The Dying Art of Pabalat
The first thing that comes to mind when I hear Bulacan province is pastillas de leche. sugar dusted pillows of carabao's milk wrapped in white paper.
What makes Bulacan's pastillas stand out is that it is soft and easily melts in the mouth. The popularity of Bulacan's pastillas boils down to the process of mixing fresh carabao milk with a bit of sugar in a pan. It's a time-consuming process that results in a sweet and milky candy, but without the cloying feeling of granulated sugar when you bite into it.
Anyone can eat Bulacan's regular pastillas any day, but for special occasions, pastillas with Pabalat is in order. Pabalat comes from the Tagalog word "balat," meaning "skin" or "wrapper". It is the art of wrapping candies with colorful Japanese paper that have intricate designs. The wrapper can be used in different candies, but in Bulacan, it is solely used with their milky pastillas
The pastillas are wrapped in vibrant, delicate Japanese paper, but with the ends of the wrapper longer-falling like a gorgeous, paper-thin waterfall. The long ends serve as the canvas of the Pabalat where the artist uses her craftsmanship to cut intricate and detailed silhouettes and shapes. Pabalat is a dying tradition in Bulacan.
Natty Castro Ocampo, a second-generation pastillas Pabalat artist, continues her Mother's colorful legacy. The Pabalat became her Mother's livelihood and amazingly never needed a pair of glasses despite her age. Her Mother Luz passed away in 2016, she was 93 years old. Natty admits that she keeps her Mother's memories alive whenever she cuts the Pabalat
She traces her mother’s stencils on layers of papel de Hapon (Japanese paper) and uses a pair of sharp point tip scissors to cut out holes. To sustain the fading craftsmanship, occasionally, they put to use the mastery to lecture in Bulacan and in other parts of the country. The Pabalat design templates Natty uses are actually designs copyrighted by her Mother. Most of her designs are inspired by plants and flowers and anything she deemed beautiful.
Her Mother, Luz has a shrine that displays her numerous accomplishment and recognitions as a Pabalat Artist.
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Comments (1)
That is very cool!
Nice article!