hapter 1: Introduction and Background of the Study

Background of the Study

Agriculturists and farmers used to bred a rice variety which they say that it is the best
suited for making “puto” or rice cake. Rice cake is a product that Calasiao, Pangasinan (the
central of Pangasinan) is known for. The cup-shaped, bite-sized, soft rice cakes, describes as
town’s “white gold” as this is one of their economic drivers in the region. Having said that it is
very evident when you visit the town as the whole street is packed with vendors selling this
sweet treat alongside with other lesser known rice cake types. The Southeast Asia Regional
Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE), a regional nongovernment organization
that promotes and implements community-based conservation, development and the use of plant
genetic resources described the Calasiao rice as “soft and aromatic when cooked, with
consistency, texture and taste perfectly suited to the local puto”.
One of the staples in a classic Filipino gathering is the rice cake or puto, whether in a
birthday party, fiesta or other occasion. Puto is very rare for a Filipino celebration to not have
puto as part of the occasion. It is very easy to transport and easy to get in the Philippines which
adds to its popularity on potlucks and local gatherings (Anon., 2017).
Puto is one of the proofs of how Filipinos love to eat rice. This is a native delicacy of the
town of Calasiao. It is a light snack with a hint of sweetness in every bite kicked by saltiness of
the cheese or the salted egg. It has different flavor paired with its color: pandan (light green), ube
(violet), cheese (yellow), and many more. That taste of puto greatly complements both dishes
and is not something that only adults would love, but it is popular among kids too.
It is a common-notion that for so long as the love and penchant for this product remains
by exerting effort to promote puto by celebrating Puto Festival and that the cooperation of
Calasiao, and neighboring towns and province. Puto or rice cake making of Calsiao, Pangasinan
have a special place in the hearts of its makers and the communities where this industry to
breathe life as it is one of the economic drivers of the said town.
In pursuit of understanding the essence or importance of this industry to the people of
Calasiao, Pangasinan, the researchers are proposing this phenomenological research with the aim
of helping the researchers to know the perception of puto vendors and puto makers in globalizing
puto with different flavors and to determine how this industry will withstand the challenges
facing it.
This qualitative research aims to encourage makers and vendors of puto or rice cake in
Calasiao, Pangasinan to continue and invigorate their means of livelihood and the culture of
Pangasinan. This is also for concerned government agencies to continue helping this industry
alive in the midst of globalization.

Statement of the Problem

Generally, this study aims to know the perception of vendors and sellers of Calasiao,
Pangasinan in globalizing puto with its different flavors.
Specifically, the researchers seek to answer the following questions:
1. How did the informants learn to make puto?
2. What are the key factors of success in keeping the puto or rice cake industry alive?
3. What are the informants’ thought about globalization of puto?
4. What should the following entities do, so that their industry will maximize its
branches and to become more popular?
5. What is the demographic profile of the producer for the puto?

