I AM BELATEDLY delighted, well, if you can call it that! I grew up in Bohol and passed by the town of Alburquerque regularly when we visit Valencia – the birthplace of my father – during my childhood and teenage years, but I didn’t even know that “Asin Tibuok” is prepared and produced there! How unaware could I get?
I only learned about this industry in May, this year, when I returned to my home province, hopefully for good, so I want to invite the salt artisans to Woman Talk with Belinda Sales tomorrow, Saturday, July 1, 2023, so we can tackle the art of salt-making in Alburquerque and the industry itself. That would be fun while at the same time enabling me to compensate for my ignorance!
In my research, I learned that Asin Tibuok is an artisanal salt from Alburquerque which literally means “unbroken salt” or “whole salt.” According to FB Page, “Asin Tibuok” which shared the article of “All About Philippines,” the whole salt is also known as “The Dinosaur Egg” in international markets due to its unique appearance.
In R.C. Ladrido’s article, “Our artisanal salts: Rare, and disappearing?” published by VERA Files, he described the process of making Asin Tibuok thus: Gather dried coconut husks and place them in a salt pond (paril) where they are soaked in saltwater from three to six months; Husks are sun-dried, broken into smaller pieces, and burned into ashes that last around four days; At this time, fire is controlled and sprinkled frequently with seawater; Resulting ashes are white (gasang) and placed in a large cone-shaped funnel made of bamboo and buri leaves (sagsag); Seawater is poured continuously into the funnel while another container catches the filtered brine from the funnel; Filtering is done at least three times using different funnels to get a concentrated brine solution; Brine is transferred into clay pots called ku’n that serve as moulds and cooked in an open-pit fire; Continuous heating and boiling of clay pots for brine to evaporate is done all day long; and when bottom of the pot cracks, it is done and cooked, producing a hardened salt inside the pot. For visual appreciation, check “ASIN TIBUOK: Bohol’s Artisanal Sea Salt” video published by National Museum Bohol (NMB) on May 23, 2020.
As unique as it looks – I got one courtesy of NMB – the Alburquerque-bred salt produces a unique taste as well, says the All About Philippines article. It is said that “gourmands and culinary experts praise its smoky flavor, all thanks to the coconut charcoal.” Moreover, it produces a characteristic taste of sweetness making it more distinctive.
Local families who began the trade years back, in fact, according to an NMB writeup, “In the Philippines, early Spanish chronicles document salt production as a precolonial industry and in Bohol, a remnant of these salt making traditions endures,” are opening their doors to educate the locals, national and foreign tourists about this unique Boholano craft.
Owing to the complexity of the salt-making process, higher cost is incurred in production endangering the industry. However, a few families in Alburquerque, and at least one in the neighboring town of Loay, continue to produce the commodity, museum article reveals. Reportedly, with the reviving post-pandemic flurry of tourism activities, the remaining salt makers sustain the industry by selling asin tibuok as an artisanal salt.
What’s the lesson of this story?
It takes a whole community to work together to preserve this unmistakably remarkable Bol-anon heritage.
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Kapunongan sa Mang-Asinay sa Alburquerque
This local salt-maker cooperative, a pride of Alburquerque, is advocating and pushing the traditional production and knowledge transfer of asin tibuok. Having known the local industry quite late in the day, it is just fitting given the challenges the craft is facing. It’s the only way to preserve the trade and ensure that younger generations of Bol-anons will appreciate this ancient home-grown industry, and more importantly, learn the skill.
The best part is the collaborative effort among the ku’n makers, the salt producers, and the basket weavers to promote the product and its packaging. Packaging adds to the appeal of any product, so this is an excellent marketing move.
For enthusiasts and the public, the NMB features an exhibition entitled, Paglawig: The Boholano Way of Life, which has a section allocated for Asin Tibuok.
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The writer hosts Woman Talk with Belinda Sales at 91.1 Balita FM Tagbilaran City every Saturday, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. She can be reached at belindabelsales@gmail.com. Twitter @ShilohRuthie./PN
