and wedding cakes. Bakers as artists use colors perhaps more than the full spectrum of the rainbow. I am amazed at how they express their art with the colors of Marc Chagall's stained glass, Pablo Picasso's fresh abstracts, and Rembrandt's sunset and midnight hues. With red, yellow and blue - the primary colors - plus white, there are artists who can create all the colors they need in their masterpieces.

But we cannot mix food with art using artificial colors.

Fortunately we are among the riches countries when it comes to natural food colors and dyes - orange, red to purple from oranges, grapes and strawberry; green from the leaves of pandan (Pandanus odoratissimus) and green paddy rice (pinipig); dark red to black from the fruits of duhat and bignay; purple color from ube (Dioscorea alata); and golden yellow from mango, pineapple, and tumeric (Corcuma longa).

The list is virtually endless, if we iunclude colors from muscovado sugar, coffee, cacao, banana, mangosteen, avocado, nangka, and the like.

By the way, what is the most common source of natural color and dye?

It is achuete or anatto (Bixa orellana). See photo. Achuete is a small to medium size tree introduced from Mexico (achuete is an Aztec word) during the Spanish times. Today it is used to impart or improve the color and flavor of cheese, butter, yogurt, noodles, pasta, macaroni, and cakes and many confectionery products.

I cannot imagine if there is no achuete in batchoy, apretada, azucena, caldereta, paella, kare-kare, arroz valenciana, lechon, and many other dishes.

Let us avoid artificial food coloring. Here is a toast of red Basi wine. 

Allow me to post this news item on food dye published by Philippine Daily Inquirer on the Internet. 

 

 Artificial colors impart attractive presentation of processed food like bagoong. 

FDA warns vs cancer-causing food dye in candy, ‘gulaman’ ‘bagoong’

By Tina G Santos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public about processed food products found positive for rhodamine-B, a cancer-causing substance found in coloring dye.

In an advisory posted on its website last week, the FDA said three of 34 food product samples it tested for nonpermissible colorants (NPC) were found positive for rhodamine-B.

According to the FDA, the samples it tested were taken from ambulant vendors, public markets, groceries and supermarkets in the National Capital Region and Central Visayas.

“Most of the samples were unregistered and noncompliant with food product labeling standards,” said FDA acting director general Kenneth Hartigan Go in the advisory.

Some of the products were icing candy from Cebu Crown Grocery, red gulaman from the Carbon Public Market and shrimp paste (labeled 7C’s) from Robinson’s Grocery in Talisay, Cebu.

“The food processors of the three products are in violation of the FDA Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 9711) and the Consumer Act of the Philippines (RA 7394) on the adulteration of processed food,” said Go.

Go said the FDA Act of 2009 requires all locally manufactured and imported processed food products to be registered with the Food and Drug Administration.

“This requirement is in addition to the permits issued by the local government units (LGUs) and other government agencies,” he said.

Meanwhile, five other products that the FDA tested needed further confirmatory tests for the presence of NPC Sudan.

Rhodamine-B is a fluorescent dye used as a tracer in water and air flow studies, and in molecular and cell biology studies. It presents as a red to violet powder. It has been shown to be carcinogenic in mammalian models.

On the other hand, industrial grade Sudan dye is not permitted for use in food because it is toxic, carcinogenic and likely contains metals like mercury and arsenic. Sudan dyes are used in shoe and floor polish, solvents, oils, waxes and petrol.

The FDA advised consumers to buy processed food products from legitimate food establishments and outlets.

He urged consumers to report food processors using suspect food coloring additives.

NOTE: In another article researchers say there may be a link between artificial food dyes and behavioral problems in children with certain medical conditions.
--------------------------- 

SHOE DYE POISONING

C. W. MUEHLBERGER, Ph.D.

During the last two years, my attention has been called to ten cases of poisoning from the use of shoe dyes which contain either nitrobenzene or anilin as a solvent and which are used to dye tan or light colored leather black. These cases have been characterized by marked cyanosis, sometimes accompanied by vertigo and weakness, digestive disorders, headache and somnolence.