Scope and Delimitation

The main purpose of this qualitative study is to furnish perception from the puto makers
and vendors as to the importance of their industry to globalize for it is one of the economic
drivers of their town.
The research will be conducted in Poblacion Road, Calasiao, Pangasinan whom makers
and vendors sell their products. Adequate number of puto vendors and makers will be
interviewed to fully understand the phenomenon of interest and to attain Goldilocks effect
(Sandelowski, 1995).
In coherence with the fast modernizing society, this study will study and somehow
introduce systems that will be important for vendors and makers to manage and interact with
consumers. Thus, interaction will yield results to be used for actions that will improve the
locality of the subject.
Data collection of the study will commence in the second week of October 2019.
Significance of the Study
This qualitative research will be conducted to find out the perceptions and thoughts of
puto vendors in Calasiao, Pangasinan about globalizing their product with its different flavors.
More than anything, this study will benefit the makers and vendors of puto once they got
full support from the local government unit (LGU). Local government unit would exploit the
business by finding a way to globalize the puto around the world since it is easy to transport.
This study will also promote and preserve the food culture of Pangasinan. As Calasiao is
the “Puto” or Rice Cake Capital of the Philippines, the town’s Puto Market is a key stopover site
to tasting and bringing home this local delicacy. Located across the municipal hall, the puto
market comprise of numerous stalls selling local puto products and other delicacies. Calasiao’s
annual Puto Festival is held every December. Other than parades and street dances, the festival
highlights the greatest puto-makers in town competing for the award of the best puto-based art
masterpiece. Mayor Roy Macanlalay formed rice cake vendors and producers into a cooperative
and provided them with stalls in front of the town plaza where they sold their products on a 24-
hour basis. Some hotels and popular restaurants not only in Pangasinan but also in Metro Manila
get their rice cake supply in Calasiao.
This study will be a significant endeavour and a source of motivation to create more and
more puto to globalize it and the support of not only the Calasiao residence but also the whole
Pangasinan, because it is one of the cultures of the Province.
This research is beneficial to the consumers by providing them puto whenever there is
an occasion or celebration. Consumer will also be satisfied by innovating the products such as
fillings, flavour, and its color.
The researcher hopes that the result of this study would also be a big help to future
researchers and all people with same interest to know the perceptions of puto makers and the
importance of puto making in the economy.
 Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature and Studies

