Batangas Tamales

One native delicacy in Batangas City is the tamales. I remember in the second half of the 1980s when it was being sold around the streets of Batangas City by a singular vendor on some days early in the morning. The vendor was a fat woman, whom I presume was also the one preparing and cooking this snack. She carries them in a bilao on her head, shouting ayyy tamales! at the top of her voice. She had no specific route, and you would really just chance upon her once in a while.

I liked tamales a lot. I know now that it is made of ground sticky rice, and comes in banana leaf wrap similar to suman. But unlike most rice-based snacks, Batangas City tamales is not sweet. It is salty, with a bit of spice. It is double colored, with a white part, and an orange colored part. The spicy, salty, nutty taste is concentrated in the orange portions. I've been told that these two parts are prepared separately and combined only at the point of wrapping. On top of the tamales is a few shreds of chicken meat, and a small slice of hard-boiled egg.

Now I buy my Batangas City tamales in the wet market. There are two vendors selling it, and there are some differences in their preparations. The orange part in one is paler and smoother in consistency. I like the other preparation, which is closer to the original version (although I notice that the ornage part gets runny when stored), better. With the banana wrapping, you can tell them apart by the color of the string that ties the wrapping around. I go for the one with the yellow color sting (the other is tied by a red string). Once I asked the vendor, who is my suki for various native snacks, about that old woman who used to sell tamales. She's long gone, and the two vendors are both family.

The tamales, however, is not exclusive to Batangas City. Perhaps even more famous is the one coming from the municipality of Ibaan. However, it is very different in taste, consistency and appearance, even though it retains the same basic flavor. The orange part is embedded as a filling, unlike the Batangas City version where the orange and white part are both immediately visible. The Ibaan version stores much better.

The Munipality of Taal, also in Batangas, has a version very similar to that of Ibaan. The only difference is with the meat used in the preparation. Instead of chicken, Taal uses beef tapa (Taal is also known for its tapa).

Over the years I have learned that various versions of tamales can be found in different parts of the country. Close to the Ibaan version is the one from Ragay, Quezon. I have also tried the Pampanga version, which is bigger and less tasty. While Kapampangans I suppose will say theirs is better, I didn't like it much.

I've heard there are also versions from Bulacan. I would love to try them, and other variations, when I get the chance.