The danger of poisoning from nitrobenzene or anilin has been discussed particularly with regard to industrial workers. This phase of nitrobenzene and anilin intoxication is perhaps best summarized by Hamilton,1 who made a thorough investigation of such poisoning in the American dye industry. Many cases of accidental poisoning by nitrobenzene or anilin through the spilling or splashing of these liquids on the skin or clothing are recorded in the medical literature. Painters using anilin-containing paint have been poisoned by the absorption of this oil through the skin.
Acknowledgement: Wikipedia, Philippine Daily Inquirer

A Never Ending Story

 A Never Ending Story

Dr Abe V Rotor

Retirement is a stage in life when we withdraw from the battlefield, so to speak, and recount the good old days on a rocking chair. It is likely the last stage in life when we look back into the past rather than gaze  over the horizon. And for the present, we become mere spectators and no longer actors of the drama which Shakespeare beautifully expressed - The world's a stage, everyone has a role to play.

Boy hero Atreyu, and Artex, in the movie,The Never Ending Story, Warner Bros 1984 \

But this is not true today, not after 1989 when the world reached a turning point and a sudden leap of mankind, borrowing the American astronauts' greeting to the earth people upon stepping on the surface of the moon. The first reference affirms there is meaning of man's life (we all have a role to play), while the second reference is a challenge to man's future (post-modernism and space age).

The Cold War ended after 45 years, liberating nations and people from the polarized clutches of the two superpowers, satellite and cyberspace communications have virtually wired the whole earth, and world travel became a 24-hour circumnavigation.  Ideologies found a common path of understanding, so with religious beliefs through ecumenism. Globalization became a universal aim and goal.

Retirement is indeed difficult to define where boundaries which used to divide the world politically, culturally, economically, and the like, are dissolving into a homogeneous global village, many believe to be the new world order. More so, when "matter does not age, and age does not matter," delightfully speaking. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Welcome home! Chorused my three children the day I announced my decision to retire under the government’s early retirement plan.

I realized I have not been truly home with my family. A feeling of guilt crept in but I knew from the start how to amend for my deficiency.

While adjusting to a new life I was not accustomed to, I could not help but look back into the kind of world I left behind.

The price of rice continued to rise. As an anchor against inflation, any increase in the price of this staple signals the spiraling of prices of other commodities. Many food items in the last ten years have become luxury to the masses. Low productivity was blame to force majeure rather than the lack of clear cut and firm policies. Investment was not only unprecedentedly low, it favored industry, bypassing agriculture. Peace and order problems were spreading out fast with poverty in both urban and rural areas. We were falling to the bottom of the economic ladder in Asia and the Pacific region.

This is the drama that unfolded before me, now a spectator. I was once part of this drama. I played important roles in the field and on the desk, in the private sector and in the government for twenty long years. I was part of the economic miracle in the sixties and seventies. I was part of the modernization of the agriculture program. The last two decades the country has demonstrated leadership in agro-industrial development, and scientific and technological break-throughs. But we failed to keep up with the pace of development of neighboring countries and the free world.

On the vantage point of a private life I was soon to lead, I began to doubt if my work for many years had any significance at all. Did I make a difference?

It is now one month from the day I packed up for home. The sea in summer is ideal for fishing With my books that make a small library, reading and writing once again are occupying my time. Marlo and Carlo are asking me when the next camping on Mt. Makiling will be. Chris Ann begs to be part of an on-the-spot painting session for children. My family has never been so happy and secure.

One evening the whole family viewed The Never Ending Story, a fantasy for children. It is about a boy warrior destined to save the crumbling world of Fantasia, an imaginary world beyond. During his adventure, the hero encountered a fierce animal.

‘’If you come any closer, I will rip you into threads, “roared the animal.

‘’Who are you?’’ asked the startled boy.

‘’I am the wolf. And you, whoever you are, will have the honor to be my last victim.’’

‘’I will not die easily. I am a warrior.’’

‘’Brave warrior, then fight the nothing.’’

‘’But I can’t. I can’t. fight on the boundary of Fantasia.’’

The wolf laughed.

‘’What’s funny about that?’’

‘’Fantasia has no boundary.’’

‘’That’s not true. You are lying.’’

‘’Foolish boy’ don’t you know anything about Fantasia? It is a world of human fantasy. Every part,every creature of it is a piece of the dream and hope of mankind. Therefore, it has no boundary.’’

