In love with ladyfingers
MILLIE: Every time we travel, foodies that we are, it is always a food trip! We plan what we want to eat more than where we want to go or what we want to do. Forget everything else, but don’t leave without the food bag! It’s like we are always afraid of going hungry. Hahaha! Every summer for the last 10 years, when we go to the beach in Panglao Island, our first stop as soon as we land in Tagbilaran is a tiny place behind Baclayon church that sells special homemade broas. It is not just any kind of broas cookies. It’s Osang’s Broas, made with tender, loving care, following an old secret family recipe that has been handed down from generation to generation; in this case, four generations.
KARLA: Four generations, yes, pretty much how my family is in the food business. I am actually a fourth-generation restaurateur, beginning the count from my great-grandmother, Aling Asiang or Engracia Cruz Reyes, founder of Aristocrat. So talk to me about “tender, loving care,” “old secret recipe” and being a fourth-gen successor, all I can say is, “It ain’t easy.” Despite all the family bickering, one thing brings us together: nothing else but food. Somehow, despite the differences in the members of such a huge clan, our taste buds are so alike. In our immediate family, my lolo is the master of food trends. I guess that is why we can’t help but always mention him in our articles.
As mentioned earlier, Osang’s Broas is our first and last stop in Bohol. First stop, to preorder broas and maybe buy a few packs to have on the beach, and last stop, to pick up the orders. We usually order a minimum of 50 packs — that’s a total of 5,000 fingers — to give away as pasalubong, send over to friends for them to try, or just to keep for ourselves. But in preparation for the broas, we also carry around a can of condensed milk in our food bag for lolo. As weird as it may seem, yes, we actually eat the broas with a thin strip of condensed milk. But I definitely suggest some dipping action in coffee or hot chocolate. Yum! I can just imagine. Other variants of broas are how you can use it as a base for mango cream torte or tiramisu and get creative from there.
Ladyfingers are made from the simplest ingredients: eggs, sugar and flour. Simple ingredients are accompanied by simple procedures and equipment. After mixing the ingredients, the mixture is placed into a piping bag. The mixture will then be piped in a strip onto a thin metal sheet, with the perfect length and width from each finger. The sheet of 10 fingers will then be placed in a mini oven-like stone box with controlled heat below, where the broas hardens and forms its shape. It is left there for a few minutes and then retrieved and transferred to a stone structure with grills, where strips of wood and the broas are then placed. Inside this stone structure, below all the grills and wood is charcoal, the source of heat for the browning of the product. After the charcoal grill, it is then slightly cooled and packed into brown paper bags the old-fashioned way.
MILLIE: Osang is Rosa Clarion, after whom these awesome baked goodies are named. As the story goes, the recipe for this special broas was developed in the 1800s by Osang’s aunt and was passed on to her. Osang then started her small backyard business.
And there’s a love story behind it. Aaaah! Osang had a granddaughter named Baby who had many suitors. One such suitor was Jobensito Maristela, whose mother was from Baclayon, while his father was from Surigao del Sur where his parents met and married. Jobensito visited his mother’s relatives in Baclayon and it was here that he met the love of his life, Baby.
“It was love at first sight,” says Jobensito.
Because of competition, Jobensito found a way to get closer to Baby to attract her attention. His strategy was simple and smart: he befriended Osang. It was a brief courtship that lasted six months and although Baby had many suitors, she saw ideal characteristics in Jobensito that eventually won her heart.
In 1973, Baby inherited the broas-making business from her maternal grandmother. It had become their main source of livelihood and both Baby and Jobensito are both proud of the fact that with their modest and meager income, they were able to afford to send their four children to college. Their eldest daughter, Maria Joyce, is a BS Physics graduate; the second daughter, Maricel, BS ECE (Electronic Circuit Engineering); their only son, Jopet, an architect and the youngest daughter, Jade Marie, specializes in BS IT information technology.
Baby and Jobensito have both been satisfied with life’s simple pleasures and surely sacrificed many unnecessary luxuries for the sake of their children’s education. They may not have had sufficient funds to grow or modernize their business, and it is evident as old-fashioned open ovens are still in use. The broas biscuits are still individually piped manually by Baby herself, instead of doing it mechanized. Surprisingly, the shapes and sizes are uniform and perfect! Call it a matter of taste, but for us foodies, even if other broas businesses have sprouted up in their neighborhood, Osang’s broas remains the best!
Osang’s Broas is found at Poblacion, Baclayon, tel. no. (038) 540-9072.
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