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Always Smiling Always Smiling

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MassKara MassKara

MassKara MassKara

Rodney Martinez , one of the founding members of the Arts Association of Bacolod-Negros (AABN) set up workshops around Bacolod for locals to learn how to make decorative masks out of coconut husks and paper mâché to help generate some form of commerce during the crisis.

While some masks were sold, most sellers did not get enough money from them.1 The AABN decided to conceptualize a festival instead to help interest more tourists to come and buy masks. It slowly turned from native Filipino designs into drawing inspiration from similar events such as Carnival of Venice.

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There isn’t much of a historical context behind MassKara. It focused more on how the people of the area managed to pull through a difficult situation, The smiling masks were a declaration of the people of Bacolod City that they will pull through and survive the challenges and tragedies that they are facing. 2

While before the masks had more native designs incorporated into it, they evolved into very elaborate and brightly colored masks with their famous smile. People elevating their masks with hundreds of colorful feathers, thousands of beads coating the surface of the mask, and costumes created solely to accentuate the mask.

Because of these masks and the whole MassKara celebration, Bacolod had been dubbed ‘The City of Smiles’. A mask from this area is one of the most popular souvenirs for tourists and has become one of the sole symbols of the Negros region.

It represents the willpower of the Negros people to keep on smiling and moving forward even in the face of utter misery, the mask covering any other worries and the festival whisking participants into continuous excitement and joy to keep them moving.

1. Legarde, Lysias. “Masskara Festival: The Ultimate Guide.” HICAPS Mktg. Corp. HICAPS Mktg. Corp., September 12, 2022. https://hicaps.com.ph/ masskara-festival/.

2. Muzones, Gem. “Masskara Festival in Bacolod: Everything You Need to Know.” Guide to the Philippines, September 19, 2020. https://guidetothephilippines.ph/articles/history-culture/masskara-festival-bacolod-guide.

Napoleones

A famous pasalubong (souvenir or gift) from Bacolod is Napoleones, a confectionary item befitting of a city called “the sugar capital of the Philippines”. It is an immensely popular confectionary, hundreds of dozens-baked Napoleones made every day at various locations not only in the Negros area but all around the Philippines.

Taking inspiration from the French pastry Mille-Feuille: Napoleones consists of layers upon layers of thin puff pastry, a semi-sweet custard filling, and topped with a sugary icing that hardened white. Most of the time it is served cold, however it can be served still warm from the oven.

Ingredients

Pastry

• 3 sheets store-bought puff pastry

Matamis Matamis

Custard

• 4 large egg yolks

• 1 1/3 cups milk

• 1/3 cup cream

• 1/2 cup sugar, divided

• 3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

• 30 g butter, room temperature

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze

• 2 cups icing sugar

• 3 tbsp fresh milk

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