Apigige' or Apigigi' or Apighighi - Who brought it to Guam? - June 24, 2019

What is the origin of apigige' or apigigi'? Did you also know there is such a spelling as apighighi? Among the modern-day Chamorros of the Mariana Islands, apigige' is a mixture of grated tapioca, young coconut, and sugar that is wrapped with banana leaf and grilled over fire. How did this dessert come to be on Guam? Is there a similar word in some other language or country?

Lawrence J. Cunningham refers to "apighighi" when he writes about ancient Chamorros and their food. However, apighighi in ancient times, was a mixture of fermented breadfruit. The breadfruit was mixed with grated coconut, made into pellets then baked. Based on this data, we can say that the word "apighighi" was at least used in ancient times. 

From a prior post we know that ancient foods and food practices on Guam are those that were brought to the island by the first settlers:

• coconut
• non-seeded breadfruit, or lemmai
• references to baking foods wrapped in banana leaves
• references to broiling foods in embers of an open fire pit
• references to grating coconut with a kamyo to make coconut milk and coconut oil
• references to woven pandanus and banana leaves used as plates

We also know from that same post, that the Spanish brought tapioca, called mendioka in Chamorro, to the island. The first reference I found to tapioca was in 1772 although it could have been as early as the mid 1500s. 

The banana plant itself is believed to have originated in South East Asia -- where the ancient Chamorros are suspected to have come from -- reaching Madagascar by 1000 BCE, South America by 200 BCE, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, a.ka. Portugal/Spain by 1200 CE, and the Carribean by 1516. 

It's not a far stretch to say that after the Spanish introduction of tapioca, the Chamorros of the Spanish era replaced breadfruit with tapioca then continued to make apighighi, or apigigi' or apigige'. 

The Mariana Islands, by Antoine-Alfred Marche 1887, was published by the Micronesian Area Research Center on Guam. Marche writes about a couple of different kinds of cakes cooked in an oven or over hot coals. One such cake was a mix of arrowroot made from manioc -- known as tapioca -- with coconut milk, grated coconut, and tuba to "make small patties called ojo." In the next paragraph, he writes that there is also another kind of cake made "by mixing tapioca and maize flour with coconut water." Furthermore, the author notes that rice is rare and eaten only for special occasions -- this is important when we compare similar desserts in other countries. 

In Alice Maxwell's book, Recipe of Guam, published in 1954, there is a recipe for "apigigi" that uses "tapioca starch, wheat flour, cornstarch, or arrowroot" with sugar, coconut milk, but BOILED in banana leaves. Hm, you ever tried apigigi with regular flour or cornstarch???? Don't knock it till you try it, but . . .

There is a family story online regarding the origin of apigigi' on Saipan by the Delacruz family in the early 1960s. It's a heart-warming report on how it all began for them. Mind you, they do make the best-tasting apigigi ' that people from Guam order. The story mentions that the family uses a metate and manu to grind the coconut -- that could be the secret! I have a set of the stone block and grinder, but how many modern Chamorros actually grind their coconut -- as opposed to grating it? Also, the Saipan story does not indicate if mature or young coconut was used for the apigigi'. At any rate, based on the historical reports above, some version of apighighi was present long before the 1960s.

The old Guam cookbook, Lepblon Fina'tinas Para Guam, published in 1977, also has a recipe for "apigige'." This version uses grated tapioca, "4 coconuts (meat should be 1/8 inch thick on shell)" and sugar. The mixture is spread to a half-inch thickness on banana leaves, wrapped and sealed, and BROWNED on both sides via griddle or frying pan. The recipe doesn't specify if it's young or mature coconut.

There are two very similar-tasting desserts made by the Chamorros -- apigige' and sweet tamales mendioka. Tamales mendioka is thick like you would imagine a tamales to be though it is sometimes much thicker; it is made with grated tapioca of course, young coconut, and sugar; wrapped in banana leaves, or foil in recent decades; but it is STEAMED. I mean, imagine if you had that gooey hunk of tamales in your mouth right now! I happen to think tamales mendioka is normally made sweeter than apigige'. Growing up on Guam in the 1970s through 1990s, I think every tamales mendioka I ate was steamed in foil -- but friends across YouTube tell me that before the war, it was wrapped in banana leaf.

That said, what are some similarities with foods from other countries?

Philippines

• Suman - a rice cake made with glutinous rice and coconut milk that is steamed in banana leaves. Cassava suman, or alupe, or alupi, is the tapioca version of this dessert using grated young coconut, also STEAMED in banana leaves.
• Tupig - is another Filipino dessert made with the sticky rice, coconut milk, and shredded young coconut, wrapped in banana leaves and GRILLED. Also called tupig when made with tapioca.

Cambodia/Vietnam

• Grilled bananas with coconut sticky rice - glutinous rice is cooked using coconut milk then sugar and grated coconut are mixed in. A banana is wrapped with this sweet rice mixture in a banana leaf and cooked on a GRILL.

Malaysia

• Pulut panggang - glutinous rice with a spicy, savory filling, wrapped in banana leaf and GRILLED.

Although ancient Chamorros were the only ones in the Pacific islands to cultivate rice, rice cultivation appears to have dwindled during the Spanish era. At some point after Guam was "given" to the Americans by the Spanish -- perhaps after World War II when rice became a huge import to Guam -- rice found its way as a staple in our meals. It has become the main side to meat, chicken, fish, and pork-based dishes. 

I think it is safe to say that Chamorros maintained their preference for tapioca, yams, corn, and breadfruit in delicacies established and handed down not just from the Spanish era, but also since ancient times. Thus, perhaps this is why our apigige', sweet tamales, and even our empanada is NOT made using rice like other similar dishes in the Philippines and the rest of Asia.

This was a fun detour from working on my Guam romance novel! Hope you enjoyed the trek back in time, and if I find out more about apigige', I'll be sure to update this post.

Here is a link to a written recipe for APIGIGE'.

Here's a peek into one of my Guam cookbooks:

Always, paulaq PaulaQ.com