Tuba

February 14, 2009 | By admin |

Tuba is a part of our rich culture. It is just a part of our progressive past that is still to be discovered. This tells us that even we Cebuanos can produce our own beverage that we can be proud of.

This indigenous liquor is said to be already existent even before Spanish colonization. This was the official wine of every tribe at that time. This was proven by the writings of Pigafetta, the official chronicler of Ferdinand Magellan during the time when they colonized the Philippines.

In Cebu, Pigafetta drank palm wine with Rajah Humabon, the chief of Mactan that time. This only shows that since then, this liquor has been a witness to our history.

Folk songs and poems have been written about the tuba. Some of them are as follows:

    * “Kondansoy” (a Cebuano folk song)
    * “Si Pilemon” (a Cebuano folk song)
    * Tigmo (a riddle) about the tuba

There are even rules of etiquette that one should follow in drinking this wine. Some of them are described below.

First is the Agda, which exhorts some person or diwata (deity) to take the first drink. Next is the Gasa which means to propose a toast to somebody’s health, usually of the opposite sex. Lastly is the Salabat, which means to toast in which the cup itself was offered, even carried from one house to another for this purpose.

There are also significant terms that a tuba-drinker should know like the Naga Itib which means to drink together (usually two persons) from the same jar, just like two babies feeding at the same breast. Itib means milk brothers. Abong is the honor the datu (ruler) might pay one of his timawa vassals by presenting his own cup after he had taken a few sips himself. And the last is the most important thing, for without this, the inuman (drinking ceremony or session) will not have spice: the sumsuman, which refers to food that accompanies the drinking, like the plate of pork which Rajah Kolambu shared with Pigafetta, who then reported, “We took a cup with every mouthful [of sumsuman].”

Tuba played a big role among our early ancestors when they made important decisions for the better of their barangay (village). When leaders meet without any wine/tuba served to them, “the leaders will talk only little, discuss poorly and slowly, and decide the worst, for they feel so dry that nothing could enliven their interest, but when tuba is served, he who proposes does it with eloquence; those who respond, with discretion; and those who decide, with full attention and no bias.” They also used the tuba to settle the barangay people’s misunderstandings by letting the involved persons drink tuba, and then, when they got drunk, they would discuss the problems properly with fairness and with no violence.

Sam Milby - Si Filimon (Heartthrobs Concert)

hahahahahahahah

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    1 Comment »

    Comment by michal
    2009-07-08 12:44:41

    when is the fermentation period of toddy?
    how long does it take to remain toddy?
    what is the chemical composition of toddy?
    why did toody is can absorb?

    thank you…

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