Bibingka All Year Round
- Dec 18, 2014
- 3 min read
Ferino's Bibingka" is one of the oldest makers of bibingka in the Philippines, and produces, in their words, "The Philippines' Best Rice Cake." It is perhaps one of the best-known makers of the traditional "bibingka" in Manila, and the most commercialized. Currently, Ferinos has 14 outlets and proudly offers what was once regarded a seasonal/Christmas dessert available "all year round." We went to their main shop located on the very busy Granada Street in Quezon City. We came very early in the morning, too early to see them making bibingka on the palayok (clay pot) proudly displayed in the front window. It was a relatively quiet morning as we sat waiting for Sonny, the owner to arrive. He had instructed his shop manager to serve us each a generous portion of bibingka and a can of Coke. The name and inspiration behind this establishment is Ceferino Francisco (aka Mang Ferino) who was a former musician turned bibingka-maker. With the help of his wife, Cristina (aka Aling Tinay), he started making bibingka in 1938. They started with only three palayok and offered bibingka only during the Christmas holiday season.
After the war, Mr. Ferino "improved" the quality of the bibingka, allowing him to make it in 3-5 minutes and as a result, was able to offer it all year round. Then, in 1957, he was able to open a shop in the landmark Manila Hotel and later at the Fiesta Carnival in the Araneta Coliseum. When Mang Ferino died, Aling Tinay did her best to keep the business running and upon her retirement, left the business to her children. Beginning in 1981, her children made a concerted effort to revive the business
and preserve this family legacy. This resulted in the establishment of several bibingkahan around the Metro Manila area – 14 at last count – as well as one in California USA. On the day we visited Ferinos, we met one of Mang Ferino's grandsons, Sonny and his wife, Anne, who are the hardworking duo that is managing this main branch but also deeply immersed in the franchising aspect of Ferino's Bibingka.
Sonny fondly pays tribute to his Lolo's (grandfather's) "humble beginnings" and ingenuity in reformulating the recipe, which is what he credits as an important reason for Ferino’s popularity as the bibingka maker in Manila. As Sonny recounted, "before having a bibingka business, Lolo Ferino had a passion [with] the business of selling food items like corn, peanuts and other snacks. When Christmas time came, he noticed that people crave for food after Church and he started to try to sell his own style of bibingka. During that time, there were many different kinds of bibingka, kakanin (rice based pastries), that were sold and he introduced his own formulation and style of bibingka, and also the native (traditional) way of cooking by the use of claypots and charcoal. The response of the customers was good so he continued...and [decided] making it not just seasonal but year round." Sonny proudly credits his Lolo as being the very first bibingka-maker to not only use charcoal to make the dessert, but also to top it with a salted egg, an ostensibly Chinese or Chinoy addition to the traditional dessert. When asked what makes for a "good" bibingka, he said that it should be soft but not like a sponge cake and claims that his Lolo attained just the right "formulation" derived from basic ingredients like eggs and rice that has come to produce this "family secret." His Lolo's inspiration for his bibingka is puto (steamed rice cake) and he used a specific kind of rice called "dalaong" that is known to have less water content and greater fermentation capacity. Seven decades later, his Lolo's legacy is thriving, "Ferino's Bibingka" has become a global phenomenon that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, or as a merienda (snack); paired with coffee or salabat (ginger tea); and if you are outside of the Philippines, no problem! As Sonny says, "We have an export-ready frozen, microwavable, already cooked bibingka with a shelf life of up to 1 year!"
Comments