‘’Why is Fantasia dying then?’’The boy is perplexed.

‘’Because people have come to lose their hopes and forget their dreams. So nothing goes stronger.’’

‘’What is the Nothing?’’

‘’It is the emptiness that is left. It is despair that is destroying this world, and I have been trying to help it,’’ the wolf f hollered.

‘’But why?’ demanded the boy.

‘’Because people who have no hope are easy to control. And whoever has the control has the power!’’

An earthquake shook the cave and rocks began to fall. When the dust settled, the two were face to face in combat, the boy holding a digger, and the wolf showing its fangs, snarling.

‘’Who are you really?’’ the boy intoned.

‘’I am the servant of the power behind Nothing . I was sent to kill the only one who can stop the Nothing. I lost him in the swamp of sadness. His name is Atreyu.

‘’If I were to die anyway, I would rather die fighting! Come on wolf, I am Atreyu.’’

The wolf lunged at the boy. Quickly the boy aimed his dagger at the beast’s heart and found its mark.

The death of the beast was the end of Atreyu’s travail. He save d Fantasia.

Today, in our real world, the wolf is no different enemy. It perpetuates on human weakness and preys upon the weak. It thrives on helplessness and despair, indifference and inaction, war and persecution. It looms around human miseries.

The confrontation of the warrior and the beast lives in fantasy, and many of us are relieved by that thought that it is not true - it is only a story. But now and then, the imagery is just too vivid to be just fantasy.

In the days that followed, I found myself once again engrossed with work, this time as professor in a university.

I believed I have not really retired. ~

Years after ...
 

Author as professor, UST Graduate School, with public school teachers taking refresher course; 

author as organizer and instructor, Summer Art Workshop for Children
 

  

Author with a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) on environmental conservation; as author, with co-authors during a International Book Fair; as conference speaker; and as family man. ~

Take a Break! Pictorial Story

Take a Break!

Pictorial Story

Photo by Dr Abe V Rotor

Tell a Story about this photo.

5 Practical Home Remedies and Tips

5 Practical Home Remedies and Tips
Dr Abe V Rotor                                                               

1. Simplest remedy for diarrhea.

Diarrhea claims the lives of 3 million people, with nearly 2 million oif them children under five years old. Yet a simple and inexpensive treatment can prevent many of those deaths. 

Here is a simple formula for oral rehydration:  fistful of sugar + a pinch of salt + a jug of water.  

This old home remedy is now recognized by the World Health Organization which claims that it has saved some 40 million lives, and hopes to demote diarrhea as the second leading cause of death among children. 

2. Do not do heavy work for 40 days after childbirth. 

This is especially true to rural women who do a lot of farm work aside from daily chores. But to urban mothers who are not usually accustomed to heavy physical work, it takes a longer time for them to recover after childbirth. The whole idea is to allow the inner organs to heal and the body physiology to get adjusted with child rearing.  Old folks recommend highly digestible and protein-rich food such as cereals, fruits and honey, which are also important in breast-feeding. Cognizant of the welfare of women, government regulation provides for an official maternity leave of sixty days, before and after child delivery.

In the village it is normal to nurse the baby for a year, but weaning may be started as soon as the child’s diet can be supplemented. Old folks would say,  “Milk doesn’t come out of the milk tree, it comes out of your blood.  Support that flow of blood that is converted into milk for the child.” 

3. Roasted shallot onion PHOTO is an effective suppository.

Old folks heat shallot onion the size of the index finger until it is limp.  They then coat the bulb with coconut oil and while still sufficiently warm insert it into the anus.  It is a home remedy to reduce extreme fever and to draw out gas that causes kabag. People who have constipation problems resort to this practice.

