BINALLAY

BRIEF HISTORY

The Cagayan Valley Region lies within the vastness of this “rice cake geographical sphere”, and
as a melting pot of various ethnic groups and foreign influences, it is home to a diverse selection
of local rice cake dishes, (Coballes, 2022).
The Binallay is Isabela’s own version of the suman (rice cake) which originated in the province
of Isabela, particularly in Ilagan. Ilagueños have made the binallay a symbol of the noble
characteristics they aspire to have as individuals and as a community. These include
being masipag (hardworking), matiyaga (patient), matalino(intelligent), and makadiyos (God
fearing). According to them, they are… patient because the process of preparing binallay is
tedious and involves steaming the rice cake twice… hardworking because it is difficult to
prepare the rice cake (the glutinous grains are ground the traditional way, with a stone mill)
… intelligent because it requires a special technique to peel the wrapper off so that none of the
cake is wasted… God fearing because it is a delicacy associated with the Holy Week.

During the Holy Week, devout Christians in Ilagan City would practice penitence and sacrifice
by eating just the Binallay because Ilagueños regard the food as a representation of the body
and blood of Christ; the rice cake being the body and the sauce as the blood