SMELL OF FORTUNE

Denmark S. Farolan

One September day, our school conducted an around the town parade. We started from school
early in the morning moving toward south of Rizal street. As we turned towards Doneza street, a
pungent smell filled our nostrils. “Everytime I come back to work from home, this smell signals that I am
near Aparri,” I overheard one of my teacher, who is not from Aparri, saying. Most of us are aware where
this smell came from. In the horizon I saw men and women stooped down spreading aramang to dry.
When we were finally near them, they stopped what they were doing and with big smiles they waved
their hands covered with aramang whiskers. We passed by many rectangular framed nets filled with
aramang. The sight of glistening pink aramang under the bright sunlight is significant to every Aparriano.

Aramang, has long been associated with the town of Aparri. It is only in this town where we can
find this unique type of shrimp. It is soft shelled pink shrimp specie scientifically known as
Nematopalaemon tenuipes or spider shrimp. They abound when the waters are turbid because of heavy
rains up to the Caraballo mountains in the south where the Cagayan River originates.

To catch the shrimps, fishermen use traditional fishing boats known as bannuar, each manned
by 15 man crew. A drift filter net attached to two wooden poles at boat's starboard is dropped to the
water to a depth of 10 to 12 meters. During a good day, a bannuar could catch and fill aramang to 20 to
50 cooking oil cans- the standard measure for aramang. A can of fresh aramang weights 14 kilos and
could yield 3.5 dried aramang. Smaller boats rush the bannuar’s catch to the town for dryers to sort and
prepare it for drying under the sun.

Fishermen prefer to dry the aramang than to sell it fresh, for dried ones could yield higher
market value. Those involved in drying, usually wives and relatives of the fishermen, even transports the
fresh aramang to neighbouring provinces specifically to Ilocos, just to sun dry them. Quality dried
aramang are exported to other countries and some were locally transported to nearby provinces.

Locals used dried aramang to add flavour to a mixed vegetable dish such as dinengdeng or
inabraw. The shrimp could be served fresh as kilawin with calamansi; could be cooked into fritters-
ukoy; or simply fried with garlic or cooked as adobo.

Every sight and smell of aramang could bring smile to every Aparriano. It means economic
prosperity and sumptuous meal not only for the fishermen’s family but for all the people living in
the”‘Town Perked at the Seat of Heaven- Where the River Meets the Sea”-APARRI.