220 MKRIIILL. 



Meats play a very secondary part in the local dietary as in othc!' parts 

 of the Philippines. Apparently the only local supply that is at all con- 

 stant is of fresh pork; pigs, both large and small, being abundant in 

 the town and always offered for sale on market-days. Goats arc utilized 

 for food to a limited extent. Beef is aj^parently never, or at leant very 

 rarely, offered for sale in the local nuirket; a meat closely ic>-ciubling 

 it — that is, the meat of the water buffalo or carabao — is probably sold at 

 times here as in other Philip])ine towns, but the supply must be very 

 limited and inconstant as these animals are far too valuable for other 

 purposes to be used for food under ordinary conditions, so they are prob- 

 ably rarely slaughtered for food except when incapacitated for further 

 work. Here, as else\\here in the Archipelago, animals such as horses and 

 carabaos that have died a natural death from any cause are doubtless 

 utilized as food, although no direct evidence is at liand bearing on tlie 

 local case. 



Fowls, especially chickens and ducks, are found abundantly locally 

 and are considerably utilized for food, especially among the natives of 

 the well-to-do classes, while eggs, both fresh and "balut" (incubated) 

 are somewhat used. The comparatively high pi'ice of all meats, poultry 

 and eggs, place these products beyond the means of the average native 

 of the laboring class for regular articles of diet. 



Various prepared foods are sold in the market and in the tiendas. such 

 as suman, made of tapioca, rice and sugai', wrapped in banana leaves and 

 boiled; poto, made of l)oiled rice flour and sugar; poio scco. the same 

 thing, but dried after cooking; hihinlca ng malaghit. prepared from a 

 glutinous variety of rice with grated coconut meat and sugar, and doubt- 

 less some other similar forms of food. Various prepared foods of Chinese 

 origin are also sold, such as gulavian, made from a seaweed; hihon, made 

 of rice flour, corresponding roughly to our spaghetti; and milci somewhat 

 similar but made of rice flour and mongo beans (Phaseolus mango). 

 Cakes made from wheat flour, either baked locally or imported from Pasig 

 or Manila, are sold in small quantities. Wheat bread is used scarcely at 

 all, so that wheat can not be considered to have any place in tlie dietary of 

 the average native. 



Dairy products such as milk, butter and cheese have no place in the 

 dietary of the natives, except the former, which is obtained froTii the 

 water buffalo and is used to a limited extent. 



In spite of the proximity of Taytay to Manila with its relatively very 

 rich markets, its food supply seems to be almost entirely local as noted 

 above. Imported preserved meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, milk, butter, 

 cheese, etc., are not to be found in the local markets or tiendas, and are 

 probably not at all utilized by the inhabitants of the town or else to a 

 veiT limited extent and among a very limited class of inhabitants. Fresh 

 potatoes, onions, etc., although ahvays to be found in the Manila market, 

 are rarely obtainable locally, and then only in \cry limited quantities. 



