“The Origin of Palitaw”

A long time ago, there was a village named Paddy because it was rich in food crops, especially
rice. Paddy village is a place where all the people here live in peace and harmony. But there is a
problem that they have to be prepared for, which is the awakening of the Great Mythical
Creature that loves to destroy food crops when the food that has been served is not delicious.
This mythical creature is called Ba'al, the Destroyer of Crops. The chieftain of the paddy village
gathered all the people who had wonderful cooking skills and would serve the Ba’ al and make
delicious food once the Ba'al was awake. The great awakening is fast approaching, but the
chieftain of paddy village is still searching for that person who has the ability to make delicious
food for the creature and please it, because all the people he gathers don’t have that ability and
only upset him.

One day, a villager named Pupa sends good news to the chieftain there is a legendary chef named
the Meal Master, but the only problem is that the Meal Master has already stopped cooking. The
reason why he stops cooking is that Ba’al mistakenly eats his wife when she serves the food he
makes. The chieftain thinks of a better way to convince the meal master because the sign of
awakening has already started. The chieftain of the paddy village calls out to Pupa and asks if he
knows where to find this legendary meal master. Luckily, Pupa knows one person, and that is his
mother. The next day, the chieftain already has the direction of the house of the meal master and
travels for two days, where he loses two of his guards as he passes a mountain cliff. The two
days of travel and the sacrifice of the two guards are worth it because the meal master is in his
house. The meal master recognizes the presence of the chieftain and pays respect by visiting him
and offering the delicious food he makes. In just one sip of the soup of the meal master, all of the
prostration and tiredness had gone. The chieftain directly tells him about the awakening and tells
him that they need him to serve the Ba'al, but the meal master suddenly changes his mood as he
remembers his late wife, who died because of Ba’al. The chieftain gives time to the meal master
to think about it because he is a chieftain that has a good heart and, also, they flee already as they
prepare for the awakening.

The day has come that the Ba’al will awake, but the chieftain doesn’t have news about
the meal master. Though he has other chefs that have come prepared, the meal master’s ability to
cook is what they need. The chieftain is still helping with the preparation, and the meal master
just arrived in the village. That makes the people of the village very happy and all the worries
they feel disappear. But never did they know that the meal master comes for revenge and not to
help them. Once the preparation was done and the chieftain rested for a bit, he fell asleep and
started dreaming about an oracle telling him that the meal master wanted to kill Ba'al, and if
Ba’al dies, a great plague will appear and will destroy not only the crops but also all the people.
The chieftain is still thinking about it and starts to observe the meal master when he notices that
he put something in the food that will be served on the Ba’al. The meal master is caught red-
handed by the chieftain and starts crying that he wants to avenge his wife. The meal master
wants to run away, but he stops when the chieftain says that you should think about it twice and
think about if his wife will agree to this kind of decision. The meal master starts to walk again
and still crying, while the chieftain is still believing that the meal master will not betray him and
still trusts the meal master.
The great roar was so loud that it could be heard mountains away because the Ba'al were already
awake. The people in the village started kneeling and paying respect to the Mythical Creature
and started serving all the food that the meal master made. The chieftain was not worried at all as
he watched the meal master serving the food that the Ba’al would eat. The Ba’al start eating, and
the Ba’al enjoy it. The last food was served to the Ba’al. The creature was shocked when he saw
the last food served by the meal master. It was a flat, white, sweet rice cake with lots of grated
coconut. The creature hesitated at first, but in his eyes it looked delicious as the meal master
sprinkled brown sugar on the flat sweet rice cake. It made Ba'al's eyes sparkle, and he started
eating it. The people in the village were very quiet and scared because the Ba'al's face cannot be
described when he eats the flat sweet rice cake. But this rice cake made the Ba’al very happy and
all the people celebrated, as the crops they planted would not be destroyed. The Ba’al eats lots of
it, and that makes him fall asleep again. The chieftain of the village approaches and thanks the
meal master for what he did. But the meal master thanks the chieftain because of the words he
said and makes him realize that revenge is a bad thing and that his wife will not be happy if he
does it. And the chieftain asks what the name of the food is that he serves that makes the Ba’al
very happy, and the meal master says, "It is called Palitaw. It is one of my legendary recipes I
make, and I know this will make the Ba’al happy and very full. " And all the people in the
village also eat the Palitaw served by the meal master, which makes them happy as well.