4. Oxalic acid in kamias weakens the bones.

Sinigang with kamias (Averrhoa balimbi) PHOTO is a favorite dish no Filipino kitchen is without. But too much intake of kamias is not good for the health because of the oxalic acid it contains which doctors and nutritionists found to be a cause of osteoporosis.  The principle is that, acids react with calcium compounds forming a neutral product – salt. In the process, the bone gets thinner and thinner predisposing it to break especially in old age. Thus, we should caution ourselves from taking too much acidic food, and in particular, kamias and balimbing (A. carambola)  which belong to Family Oxalidaceae

5. Onion and tomato spray kills harmful bacteria.

Spray derived from the extracts of these plants in low dilution proves to be effective against food bacteria. In certain restaurants it is a practice to spray the food with this stuff before it is served.  In others, standing food is sprayed to keep it safe. One problem though is the detection of the characteristic odor of onion, so that it is best to apply the spray on spicy food. ~

Grow native onion leek at home

Grow native onion leek at home.

A pot of onion leek makes a unique gift to friends who love to cook, those in their senior years, and those convalescing. Don't forget to add a little ribbon and a personal message. Make this as project in school and community. ~

Dr Abe V Rotor

Native onion grown in pot provides ready fresh onion leek for a number of recipes like fried eggs, soup, omelet, kilawin, porridge (lugaw), arroz caldo.

This is one way to encourage kids to have a daily supplement of vegetables. Vary the use of leek in their diet. Onion leek is rich in vitamin K, A, C and B6, manganese, folate, iron, fiber, magnesium, molybdenum, copper, calcium, and potassium. It also contains thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin, and antibiotic substances like Allicin and Alliin - from Allium, the genus of onion (A. cepa), garlic (A. sativum), kutchay (A tuberosum), and the original leek (A. ampeloprasum). Leeks generally have also high calorie value, and fair amounts of protein and fat. It is no wonder onion is the most important vegetable in

the world.

 

Spouting bulb of shallot or bulb variety (Red Creole). Gather only what you need for the moment using scissor. Don't cut the entire stem - only mature leaves.

Grow leek where there is sufficient sunlight, preferably on an elevated place. It's easy to grow leek from shallot (Sibuyas Tagalog) and from bulb onions (Granex or Creole). Staggered planting assures continuous supply of leek for the family - and for neighbors too.

A pot of onion leek makes a unique gift to friends who love to cook, those in their senior years, and those convalescing. Don't forget to add a little ribbon and a personal message. Make this as project in school and community. ~

Priorities & Choices in Life

                          Priorities & Choices in Life

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Helen Keller, deaf-blind since infancy became a role model for millions of people. She wrote a moving essay that challenges us who have the power of vision on how we would value “Three Days to See” if we were blind like Helen Keller blind since infancy. (The Story of My Life)

Try this exercise. If you were given Three Days To See just as Helen Keller told in her essay, how would you prioritize these? (Please indicate the day after each item; or it is not applicable.) Please refer to the answers below

1. Lives of people everyday
2. Theater – concert, performing art
3. Transformation of night to day
4. Views from top of a high building
5. Loved ones and friends
6. Nature - landscape and garden
7. Museum of arts and natural history
8. Historical records of man & society
9. Things at home, favorite books, etc
10. Comedy, the lighter side of life.

After checking your work with the answers guide below, compare it with the priorities of Helen Keller.
1st Day - Loved ones, Favorite Things, Nature
2nd Day - Natural History, History, Humanities,
3rd Day - The Business of life. (NOTE: The lighter side of life closes the episode.)

Three Days to See challenges us to look into our priorities and choices in Life • City or countryside life
• Aesthetics or materialism
• Permanence and transience
• Love and Friendship
• Spirituality and faith
• Computer graphics or fine arts
• Perception or sensitivity
• Affection or companionship
• Vice or hobby
• Knowledge or Wisdom
________________________________________________________

Answer Guide Lives of people everyday - 3rd day
1. Theatre – concert, performing art –end of 2nd day
2. Transformation of night to day –opening of 2nd day
3. Views from top of a high building – 3rd day
4. Loved ones and friends – 1st day, immediately.
5. Nature - landscape & garden – 1st day pm to sunset
6. Museum of arts and natural history – 2nd day
7. Historical records of man & society – 2nd day
8. Things at home, favorite books, etc – 1st day
9. Comedy stage play - End of 3rd day
_________________________________________________________

From this exercise we can better appreciate Helen Keller’s philosophy of life.

“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn whatever state I am, therein to be content.”

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen and even touched. They must be felt within the heart.” ~