A Christmas Delicacy

When writing about the Catholic sacrifice of the Mass, many people spell the word Mass with a small m. It is a pernicious error; when referring to the Catholic Mass, the word should always be spelt with a capital M. This is because Catholics believe (or should believe) that the Mass is a re-presentation of the sacrifice of Calvary.

Re-presentation here does not mean “representation,” which is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “something (such as a picture or symbol) that stands for something else.” Re-presentation in the context of the Catholic Mass means that, in a mysteriously real way, parishioners attending Mass are present at the sacrifice of Our Lord on the Cross at Calvary.

And yes, that means we believe that the Host we consume in the midst of Mass is, in fact, the Real Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. The “accidents” or physical characteristics of bread and wine remain, but the substance is altered when the priest says “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood” at the consecration. St. Thomas Aquinas dubbed this phenomenon “transubstantiation.”

I am not telling you this to “make” you believe it, readers. I only bring this up because watching writers who should know better spell “Mass” improperly is annoying. Given that today is the Feast of the Epiphany, it seemed like a good time to explain why the proper spelling is important.

Enjoy the piece, readers. And if you have ever eaten puto bumbong, let a curious author know how it tastes. Someday she might decide to make it herself!

Why Filipino Christians Greet the December Dawn With Purple Rice

Puto bumbong is a sweet, post-mass breakfast during Simbang Gabi.

BY PAM CASIS

DECEMBER 22, 2020

The Simbang Gabi is a devotional nine-day mass practiced by many Christians in the Philippines. Masses start before dawn (usually around 4:00 a.m.) and are held daily from December 16 through Christmas Eve. The tradition dates back to the early days of Spanish colonization in the 1600s, when the morning mass allowed farmers to attend church before working in the fields. When I was a child in Manila in the 1980s, the anticipation of a reward after the service was often the reason I was able to muster some strength to be up that early. That reward was puto bumbong.

As early as 3:00 a.m., makeshift food stalls line up outside churches and await the worshippers to finish mass. It became a tradition for Filipinos to stop and savor native delicacies such as puto bumbong for breakfast afterward. The purple-hued rice cake (puto) is made with glutinous rice and often cooked inside bamboo tubes (bumbong). Its color traditionally comes from a local dark-purple rice variety called pirurutong, which gets soaked overnight, then ground. But many cooks opt for the more easily-accessible purple tinge obtained from ube (purple yam) flavoring added to glutinous rice flour.

Vendors brush softened butter on the cakes as soon as they come out of the bamboo steamer, then top them off with freshly grated coconut and dark brown sugar. A simple yet delectable kakanin (native delicacy), puto bumbong, will all its fixings, is sweet and buttery with a very pronounced fresh, coconut flavor. It’s often complemented with salabat (ginger tea), tsokolate (Filipino hot chocolate), or coffee.

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