CONSOLACION, Cebu – For Cebuanos, binignit is not just a hearty snack that gives a nostalgic feeling of when we were younger.
It symbolizes sacrifice and humility and it is something that always gets talked about during the Holy Week.
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Binignit: The Semana Santa staple
Joscelyn Rabaca, a mother and cook who has a stall in Colon Street in downtown Cebu City, calls it ‘Binisayang Binignit’ with simple, easy-find ingredients like sweet potato, taro, banana, native tapioca, coconut, sugar, and sago. She also said that you can put jackfruit or strained rice to make it special.
Rabaca shared that it is only during the Lenten season they would make binignit with few ingredients because of inflation.
“Kung magluto mi, kana rasad kay sagolan pa nimo’g daghan niya mahal pa,” she said.
(If we cook binignit, that’s all the ingredients we use because if we put a lot, it’ll be too expensive.)
She also still believed that this culture of making binignit during the Holy Week is practiced by Cebuanos and shared to the next generation.
So how is binignit made?
First you’ll need these ingredients:
- Sweet Potato (kamote)
- Taro (gabi)
- Saba Banana (saging kardaba)
- Native tapioca (landang)
- Scraped coconut milk (tuno)
- Muscovado sugar (kamay kinugay)
- Sago
Landang being sold along Colon Street in Cebu CIty. | CDN Digital photo
To make binignit, following these steps:
Boil the kamote, gabi, saging kardaba, and landang in water until they soften.
Pour in the scraped coconut milk.
Then add the sugar and lastly, the sago.
A bunch of taro being sold at the market. | CDN Digital photo
Here’s a video version of how to make binignit:
You can always buy ready-made binignit from almost everywhere during the Holy Week.
But making it will give you a different sense of satisfaction. It’s not easy as it will take time, and a lot of effort stirring and mixing the ingredients.
But based on what we have experienced from the past, it’s all worth it!
Enjoy your binignit and your Holy Week, ka-Siloy!