Cute little Binangkal art

One of the pastries my mom and my Lola Lili would make when I was growing up was Binangkal. They’re Bisaya fried sesame balls that I’d dip in hot chocolate when available. It was even better if the chocolate was derived from tablea (raw cacao), which unfortunately wasn’t readily available in the US back then.

For my Filipino Food Art project I made Binangkal art. It was fun to make, and it definitely took me back to the old days when mama would make a batch of them for an upcoming family party.

Learning about Binangkal

Like most artwork I make for my food or wildlife projects, I learn a lot from online research on these topics. 

It’s said Binangkal shares its name with the Bangkal tree or Nauclea orientalis because they look like the fruit, or maybe even the flower, of this local tree. Another story links binangkal to “bangkal” which could also mean buried turtle eggs, comparing the pastry to turtle eggs coated in sand! 

I share a bit more about Binangkal at my Filipino Food Art page here. If you end up making a batch, do send some pictures!