Beyond the Banana Leaves: The Delight of Magsaysay

Happy Sunday Hivers! In the Philippines, almost every island has its own unique delicacy. That’s why when coworkers or friends go home to their provinces or visit another island, people usually say, “Pasalubong ha!” which means bringing back a local treat from the place they visited. Each island or region offers different delicacies, reflecting their culture and local produce. For example, if you mention Leyte, particularly Hilongos, one of their well-known delicacies is what they call Magsaysay. ##  ## Magsaysay is a delicacy made of sticky rice cooked with coconut milk, with a layer of chocolate filling in the middle. Leyte is one of the provinces known for producing a lot of tablea (pure cacao tablets), so using chocolate as the filling feels very natural and traditional. However, it can sometimes be a bit disappointing because instead of chocolate, some versions use muscovado sugar as the filling. While it still tastes good, the richness of pure chocolate is far more delicious compared to muscovado. ##  ## Whenever I go home to Leyte, Magsaysay is always one of the foods I make sure to buy. During one of my vacations, my mother and I went to Hilongos, and among the things we bought was, of course, Magsaysay. The stalls selling it are easy to find since they’re conveniently located along the roadside. ##  ## When we arrived, there were still plenty of other delicacies available such as moron, bodbod, magsaysay, and more. But we skipped the rest and chose to buy only magsaysay. We just bought two pieces since each one was quite large, and it was only my mother and I who were going to eat them. ##  ## Of course, when we got home, I immediately ate it. This is what it looks like inside. Once you unwrap the banana leaves, you’ll first see the sticky rice, you won’t notice what’s in the middle until you slice it open. And when you do, plenty of chocolate filling comes out. ##  ##  ## We were really thankful that we happened to get the version filled with real chocolate and not muscovado. It truly tastes so much better when it’s chocolate. I just didn’t overindulge because I tend to get hyper whenever I eat too much chocolate. ##  ## How about you, do you also have local delicacies in your place? I’m curious to know what your specialties are. ##

Thank you for reading and see you on my next blog. Cheers!

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Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

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