Jimmy K. Laking
A storm was raging. The winds were shaking the houses and the trees while the heavy rain was drenching the village. The residents were huddled inside their houses fearing the worst.
But from one of the houses out came a man with a rope and a sack as he ran outside to the wooden fence where his lone chili plant was being buffeted by the wind, in danger of being uprooted. With precision he strung up an improvised canopy over the plant then made his way back to the shelter of his house.
“Never mind if the house gets damage,” he murmured. “So long as the plant is not damaged.”
Fact or fiction, this narrative about a villager in Northern Luzon tells the extent that some Filipinos go to protect their chili plants.
In a seminary in Manila, one Filipino seminarian boasted about his ability to dip his viand on crushed chili without being upset.
One day, he was seated across a new seminarian from Bangla Desh during lunch. Without much ado, he picked a piece of chili from a small plate and dropped it straight into his mouth. The Bangla Deshi just stared at him but went on eating. Feeling ignored, the Filipino picked two chili fruits, dumped them straight into his mouth, then crushed them with his teeth and looked none the worse.
In reply, the Bangla Deshi scooped the remaining chili fruits (about 10 pieces) with a spoon then guided them straight to his mouth. He did not even perspire nor touch his glass of water.
Whatever it is called, siling labuyo (chili) is the plant that should not be missed out in any garden or farm, whether or not as a main plant, a secondary crop or as a peripheral plant hogging the fence. It is a plant for all seasons. Its fruits are also preserved best in a bottle or container by using salt (sans vinegar) which preserves its pungent qualities. This plant is known: to remedy Fibromyalgia (a condition that causes pain all over the body such sleep problems and distress), to relieve heavy menstrual bleeding, to relieve pain and inflammation, to increase blood flow, to treat wounds and sores as an antibiotic, to treat coughs and stuffed nose as a decongestant, to treat sore throat, to treat stomach problem, to threat toothache, to help cure diabetes and to threat fever and typhus.
The chili, like other plants, boasts of several varieties. One favorite is the bell paper that is raised on a commercial scale and is used to garnish Filipino cooking. Blessed is the garden that features this as a priority plant.
Another variety is the siling pang-sigang that is elongated in shape and is referred to locally as colicot. It is a must in any garden as it is very much in demand in so far as the kitchen is concerned and can fit with most types of cooking. To make this available year round, this plant should be introduced to a garden at an interval of two months. Believe you me, you will never run out of supply. One thing about sili plants is that the more you harvest their fruits, the more they bear fruits.
There is no such thing as ageing sili plant. When it is reduced to a main stalk with a few leaves sticking out from its crown after a year or two, one need only to cut the stalk one feet from the ground. With compost applied to its base, the plant will show leaves in a matter of weeks and will repeat the process again of starting out as a new plant. (Jimmy K. Laking)