Local Studies
Puto is the Filipino term for “Rice Cake” and is cook by steaming. Puto are usually white
and round and can vary greatly in size. It is usually served with fresh grated coconut. Puto is
usually eaten as a merienda - a light meal or snack especially in the afternoon, but can also be
eaten for breakfast with coffee or hot chocolate but it is best served with "Dinuguan" (Pork blood
stew) as a hefty afternoon merienda. By adding local ingredients like ube (purple yam) or pandan
slightly change the flavor and color of the humble puto, but this will required more work and a
revision of the recipe. The best way to have flavored puto is to use essence which is also tinted to
the color relative to the flavor like pandan essence flavor gives you a light green puto and an ube
essence gives you a light purple puto. And of course, adding food colouring can be added but
still keep the original flavor. The original puto that I know of, is made of galapong (soaked
ground rice), But there are now many variations of this recipe ranging from the type of rice used
to the method of how it is prepared. You will also find that different regions in the Philippines
cook puto in varied ways, some of the recipes have been passed from one generation to another,
but still there are some secrets that were never revealed when ask for the recipe of their soft and
yummy puto. To be successful in cooking puto, whether you are using the galapong - (soak
ground rice), rice flour, all-purpose flour or self-rising flour you have to practice - make it
several times before you will successfully mastered the art of puto steaming (Del Rosario, 2013).
The word puto is derived from the Malay word puttu, which literally means “portioned.”
The regional variants of the steamed cake take their names from either their appearance or their
most notable feature. Puto bumbong, for example, is named after the chimney-like contraption
used to cook it, puto seco translates to “dry puto” in Spanish (a nod to this variant’s biscuit-like
texture), and bite-sized cakes stuffed with a sweet meat filling are called puto pao as a tribute to
the Chinese meat bun that inspired their creation.
Rice cakes are made in many cultures and have a wide range of processing and product
characteristics. The Filipino rice cake, puto, is consumed daily as a breakfast, dessert or snack
food. The product is made from rice that is soaked overnight, ground and mixed with sugar and
coconut milk. The resulting batter is then fermented for several hours, during which time
acidification and leavening occur. The fermented batter is steamed for approximately 30 min
before serving (Kelly et al., 1995).
At first reckoning, puto, a traditional Filipino rice cake, may not seem to fall into the
category of fermented food. But a whiff of it or a bite reveals a very slight but pleasantly sour
taste, with a subtle tinge of alcohol. After all, proper puto is made of fermented rice. It is
“cooked” twice, first fireless by fermentation, then over fire as steaming.
Puto is one of about eighty kinds of Filipino rice cakes. While puto has slid into a
supporting role over time as part of a morning or afternoon meal, it goes to the heart of ancient
Filipino’s spiritual beliefs and practices: “Prehispanic gods were never satisfied by offerings
without rice cakes,” wrote food scholar Felice P. Sta. Maria.
To this day, puto is cooked the old fashion way, though only in certain areas: Pasig,
Biñan, Calasiao, Manapla, and Cagayan de Oro, among a few others. In these places, puto
making is an important cottage industry, and the puto is named after the towns. Most puto are
pristine white, except those from Biñan or Cagayan de Oro, which range from light brown to
beige.
Making puto draws a family together with recipes being passed along or down to other
kin. It is not unusual for families to be known for their puto variant. In the past, puto had to be
made with year-old rice, known locally as laon. Rice was prepared by soaking it overnight and
then grinding it in a gilingan (hand-operated table-top granite mill) to make a thick batter called
galapong. Heaping tablespoons of rice were added one at a time along with a bit of water as
necessary to ensure a certain consistency. As the mill ground the rice, batter seeped out from the
side as an upright wooden extension rotated the upper stone. The batter collected in a canal
around the mill; an indentation in the canal formed a spout so that the batter could be easily
poured. The batter was then set aside (today it is refrigerated) to ferment, sometimes for three
days.
In Cagayan de Oro, tuba (fermented coconut toddy) is added to hasten overnight
fermentation. Then as now, the final step is to transfer the fermented batter to a banana leaf–lined
container, which is covered and steamed until the batter becomes moist, plump, and fluffy. The
cooking equipment used to be crafted of bamboo, though today the steamers are made of tin,
aluminum, or stainless steel. The cover is conical so that the condensation flows down the sides
to the cover’s rim and not on to the puto. The batter can also be decanted into small moulds;
during the early twentieth century, tiny ceramic teacups were used. Other smaller banana leaf–
lined containers that are about eight centimeters in diameter and can stand steamy heat are also
used, such as for Negros Occidental’s puto manapla, traditionally served as a pair, one on top of
the other, face to face. A large round of puto, about sixty centimeters across and four to five
centimeters thick, is cut into parallelograms with a length of sewing thread to ensure the sides are
straight. This also tests the puto’s doneness.
Puto can be subtly touched with anise or wood ash lye for flavor, and the banana leaf
used while cooking gives the puto its delicate scent. Puto used to be widely hawked on the street,
served with fresh grated coconut. Although a prominent part of the Filipino diet, rice is not
native to the Philippines but was introduced in prehistoric times. Ethnic communities still plant
between fifty and seventy types of rice, some of it for specific rituals. Rice remains a ritual
principal and a staple food. Other than mother’s milk, an infant’s first food is the starch that
surfaces on the water when rice first boils. As an adult, during main meals of the day, most
Filipinos cannot or will not forego piping hot rice.
Rice is one of the first items brought into a new house, where henceforth the rice
container must never be allowed to go empty, so as not to tempt fate. In farming communities,
parents still plant a small plot with a special variety of rice in anticipation of the birth of a child,
a patron saint’s feast day, the town fiesta, Christmas, and any such occasion deemed dear.
To this day, sacks of rice are brought to church during a rural Catholic feast—a gift to the
Filipino Christian god, while puto, an offering to pre- Christian gods, and grace life in the most
commonly shared way.

