My lunch last Sunday. Fried Anchovies and Pinakbet with Shrimp and Crab
Food is a must for all living things. It gives us the the energy that fuels us to do our daily task and the necessary nutrients that protects us from disease and makes our bodies healthy. It is said that without food, it would only take about 3 weeks for us to survived at most but even just a day without it was already a complete struggle for us. That is why when it comes to food, I was never a picky eater and would eat anything that was served to me regardless of its taste as long as it is edible and can make my stomach full.
But food prices can vary according to many factors such as its supply or due to the additional cost from processing and logistics that would increase its initial cost. Taste would also be a big factor in consideration when it comes to the price of the food for many people would obviously want the food they eat to taste good. On today's post, let me share both the cheapest and the most expensive fish that I ever ate and how much they differ in price.
Fried Anchovies with Price that is always down to Earth
Anchovies or Dilis in Filipino term was a type of small fish that can be caught in large quantities as they always swim in a group and can be found mostly on marine waters. It was then dried under the sun so that it can be preserved for long term consumption and the easiest way to cook it was to simply fried it. When it comes to taste, it was a mixture between bitter and salty and can be eaten as a snack or partnered it with rice and just for a total of 0.20$ (0.18$ + the oil) I have enough Dilis for a serving of rice. For the same reason, Dilis was mostly associated with poverty as low income families often rely on this fish for their daily meal and though I personally have no issues with eating it, I would not want for people to eat it every time because even if they can fill their stomach, they would not get the nutrition that they needed on this food.
The Heavenly Price of the President's Fish
12 years ago, me and my family goes on a vacation in Cagayan which takes almost 2 days of travel in order to reach. There, we stay on my Aunt's houses for the entire duration of vacation and get along with my cousins that I have only meet for the first time. On the last day of our vacation, my Aunt have served us Ginataang Ludong or in English was called as Lobed River Mullet with coconut milk along with other dish which at that time, I thought that it was some Bangus (Milkfish) but upon eating it, it was just levels ahead from the usual Bangus specially the parts close to its skin or scales that have its fat and it does not have as much fish bone compared to Bangus. Without noticing it, I was already at my 4th serving of rice and that was when my mom told me to eat another dish to let everyone eat because Ludong was very expensive. A kilo of Ludong cost between 100$- 200$ in the market during that time because it was a fish that can only be found in the rivers of Cagayan. Based on stories, it was also the fish that the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. served to it's guest in the Malacañang Palace where it got it's other name as the President Fish.
As soon as I learn of this, my small eyes turns big with shock as I was hogging this very expensive dish by myself without consideration of my other relatives but my Aunt says that it was fine because they want to treat us with a good food before we go back to our home and that they have eaten it many times before so it was not an issue. That said, I still choose to try the other dish and finish eating with my 4th serving. Never did I expect though that it will be the last time that I will be eating it because 3 years later, government has banned the capture and selling of this fish in order to repopulate the species and avoid its extinction which hasn't been lifted until today.
So from a 0.20$ Dilis to a 200$ Ludong, I have eaten both the cheapest and most expensive fish in the country. Funny thing though was that I did not spend a penny for it but were talking about the most expensive that we eat and not the most expensive food that we spend money to so this would still count.
While I can always eat Dilis whenever I craved for it because it was very cheap and was easy to prepare, I do not know when I will be able to eat Ludong even if I had the money (not that I have though) as just having it would be a crime but it has also served to teach us a lesson that when people abused the blessings of nature, it can be gone very quickly and that we should be grateful on whatever food that we have on the table because there were people that almost have nothing to eat.
That was all from me. Thank you and see you at the next one.
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