Tradition lives on in every bottle of Dipolog sardines
DIPOLOG CITY, ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE, Philippines — In a community still steeped in tradition, a local family with Spanish roots continues to lead this Zamboanga del Norte city’s famed bottled sardines industry which has its origin in the recipe of their matriarch.
For over five decades, the name Montaño has been synonymous with Dipolog bottled sardines, even as new players had cropped up in the last 15 years.
Rightly so, as according to Ernie Rojo, local economic development and investment promotions officer, they were able to trace the beginning of what is now a gourmet product out of the lowly “tuloy” or herring to the dining table of the family of spouses Jose Montaño and Concepcion Macias Montaño.
The research on the history of the bottled sardines industry was done in relation to the establishment of the city’s museum, Rojo recalled.
“The story, interestingly, goes back to the 1930s. How knowledge of the recipe diffused to the rest of the community speaks of how the family relates with the other families in what was old Dipolog,” Rojo told the Inquirer.
Article continues after this advertisement“This is why we would like to consider the bottled sardines industry as a heritage industry of Dipolog City,” Rojo added.
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FAMILY LEGACY Fishers set out for a catch in Dipolog’s municipal waters, providing the main backbone to bottled sardines makers such as the Montano family, whose matriarch pioneered what is nowa growing industry in this city in Zamboanga del Norte. —Ryan D. Rosauro
Alternative
The official history of family-owned Montaño Foods Corp. also traces their beginnings from the couple Jose and Concepcion who used “tuloy,” which is highly abundant locally, to produce an alternative to the imported Portuguese sardines.
With no capability for canning as a means for preserving the sardines, the couple experimented on using bottles or jars. As the couple seemingly perfected the process, they endeavored to produce in larger quantities to give to friends and relatives, and even shared the recipe and the production method.
Francisco Montaño, a grandson of Jose and Concepcion, said that they could not be very certain how much of his grandparents’ culinary flair comes from their respective family’s influence. Both are “insulares” (full-blooded Spaniards born in the Philippines), although Concepcion’s father is from Andalusia, a region in Spain known also for their sardines recipe.
The family’s commercial venture took off in the 1960s when Nicasio, the sixth of seven children of Jose and Concepcion, started producing and marketing bottled sardines.
Just like his parents, Nick made good use of the abundant herring from the city’s coastal communities. He established a corps of suppliers or “suki” of the fresh fish.
But not only did Nick follow the family recipe, according to Francisco, he also brought into his production method the discipline of “exactness and attention to detail” that his father, Jose, drilled into them when they were growing up.
Everything that goes into the bottle with the sardine is counted or measured, and must be of similar standard, such as the chili pepper, sliced pickles, sliced carrots and the level of oil, Francisco noted.
FRESH CATCH Residents of Dipolog City’s Sicayab village gather “tuloy” (herring) that are caught through fishing nets. The bottled sardines made from fresh herring are sold from P135 to P165 per bottle in Dipolog, depending on the oil used. These, however, are sold from P185 to P215 in major groceries. —Photo courtesy of Sicayab SK
Quality
The focus on product quality would soon bear fruit in terms of greater demand from the market.
But Nick was not one who simply follows where the money is if it means sacrificing quality. “He was a stickler for quality. For him, quality always comes first,” Francisco said of his late father’s business philosophy.
This meant pegging production and their supply capacity on what is the volume of fresh “tuloy” available every day. “We only process fish that are fresh. That is where we begin our assurance of product quality,” Francisco, known to his family and friends as Ancoy, explained.
This further means that their production volume rises and falls throughout the year, especially that the peak of “tuloy” harvest is from March to May, then begins to drop by June.
“My father had fashioned our business model with this reality. And even now, as we, his children, are already running the company, the same stays,” Francisco said.
“I am sure our children will agree with that,” he added.
Francisco’s son, Thomas Jude, who has an industrial engineering degree from De La Salle University, has helped in citing improvements in the already modern production plant here. “He will hopefully join the company soon,” said Francisco.
Today, the family’s production lines, apart from bottled sardines in corn oil, has grown to include bottled sardines in olive oil and tomato sauce that also come in regular and spicy flavors.
They also have bottled “bangus,” preserved fruits, Spanish chorizo, beef tapa, pork “tocino,” bagoong, pork cracklings, fried peanuts and tarts.
In all these products, the family tradition of culinary quality has lived on.
