The summer heat sears across the metro and the archipelago, reports of the current day being recorded as the hottest of the year gets topped off by an even hotter day that bombards our senses already on the brink. The heat is prevalent, spreading feverish across cities and posing potential hazards and provoking the liberated use of sunblock for those headed outside. Sure, there are little pockets of resistance, a way of escaping the heat by going to the malls with their air conditioners on full blast or heading to the northern part of the country for a descent on the thermometer line. But to those stuck in the city and facing the inevitable, there is still a solution, a tasty one at that. The body, taste buds included, will always need a solution or two when it comes to cooling down. And for dessert coolers, there is only one king, and it takes a lot of mixing to be able to bow down to it. Say hello to the halo-halo!
The king’s wardrobe is a pastiche-work of various flavors and textures. A spoonful might reveal surprises as the tongue frisks for definition. There is the jelly consistency of gulaman whose color range can rival a crayon box. How about the silky, sweet and subtle throat-scratching langka strips? Add the crunch and munch of pinipig and the mushy bite of kamote for a sampling of the flavors made available in the taste catalogue. And of course, the king walks majestically with his coat of finely shaved ice, the right amount of cool steam that emanates. Don’t forget the insignias of indulgence—ube halaya and leche flan. Would you like to top that with a crown of ice cream to make it really special?
The halo-halo is now as ubiquitous as ever and it has been dispersed around these islands. You can find it being sold in the smallest of makeshift stores in the streets to the ritziest of places like five-star hotels. There have been countless variations, and the makers of halo–halo seem to add their own flare to it so that it will appease the palates of the pursuers of flavor. But if we truly claim the halo-halo as our very own, history will tell us differently. For the halo-halo has Japanese blood running down its icy veins. There are claims that the icy concoction was introduced by the karayuki-san during the prewar era. The karayuki-san were Japanese women who traveled to other parts of Asia and were involved in prostitution. When they retired as prostitutes, these women started to offer their own take on Japanese sweets by making use of Filipino ingredients. If we are to follow this trajectory, then the halo-halo bears a close resemblance to the kakigōri of the Japanese. This shaved ice dessert served with syrup and condensed milk is at least a thousand years old with a special place in the house of our culinary memories.
But we’ve definitely made the halo-halo our own. Sure, tracing its ancestry can take us to a culture that is not ours, but all cultures engage in some kind of transference and exchange to prosper. Over time, they adopt what they’ve learned to make it their own. Could the halo-halo, with its heterogenic collection of ingredients, speak of our culture too? As we look into the glass (or plastic cup), can we say that there was a lot of mixing involved that we sometimes have a hard time recognizing which is which? To take up this argument further would only mean that having various influences/ingredients will only make the tasting/living experience more exciting and flavorful. This is our halo-halo culture.
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