The Pilgrim's Pots and Pans

In the wake of typhoon Katrina, I can’t help but remember how the Manilamen lived on marshes which may as well be wiped out now. In today’s edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) is the article History of ‘Manilamen’ of New Orleans lost to ‘Katrina’ which touches on food these men from the Philippines brought to their new home.

In the run-up towards the launch of Lasang Pinoy, one of the discussions between Filipino food bloggers centred around why Filipino food is not popular in the U.S. In analysing this, we tried to look at Filipino-American history and realised that (proto-)Filipinos have been one of the earliest migrant workers in the US mainland with farmhands in California brought in by the missionaries in the 1600s and “Manilamen” fleeing to the bayous of Louisiana in the 1760s.

These Filipino settlers built their houses on stilts above the water and worked as shrimpers, fishermen and trappers and left their mark in the local culture. They taught the Americans how to drink tuba (coconut wine) and dance “the shrimp,” a way of stomping on sun-dried shrimp (hibé) to remove their heads.

In addition to tuba and hibé, the Manilamen, who used vinegar and garlic to make fish last for days, also introduced paksiw to the local cuisine. The dish continued to be served in New Orleans restaurants right up to the time Hurricane Katrina struck.

It seems these men were not just passive shrimpers.

Numerous oral and historical accounts on the Manilamen show they fought alongside the colonials in the American Revolution and participated in the American Civil War.

The article is a bit grim, as it mentions forty (40) years of research done by Marina Espina ending up in water. It’s definitely a waste but I’d rather dwell on the bright side. Attention focused on hurricane victims may also be the venue to galvanise Filipino-American consciousness on how they have a long presence in the U.S. and have also helped in shaping US history.

Read the complete article.

Note: I wrote ‘(proto-)Filipino’ because prior to 1898, “Filipinos” were Spaniards born in the Philippine Islands. Natives were simply “indios”. And so the Manilamen were indios fleeing their Spanish rulers who brought them to another land for still more back-breaking labour.