Foreign Studies
Various kinds of cooked and semi-cooked rice cakes have been traditionally made
throughout the rice-growing countries of Asia. Well known among these are different kinds of
mochi in Japan, puto and suman in the Philippines and idli in India. These have been
traditionally made at homes from ancient times, but some of these are now being made in
somewhat larger scale in catering establishments and small industries.
All these products are generally made mostly from fully cooked or partially cooked rice
flour or sometimes from cooked rice pounded into a dough. The resulting dough is kneaded and
usually steamed or otherwise cooked in water. Then the cooked dough may be either wrapped in
various leaves and boiled or steamed (suman in the Philippines) or cut into pieces, toasted and
seasoned (mochi) or again wrapped in leaves and steamed and boiled and fried (mochi) or
sometime fermented (puto). There are many other varieties of cakes in all these countries.
There are often specific requirements of this or that rice for these products. Some of these
products are made from specific waxy rice (Palmiano & Juliano, 1972) showed that the optimum
starch GT for good mochi was 6669 °C. Higher or lower GT gave less desired products. Other
mochies could be made from nonwaxy rice. Puto of the Philippines was best made from aged
intermediate-amylose rice. Waxy rice gave best batter volume after fermentation, but the batter
collapsed after steaming. Suman was best made from low-GT waxy rice with low amylopectin
staling. Waxy rice of higher GT gave poorer products. Other cakes made in different countries
also had such specific requirement, often not yet scientifically examined, but learnt from
traditional practical experience.
Idli cakes are a very popular fermented food consumed in the Indian subcontinent (Ghosh
and Chattopadhyay, 2011). Eaten at breakfast in South India and Sri Lanka, in combination with
coconut chutney and sambar (stew of tamarind and pigeon pea) (Nout, 2009), they are small,
white, acidic, leavened and steam-cooked cakes which are the product of a lactic fermented thick
batter made from polished rice and dehulled black gram dhal, a pulse. The fermentation of idli is
natural; no back-slopping technique is used, although the use of the same vessels and utensils
may help to stabilize a mixed LAB microflora (Nout, 2009). The cakes are soft, moist and
spongy with a desirable sour flavour (Steinkraus, 1983). It has also been reported that during
fermentation, vitamins B and C increase, and also phytate is hydrolysed almost to 50%of its
original content (Ghosh and Chattopadhyay, 2011).
MiGao is a kind of steam cooked Chinese cake obtained from rice flour and sticky rice
flour (in the ratio of 2:3) by steaming in a bamboo steamer. It is famous for its soft and sticky
texture and it is habitually served as a dessert. Traditionally, these products are packaged in
polyethylene bags after steaming and cooling (Ji et al., 2007b). It has a short shelf-life (two days)
and loses its softness, quickly becoming stale and hard (Ji et al., 2007b). Ji et al. (2007a)
investigated the evolution of Enterobactericeae, LAB, Gram-positive, catalase-positive cocci,
Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus strains, yeasts and moulds in MiGao during its shelf-life in
order to select the most suitable strains as starter or protective cultures. During the first two days,
they found that Gram-positive bacteria were dominant, mainly represented by S. epidermidis and
S. aureus. Bacillus (mainly Bacillus brevis) strains occurred by the third day, reaching a
maximum level of 1 × 106 CFU/g after five days of storage. No Enterobactericeae or LAB was
detected in the processed products throughout the storage period. The count of yeasts and moulds
increased slowly but remained low throughout the storage period. The amount and type of
foodborne pathogens and food spoilage microorganisms identified in this product was extensive.
In order to improve the microbial safety of this traditional Chinese steamed cake, several
preservative strategies, such us combined pH, temperature and natural preservatives, should be
developed (Ji et al., 2007a).
Mochi, a kind of glutinous rice (waxy or sweet rice) cake, is particularly common in
Oriental areas such as Taiwan, China and Japan and is a special rice cake for the celebration of
the Chinese Lunar New Year. It consists of high moisture, soft and slightly sticky dough served
as a dessert. Conventionally, glutinous rice is washed, cooked with water and pounded right after
cooking to ensure loss of the rice kernel integrity and allow formation of the visco-elastic
mixture (Chuang and Yeh, 2006). For better flavour, mochi is sometimes sweetened with sugar
or enriched with lard and cinnamon flour. There are many other types of rice cakes made in Asia.
For example, biko, cuchinta (or kutsinta), suman and other rice cakes are made in the
Philippines.
 Chapter 3: Methodology

This chapter discusses the methods selected by the researchers in order to attain their
research aims. These methods include the research design, duration and locale of the study, the
pull off participants and their means of selecting samples, the instruments to be used in collecting
data and the means of assuring quality of data collected, and the means of analysing and
interpreting appropriately the data collected.

