Martes, Agosto 20, 2013

Panagdapil



Before modern versions of the sugar mill were introduced, the dadapilan was the only machine used to extract the sweet juice from the sugarcane stalks. In a cool outdoor setting, the dadapilanmade from sagat tree, composed of two huge cylindrical parts designed to extract the juice from the sugarcane stalks was a common scene in the farms. This machine is powered by a blindfolded carabao or cow hitched to the end of a log attached to the mill. As the carabao walks in circle around the mill, the juice is squeezed from the stalks fed into the mill. This sucrose called bennal is collected in a container called silyasi. The bennal is boiled in a huge vat called sinublan and is used to produce molasses of different types, basi (wine), or vinegar. The refined molasses become sugar which is the most commercialized product from sugarcane. All these sugarcane products are means of livelihood for the farmers and their families.


Panagdapil is an arduous task but it is not all sweat and hard work. After the dapil is completed, it is party time for the neighbors, young and old. Some delightful snacks made from banana shoots, papaya strips, young coconut strips candied in the bennal calledkalti are served with other sweet delicacies. It is merrymaking time where the farmers may even drink to a toast of basi, as sweet smell hangs in the air.



Dadapilan is a wooden sugar mill made of sagat (molave), composed of two cylindrical mills for extracting out the juice of the sugarcane. The dadapilan is powered by a circular motion of a carabao hitched at the end of a log attached to the mill.


Tagapulot or Molasses
Basi 
Suka or Vinegar

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