Duman! Manyaman!

Duman is one of my favorite things. It reminds me so much of those days when my lola would call us to the round table for breakfast. The round table at Everybody's Cafe was her office. She ran the restaurant from here. At breakfast, she'll call all her apos to gather together for some Duman and fresh Carabao's milk. In a bowl, she would put a handful of grains, a cup of milk, a spoonful of sugar and a pinch of salt. My family doesn't get Duman very often nowadays but when we do, we eat it for breakfast like cereal, for snacks by itself and for dessert (which comes in all our meals by the way).

What really is Duman? All I know is that it comes from a very special grain prepared thru a process perfected by time and tradition. It's like rice but it's dry. The flavor is very delicate with a little sweetness to it. How it's made is something I have yet to explore. Reading about it makes me more and more curious. This is something I'd like to see on my next trip home. The blog on the Duman Festival is a very well researched and well written article about it and it's origin. It illustrates how special Duman is.

We eat Duman in many ways. I like it with salt and carabao's milk. My mom said I'm like my Lola Mameng when it comes to salt. But I think salt makes it taste better. I don't salt it to make it salty. I salt it because I think salt adds dimension to sweetness. I think salt keeps me from tasting just the sweetness of the sugar. Salt allows me to taste the duman and the milk too.

Sometimes we eat it with our very own Tsokolate Batirol. We make our own chocolate paste from roasted cacao beans and peanuts. We run them together in a stone grinder and it comes out like some dark nuttela. The chocolate drink is made using that paste and some hot water and cream, whisked using a malonillo, it's like a wooden whisk.

I would put Duman in it and have a Duman Champorado except that it taste like fresh grains soaking in chocolate rather than ricked cooked in chocolate.

My mom eats Duman by itself. My dad like it with coffee and cream. Sometimes we eat it with coconut milk too. It's also used to make other native desserts.

Maybe I can try putting a little flare to it and top it on a Panna Cotta or mix it in a Bavarian or make a simple Duman Rice Pudding. I'll eat that with fresh ripe mangoes. Now that's a sweet dream! Knyaman!!!