Research Design
Phenomenology research design will be used in this qualitative research in order to
qualitatively explore the phenomenon of puto makers and vendors in globalizing their products.
The primary objective of a phenomenological study is to explain the meaning, structure,
and essence of the lived experiences of a person, or a group of people, around a specific
phenomenon.

Duration and Locale of the Study

The research study will be conducted in Calasiao, Pangasinan that is known to be the
major producer of puto in the Philippines.
Calasiao is a second oldest and now a first-class town in a central part of Pangasinan
located between San Carlos City and Dagupan respectively. It was a Municipality that is govern
by Mayor Joseph Arman C. Bauzon, Vice Mayor Mahadeva Das B. Mesina and other 10
councilors.
The name Calasiao was derived from the native word “Kalasian” which means “a place
where lighting frequently occurs”, from its root word “Lasi” meaning “Lighting” in English.
Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, they called the place “Lugar de Rayos” means “Lighting
Place”. The municipality contains 24 barangays and 31 sitios. Its population ranged to 95, 154
according to the 2015 Census or representing a 3.22% of the total population of Pangasinan
province, or 1.89% of the overall population of the Ilocos Region.
In the 8th day of December, 2017, Calasiao’s Municipal government attempts to break a
world record by putting up a more than 200-square meter rice cake mosaic at the town plaza led
by Melanio de Vera, who was designated by Mayor Arman Joseph Bauzon as chairman of the
executive committee of the year’s “Puto Festival”.
More than 100 traditional “puto” makers and a representative of the London-based
Guinness World Records were invited to witness the record-breaking feat. The town has adopted
“puto” as its One-Town, One Product (OTOP).
Puto Calasiao or famously known as the “white gold of Calasiao” have made the town
famous all over the world and across the years.
This study will be conducted on the second week of October 2019.

Population and Informants

The researchers will apply criterion sampling in selecting informants in this study.
Criterion sampling involves selecting cases that meet some predetermined criterion of
importance (Patton, 2001, p. 238). The informants should meet the following criteria such as the
makers must be residents of Calasiao and it is where they sell their product.
The target population for this research are five (5) puto makers and five (5) puto vendors
in Poblacion West, Cala. Furthermore, puto makers and puto vendors were considered
appropriate as population of the study area because they constitute the dramatis personae
responsible in puto making.

Materials and Procedures

While it is true that the primary data collection instrument in qualitative research is the
researcher, there is still a need to identify what type of data gathering instrument must be
employed. The researchers opted to conduct a semi-structured interview because the data from
the participants are words in the context of the research problem (Holloway and Wheeler, 2002).
In order to gather comprehensive information, have control over the flow of primary data
collection method and have a chance to clarify certain issues during the process, the researchers
chose interview. The type of interview used is a semi-structured interview in which the
researchers may have additional questions to their interviewees in order to explain or expand a
specific issue apart from the set of at least ten questions to be answered by all interviewees. In
this kind of interview, the respondents are free to answer the questions in any way they choose.
This kind of interview is what the researchers used in order to have follow-up questions to the
interviewees’ answers to obtain more reliable and better information.
With the permission of the participating puto makers and puto vendors, each interview
will be recorded and all of the interviews will be conducted by the same members of the research
team. Rest-assured, that the anonymity of the interviewees will be guaranteed. The researchers
will do all to create an atmosphere of non-judgemental attitude that will safely allowed sharing
of experiences.

Data Analysis
The researchers used thematic analysis to analyze in the treatment of data. The interview
was designed to capture extensive description of the physical and social settings aimed at holistic
understanding of such why these teachers endure such life situation. Recorded interview will be
transcribed. Each line of transcribed data will be assigned a meaningful code based on the
meaning or context of each segment, and in keeping with the study’s research sub-problems.
Using inductive method, the codes will be grouped into relevant categories that are
aligned to the aims or purpose of this study. The categories are exhaustive, mutually exclusive,
sensitizing and conceptually relevant.
Using deductive method, the categories will be grouped and regrouped into minor and
major subthemes until only a single theme to as many as seven at most emerge.al and social
settings.