The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-01-21
WHAT FILIPIN0S EAT
ONE FAvoRITe DISH OF THE NATIVES
IS CHRISTOPHER PIE.

ONE FAvoRITe DISH OF THE NATIVES
IS CHRISTOPHER PIE.
such q Way That the Insects Pre-
serve Their yhape-as0ths and Oats
Are Also Culinary Dainties.
Your correspondent having had the
privilege of investigating the kinds Of
food eaten by the native people OF tn.
Philippine Islands ONE interesting infor-
nation may be given concerning the way
in which the Filipino makes up n good
dinner ut low cost. Probably the most
common article OF food, that would not
be desired by Americans or others than
the Filipinos, IL the g~rasshoppcr. In
these islands the grassh0ppers not only
grow in great numbers, but the size Of
the insect is large. There are those who
make a business Of catching the grass
hopper during the best season for them.
which IL in May, June. July and later.
There nre several methods used by the
natives for catching grasshoppers. The
most effective IL the net. This is q large
butterfly net, arranged with netting. plac-
ed over a hoop. and to the latter is fixed
O long handle. The native takes this
handle and with the mouth Of the net to-
ward the grasshoppers he PUSHES forth,
bagging considerable numbers ut each
run. The grasshoppers always &c IN
swarms, except the advance guard and
the stragglers, and II anything occurs to
disturb their eight they get confused and
tumble into bags readily OF fall into the
open mouths OF nets. They fly 80 closely
that they cannot well escape. as when
they turn slightly out Of their course they
come into contact with other grasshop-
pers next to them.
Grasshopper catching Is q profitable
business in the Philippines. Grasshop-
pcrs sell at 81 per sack. gold, in the
larger cities Of the islands, where the peo-
ple do not have q chance TO get at the in
sects In the field. The sacks Of the IN
lands hold about q bushel. The grass
hopper Ii a regular article in the markets
for the entire year. as, after drying out,
the hopper can be kept indefinitely. 1t
Is in the operation Of drying that the
grasshopper Is made eatable. l never
saw q native eat a green grasshopper.
but I have seen them eat the dried ones
By the pocketful on the street or in com.
pany at entertainments and by the diSh'
full ut the table ut their homes. Your
correspondent has tried the prepared
grasshopper and has experienced no seri'
Gus results.
The hopper Is first SO thoroughly dried
cut In the heat Of the sun or in the bake
oven that there IL nothing left that Is
really Objectionable. and q nice, crispy
| article of food results. This tastes sweet
| Of itself and something like ginger snaps.
| The natives usually sweeten the grass
hoppers more by using q sprinkling o.
| brown sugar. Then the confectioners
make ND grasshoppers with sugar. choco
late trimmings and colored candies In
such a way that a very nice tasting piece
| Of confectionery Is obtained.
The housewife Of the Philippines takes
| considerable delight In placing before
you q nice grasshopper pie or cake. Tht
grasshopper pie Is the most wonderful
| dish, rs the big hoppers are prepared II
such a way that they do not lose theil
| form or any Of their parts.
Another article Of food which Is rel
| lshed by the natives Is procured by col
| Letting large quantities Of moths from
| the rocks of the mountainous regions. II
several spots in the mountains In Pana!
| and other islands Of the southern portion
| of the Philippine group ! saw moths ex
| listing 80 thickly In the rocky tissues tha'
they could be scraped of into buckets BY
| the quart. The moths seemed to mass II
| the ~crevices and there hang. One could
get q barrel Of the moths In q very shor,
while. =,
The natives have not failed to investi
gate the worth Of the moth as an article
| Of food. Their mode Of catching consists
| In going to the hills In parties Of q dozer
or more with the proper bags and articles
| for collecting the moths. The scrapinf
| process il used In some sections OF thu
| islands, while in Negros Isle l noticed
/ That they adopted a different scheme
| Here they spread q bamboo net on thu
ground beneath nm overhsnging colony o.
the moths and then proceeded to disturb
| the insects with the point OF a spear Of
piece of bamboo. The little insects los'
their hold and drop to the mat. They
are slow Of action, and before they chi
crawl away the game Is bagsed.
The dainty natives will not eat th'
wings or the heads of the little moths
and 50 they now take steps to remov'
these Objectionable parts. This operation
consists In creating heat to such m ex
tent that the tissues in the heads an
wings become baked and crumblc ID.
Often the moths in their present stag
of incarnation are eaten with. some sugal
or with other articles Of food. Again
the moths are used In conjunction WIZ
other mixes Of food In the form OF pud
ding and prepared dishes. The cocoanu
Is literally used in mixtures with TIT
moth and cocoanut cake apd pie, ant
moth filings are common. g.,
The horrible bat Of the islands, which
here grows in many cases to the size O
the American chicken hawk. Is also eater
in some sections Of the Philippines. III
best classes Of natives, however. do no
eat the bats. The mode OF catching Tn
bats Is peculiar. The cities. towns ant
barrios Of oil Of the islands Of the Philip
nine group are quite overrun with bats
which fy through the streets Mt night II
large numbers. They fly slowly n seen
incapable Of lodging articles in thei
nath. Therefore the native takes o lonl
mole. nuts q sort Of combination hooket
arrangement ut the top and takes posi-
ton In a street. md with the pole he'll
erect waits for bats to come along AM
bump into the hooked portion. As tn
native sees a bat coming he plans to hav'
the hook in its path. and as he moves tn
pole. 80 rs to bring the hook into contac
with the head Of the bat. the latter usuai
" strikes It with q bang and drops to tn
earth stunned, when the native proceed
to promptly put the bat to death. are