Sources of Sugar

The Philippines derives most of its sugar from sugarcane. Raw, unrefined sugar is called muscovado in the Visayas and panocha in the Tagalog region. It comes either in granulated form or as cakes that are grated and served with native desserts such as puto bumbong [violet rice cakes steamed in bamboo tubes].

However, in areas such as Isla Verde, Batangas, south of Manila, where the buri palm, or sugar palm trees, grow in abundance, the sweet sap of the palm tree is boiled and turned into molded palm sugar cakes, called pakaskas (see photos). The pakaskas is the equivalent to the jaggery or gur of South Asia or the gula java of Indonesia.