MILAGROSONG KALABAW

'Miracle' town's claim to fame is carabao's milk in caramel 

By Jonas Cabiles Soltes 

TERESITA Cervantes and her caramelado

JOEY CO 

MILAGROS, Masbate--Legend has it that Saint Peter walks on the beach of this quaint town 22 kilometers west of Masbate City and can be seen doing so on a clear day. This is why the place was named “Milagros,” the Spanish word for miracles.

But the creature that brought so much wonders here is not Saint Peter’s supposed favored animal—the rooster—but the carabao.

The carabao is the beast of burden for many of the town’s 44, 575 residents, many of whom are farmers although townsfolk subsist primarily on fishing in the Asid Gulf.

Aside from being work animals, carabaos here also provide fresh milk that has been the main ingredient of the town’s most famous fare: caramelado, milk curd in caramel.

Claim to fame

Caramelado has not only made the town famous. It has also provided livelihoods to poor residents for years.

How the native fare alleviated the plight of residents is evident in Barangay Bacolod, which lies in the junction of the paved roads that lead to the town proper of Milagros and to the neighboring towns of Mandaon and Balud.

In this village, many of the residents earn a living by cooking caramelado, which are sold in the crossroad to commuters and tourists, most of whom would intentionally go to the road intersection just to avail of the sweet-tasting native delicacy.

One of those who have earned a living by cooking caramelado is Teresita Cervantes, 67, who learned the trade from her late grandmother.

“Cooking [caramelado] takes hard work. You are exposed to fire. And it’s tiring to the arms since you would have to endure hours of stirring so the milk curd will not be burnt. And while stirring, you cannot leave or the curd will be toasted,” said Cervantes.

The enterprising Cervantes, who moonlights as laundrywoman, has been cooking caramelado for the last 20 years in her house beside rice fields and rolling hills and pastures here.

Through cooking the milky white concoction, she has helped her husband—who passed away in 1995—raise their 10 children, all grownups now.

Preparation

The first step in preparing caramelado is milking a carabao. The right time to milk a carabao is when the calf starts to eat grass. Or fresh milk could just be bought from carabao owners at P20 per bottle.

Carabao’s not cow’s milk is used because it is thinner and does not easily curdle.

Eight bottles of milk has to be mixed with one-half kilogram of refined (white) sugar. Then the mixture is boiled until it curdles.

While the milk with sugar is boiling, there is a need to constantly stir the mixture.

The resulting curd becomes the caramelado—ready to be rolled over by a bottle and cut into small thin bars and wrapped with cellophane and white wax paper.

“I mix only a small amount of sugar so the caramelado would retain its milky flavor. Yes, less sweet caramelado does not sell much but I prefer to stick to the original way of cooking it,” said Cervantes.

Packaging

If there’s one thing that she has learned from the changing times, it’s that she should package the caramelado in such a way that it would be appealing to customers.

So despite her resolve to stick to the olden ways of cooking caramelado, Cervantes has started to sell caramelado bars, delicately wrapped in white wax paper, in translucent plastic containers, as what the others in the village have been doing.Each plastic container with 30 bars inside sells at P100.

(Shelf life of caramelado bars is about one week. The milk curd needs to be toasted a little so the shelf life of caramelado bars will be one month.)

Peak season

During the peak season for selling caramelados — the summer and Christmas season—Cervantes would have sales of P3,000 to P10, 000 a day..

Like her, many of the residents that sell caramelado in the road intersection here earn good money only when tourists arrive during the holidays.

Carabaos are really of help since then. I’m proud of you dear carabao! You’re the beast! Can you give me some of your caramelado? :p