Looking for ‘cranberries'

The Good Life with Eli F.J. Tajanlangit

Catalina or black cherries.

Calumpit.

Hungo.

Natal Plum. Carissa Plum. Bengal Currant.

Liputi.

Duhat. Lomboy.

Bugnay. Bignay.

Immediately, these suggestions poured forth in Good Friend P's Facebook wall, where we had posted a photo of the “cranberries” that are sold in a convent here in Bacolod.

I had posted the photo in the hopes of finally settling down the question of what these nice little fruits really were, after somebody raised doubts they were “cranberries.” Of course, from the looks of it, as Foodie Friend M A pointed out, they don't look like cranberries at all. Cranberries are a lot smaller than the one showed in the photo, she said, adding that by the looks of it, they are closer to bignay or bugnay in the dialect.

But I was acting on faith, having found them in a convent, and was ready to proclaim them a miracle; you know, when one believed hard enough, things can happen. I remember one of the wonders of my Catholic childhood, seeing an old grapevine growing, and even bearing fruit one time, in a convent back in the days when grapes were not cultivated in the country yet, and were only imported.

I did not realize, though, how interested people can get with this. P's wall was flooded with comments immediately. Even my wall, which has a limited circle of friends and an even smaller number of plant lovers there, attracted comments as well.

Interestingly, while P's wall drew mostly serious discussion, mine came mostly from foodies. P's friends had other questions: how big is the plant? Is it a plant or a tree? Can we look at the leaves? The branches? How many seeds each? How big? That was why I had to go back to the source, and ask for a branch. P also had another request: can I put a reference beside the fruit so they'd know how big they are from the photo?

If the trunk is hard and the leaves are plum-like, that must be Catalina or black cherries, said one of P's friends. Other comments sought the taste: Is it tannic? Acidic?

My wall, on the other hand was filled with fun: “Lomboy!” said one, “sawsaw sa asin. Yummmm” Literal translation: Duhat! Dip it in salt. Yummy!

Another said: “Duhat na bansot, kulang sa alaga at pataba.” LT: Stunted duhat, lacking care and fertilizer. Yet another said it was “alum-alum”, which grows in our wilds.

Interestingly, our FB discussion was nationwide in scope, with inputs coming from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. At one point, the discussion turned to what “aplud”, the Ilonggo term for that bland-bitter taste, means in Tagalog, so everybody stays on the same wavelength.

And oh, the beauty of today's communications technology: With ordinary gardeners and scientists zooming in on the discussions, it really did not take long before they came to what those fruit really are. By the end of the day, in fact, they had already zeroed in on one ‘suspect.'* (To be concluded: Cranberries they are not)

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