Galunggong and Social Status

Photo credit: Salihan.com

Today we had galunggong for lunch. We fashionably call it mackerel roundscad in the United States. A glass of white wine to pair it with would be nothing short of fantastic. It is exotic, delicious, and pricey. It can easily sweep off a foodie’s feet at any time.

I ate it like how it’s meant to be eaten: with bare hands occasionally dipping the fish in sinamak (spiced vinegar) with soy sauce and bury it in a small heap of hot rice. It’s just the way I eat it — a poor man’s way.

Galunggong symbolizes “last resort” in the Philippines: when you have nothing else to eat, you eat it. It abounds the dirty streets of Divisoria and Quiapo where you see stacks of rubber-like gray fish covered with dust and [possibly] sweat from the vendors’ hands. Its appearance leaves nothing to be desired. The source is also questionable: think Pasig River, Manila Bay or some stagnant bodies of water in between. Yet, everyday, mounds of galunggong persistently wait for unsuspecting and hungry mouths to have them for dinner. They sell for less than 10 peso (roughly 20 cents) a pop, but if you’ll buy in bulk, you’ll probably get 50% discount.

I remember looking at them with so much aversion. Seafoods are dirt cheap in Iloilo where I come from that there’s no reason to settle for galunggong. (In fact, the fish is not at all popular in our province.) Until one day, a friend brought some and successfully coaxed me into eating it. I had a sudden change of heart on my first bite and never looked at galunggong the same way ever again.

Yesterday, I stumbled upon a pack of ready-to-eat smoked fish at the grocery. Galunggong seems to have found its place in the frozen sections of Asian stores in California, commanding the same price as premium crabs. Yet, people buy them because they miss home and some mini bites can easily transport them to the streets of Manila.

Like many Filipinos who venture for a better life abroad, galunggong realized its worth in America and currently enjoys the status that it otherwise will never get in the Philippines.

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