MANILA, July 14 – A recent returnee to the metropolis was upbeat with a souvenir item he was told he should bring home from the north of the country: Ilocos vinegar or better known as “sukang Iloko.”

”Sukang (accent on the second syllable) Iloko,” a popular condiment in many an Ilocano kitchen, is an easily available mild acid and, according to vinegar hounds, has a wide range of industrial, medical, and domestic uses.

Vivencio, the Manila returnee, had been familiar with the other vinegar varieties commercially available in the metropolis, but the souvenir gift was something that gave him a sense of wonder and pride in things indigenous to his country.

Vinegar, according to enthusiasts, is a competitive condiment, a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid (CH3CO2H ) and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria.

Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. In general, slow methods are used with traditional vinegars, like “sukang Iloko,” and fermentation proceeds slowly over weeks or months.

According to vinegar buffs, the longer fermentation stretch allows for the accumulation of a nontoxic slime composed of acetic acid bacteria.

Fast methods add mother of vinegar –- or what others call bacterial culture — to the source liquid before adding air using a venturi pump system or a turbine to promote oxygenation to obtain the fastest fermentation.

Mother of vinegar, which can form in store-bought vinegar if there is some non-fermented sugar and/or alcohol contained in the vinegar, is more common in unpasteurized vinegar.

In fast production processes, vinegar may be produced in a period ranging from 20 hours to three days.

Vivencio has also returned with an information, perhaps not properly disseminated to as wide an audience possible, that a Laoag City-based food firm is now producing high-quality Ilocos vinegar.

This is Cormel Foods owned by Anthony Abadilla who exhibited in recent past his products at the International Food Exhibition (IFEX) at the World Trade Center-Manila.

Official sources say Cormel Foods has since launched a new product -– duhat concentrate.

”Sukang lloko” or Ilocos vinegar is the company’s top money maker, according to sources.

Aside from local sales, it has been exporting its vinegar to Hawaii and Guam – where thousands of Ilocanos hack out a living – and has been shipping 3,600 liters of vinegar to Hawaii annually.

The company has been helped by government agencies, particularly the Department of Science and Technology and the state-run Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

According to sources, the company initially faced the use of recycled rum and gin bottles which was not good in terms of its product reputation.

With the help of DOST regional office in Ilocos Norte and MMSU, official sources said the vinegar firm was able to improve its plant operations, quality control and product image.

This has resulted in the acquisition of more presentable packaging materials in the form of new bottles, plastic jugs and labels.

This was followed by total overhauling of the company’s plant facilities with the installation of stainless steel tanks, earthen jars, plastic barrels and crates, and filtration agents.

The company also received, according to sources, marketing assistance through participation in regional trade fairs.

”Sukang Iloko,” whose popularity is making a ripple effect even in non-Ilocano areas for its exotic seasoning and preservative quality, is dark brown in color.

The Manila returnee has discovered that “sukang Iloko,” like other cane vinegars, can be used in dishes with sweet and sour sauces, and a good condiment for slices of cucumber and other salad dishes.

In the Philippines, one of the perennial, if classic, dishes is “adobo” and “paksiw na pata,” usually made with several cups of vinegar.

The returnee has also returned from Ilocos with some northern practice: adding a touch of “sukang Iloko” to dressings for fruits, including the indigenous “dippig” or “balayang” banana variety, the Spanish plum (sarguelas), the tamarind (salamagi) and the guava (bayawas) since it will tot up some bite but will not interfere with natural fruit flavors.

Meanwhile, the Sugar Regulatory Administration has itself packaged a fast, easy-to-follow and cost effective technology on making vinegar.

This technology produces naturally fermented sugarcane vinegar from sugarcane juice in just two weeks.

(PNA) scs/hbc