Let me introduce you to my tio Pabling. He is the husband of tia Elena (Elina as we pronounce it because that is how it’s being pronounced by the rest of our neighbors). My tio Pabling and tia Elena are actually not our relatives. They are just neighbors who look after us when my tatay and nanay are out for work. Together with my Acharing, we felt that they are truly members of the family by their concerns and care shared to us during our childhood.
Tio Pabling is a “magkakawit” (coconut harvester) of our lolo Dino. There was not a single time I saw him wearing short pants. He works everyday carrying his tool: the “gala”. A “gala” is a set of several bamboo poles being assembled to become a very long rod with a steel halfmoon-shaped blade on top we call “karit” to pick batches of coconuts from the trees’ crown. He also has a “tapas” and some rubber pads which he puts on his wrist when dehusking coconuts. Sometimes, he worked as “magtatapas”. But most times, he liked to work as a “magkakawit”. By experience, my tio Pabling can identify the quality of the coconut meat inside even “without opening them. Merely by looks and the kind of sound it produces when being tapped by fingers he can foretell what’s inside: “mura”(buco) na “mala-uhog”, “gumaan”, “kain-buwan”, “macapuno”, matured “niyog” or even “pu-aw”(empty/spoiled). His earnings is based on the quantity of coconuts he harvested or dehusked. Since he is earning by the pieces, I can understand how fast he should work in order to earn an amount enough to feed a family of five.
No matter how fast he works to earn a living, my tio Pabling is rather a hypo-active and soft spoken man when not at the workplace. He seldom speaks. He just stared at us but seldom gave a smile. With meek and humble facial features, though never smiled, he was totally an unintimidating guy.
There were also times that we get to talk to our tio Pabling briefly but quite interestingly, those times were a special treat to us because we get to hear his voice and figure out what’s on his mind. Those special times that we get to listen to him were the times when he visited us after getting drunk from a “barikan” session with his colleagues. Tipsy and with eyes partly closed, he climbs up the stairs going to our house’s main door singing a kundiman song. Listening to him, we realized he has quite a good voice!
“Good evening sa inyong lahat” he murmured and sat on the floor in front of half-opened main door. “Ang tatay, nasan?” he asked. “Ay, wala pa po, nasa Balanga pa” I replied. “Okay” he said. “Likayo, manood kayo ng tv?” “Okay”, he again said. “ Sino kabarik ninyo, sila ma Manolo?” “Okay lang” he again replied.
“Uwi na ikaw, uy! Lasing ka na naman. Don ka na sa atin” Tia Elena scolded tio Pabling. “Okay lang” tio Pabling answered.
Sometimes after my tia Elena scolded my tio Pabling, he just went home but there were also times that he won’t and instead slept on our living room floor till the early hours of the next morning. “Okay” is the regular word I always hear from my tio Pabling when drunk.
My tio Pabling frequently brought us “mura”. And when my tatay is at home, he will bring a local “magkakawit” delight made up of fresh buco meat strips concocted with diced onions, black pepper, chopped kamias, “pinatis na katang” (crablet juice) and some crushed “siling labuyo”. Served chilled as their pulutan, I can still recall looting some and after a while, I can not help myself but grab some more and enjoy eating! It’s really good!!!
“Hoy, wag mo namang ubusan ng pulutan ang tio Pabling mo!!!” my father reminded me. “Ang sarap po kasi. Tio Pabling ano po ba ang tawag dito? “Okay, okay” my tio Pabling again replied. “Huh????” I shook my head and walked away from our dining room.
So that was my tio Pabling and his local “magkakawit” delight. To this day, my tia Elena still lives. We are not neighbors anymore. And my tio Pabling? He died of liver cirrhosis many years ago.
Sometimes in my alone and sober times, I look back and try to know more of myself by my past. What I am today is part and parcel of what I went through during my younger years. My colleagues and friends constantly wonders where in the world I get to know uncommon dishes that they haven’t tasted anywhere else. My answer is always short and simple: “Imagination” .
“Okey Salad” is just but one of the many innovations I did and reinvent the “what have been a local “magkakawit's” delight” that I used to enjoy eating many years back. “Okey Salad” the way I tell to my friends conscious enough to ask me what’s it’s called after appreciating it’s taste. “Okey Salad” I hope you already got the idea where it’s name came from.
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