The Glamorous Life of Puto
Every since I can ever remember, I have always been known as the grand daughter of the maker of Puto Cake.
My lola started this way way back. We all know what Puto is, but what makes ours different is that its made like its a cake, not the typically sticky rice. We also have different flavors and sizes.
For quite sometime it made me feel special, because it was popular in our city. It was a conversation-starter. I was always asked, “Ikaw yung sa puto cake diba?” or “Lola mo yung nagawa ng puto cake diba?” And I would always say yes with a smile. It was like my ticket to everything. Even the tricycle drivers knew where to go when you ask them about it.
During my school days, I could say it was my ticket to passing grades (for numerous school years). Mean teachers suddenly was smiling at me, and for 1 school year, I was on the honor roll. During high school, every time they would plan a pot-luck celebration, it was understood that Puto would be bought it by me. Classmates would be like, “Si Bea, puto!” And I would just smile and nod in agreement.
When I was younger, December was the busiest month for us. I would stay up all night packing up the made ones. I would crack eggs, peel them and even wash the equipment. It was a thrill to be able to help back then.
As I got older, I had sudden realizations. It wasn’t glamorous. I personally, wanted this to stop already. Why? Well, here are some reasons.
First, I know this business helped us financially. But, despite my lola getting old already, she doesn’t want to stop. We literally don’t stop making them. But when you get a chance to hear the lines, “Di po kami natanggap ngayon eh.”, it is because my aunts forced my lola to stop for today because we deserve a vacation. Talking about vacation, we don’t get to have it outside the city. It’s always a hotel just nearby. And we only stay overnight. Also, we aren’t complete when we take this kind of vacation, there’s always one who’s left behind because they have to wait for the other customers who were able to place an order get the cakes.
The moment we get home, there’s always a phone call waiting for us. Asking if they could already order one. By that moment, we don’t know when we would be able to have a “vacation”.
Second, this business is tearing us apart. Sometimes, due to bulked orders or numerous orders that day, it gets all mixed up. And the house will start to crumble. People will start yelling at each other and banging will be heard. The phone won’t stop ringing. At some point, money is thrown more than it it earned.
Lastly, it took away our childhood. In my 22 years of existence with Puto, I have never had Noche Buena or Media Noche or a proper Christmas. It was all circled on this cake. This cake that would actually be one of the food a family would add up to THEIR noche buena or whatever their celebration was. But for us, we don’t get it. I would always see other people, taking pictures of how their table was set up for the occasion. But for us, we don’t even have a table proper for any special occasion because we don’t celebrate as much. By 8pm, every 24th of December or 31st of December, half of the people in our house is already sleeping. Resting from baking all day. When the clock strikes 12mn, it would just be small whispers of greeting. We don’t even decorate a tree anymore because of the orders we take in every December, we have to make up space.
People kept telling me that I should be rich because of this business. No we’re not, just stable. Now, I’m not sharing this to stop you from ordering, but I just want everyone to know what ‘s up with this business. Because sometimes, people see everything’s fine. And yes, I really hope it stops for awhile, because it’s losing family.
