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The Seventh-Born Child
Ka Mila’s Special Life
By Cindy M. Genato
THERE is a belief in many cultures that a seventh-born child is destined for a special life – and perhaps such a thought crossed the minds of Dr. Cris¬tobal Santiago and his wife Enriqueta Cervantes when their seventh child, a daughter, was born on November 21, 1923. They named her Milagros, and in the fullness of time, the aptness of that name would be revealed in her many achievements in the field of arts and culture.
From an early age, Milagros had ample time to observe the many cook¬ing demonstrations conducted by her mother, both in their home and in the various Periculture Centers under the auspices of the Malolos Women’s Club, where Enriqueta Cervantes served as President from 1929 to 1930. With such a vantage point, it is no surprise that Milagros would develop an inter¬est in food – Filipino and Maloleno cuisine in particular – that would lead to her emergence as a leading culinary historian.
The Japanese Occupation inter¬rupted her studies at the University of the Philippines, where she was a sophomore in the College of Liberal Arts. She and her sisters contributed to the resistance effort by cooking food for the guerillas who sought treatment from Dr. Santiago; and courageously smuggled medicines for the wounded and sick.
By the time schools began to re-open, Milagros took up a course in Home Economics at the Philippine Women’s University, graduating with a baccalaureate degree of Science in Education, majoring in Home Econom¬ics.
In 1945, she married Jacinto Enriquez, the son of Col. Vicente Enriquez, an aide-de-camp of General Gregorio del Pilar. The Enriquez an¬cestral house in Bulacan, Bulacan, was their home, soon filled with the sounds of a growing family. One would have thought that raising the couple’s eight children – Jean, Blee, Bong, Sylvia, Boyet, Remy, Zita and Monina – would be more than enough to keep any woman busy, but not Milagros! For the old house, rich in history, was a treasure trove of priceless memorabilia and documents about the Katipunan from the period covering 1892-1896.
The discovery of her father-in-law’s archives prompted Milagros to carefully compile all the documents she discovered. As a member of KAANAK (an organization of the descendants of the Revolution), her cu¬riosity to know more about the people, places, and events in those documents led her to interview the families, rela¬tives, and descendants of the Revolu¬tionary heroes and other Katipuneros.
Over the years, Milagros, like her parents in Malolos before her, involved herself in the social life of Bulacan. She organized medical missions, cooking demonstrations and livelihood programs. For 30 years she sponsored the weekly merienda of ACIL teach¬ers in Bulacan, Her “Paglinap sa may Kapansanan”, a yearly gift-giving activity for the disabled of Bulakan Town, ran from 1989-2006. She will¬ingly and generously shared her talent, skills, wisdom, experiences and recipes with everyone. Be it an “under a tree in a barrio” presentation to TV guest appearances in cooking shows; food festivals in five-star hotels to cooking demonstrations for big food compa¬nies; schools and universities – it really didn’t matter. If you could gather an audience interested in food, that was all Milagros really needed, as was proven in 1998 when, as a representative of the Philippines, she spoke of our food heritage at the Smithsonian Museum’s Folk Life Festival in Washington, DC.
Recognition of her accomplish¬ments was not lacking. In 1995, the Manila Critics Circle, Inc. took notice of her literary efforts. This organiza¬tion of professional literary critics and newspaper columnists -- who believe that Philippine books deserve much more attention than they usually get from business, media and the general public – awarded “Kaysaysayan ng Kaluto ng Bayan” as Cookbook of the Year. During the Philippine Centennial, Milagros was also recognized as one of the 100 women who made lasting contributions to the fields of arts and culture.
Although diagnosed with cancer in the later years of her life, Milagros refused to consider herself a “vic¬tim” of the disease. Despite a hectic medical schedule, she managed to continue writing, compiling research and promoting the culinary heritage of our nation. Even while under chemo¬therapy, she organized and staged a number of food festivals. One of these was held during the National Historical Institute’s celebration of History Week 2007 – a free, whole-day program en¬titled, “Lecture-Demonstration on the Culinary Legacy of the Women of Ma¬lolos and Vanishing Arts and Crafts.”
Milagros was featured on TV’s “Kapuso Mo”, during Jessica Soho’s episode entitled “Naglalahong Tradisyo¬nal na Pagkaing Pampasko”, where she shared three recipes from her “Pasko ng Kahapon” menu. For Veteran’s Day, Milagros volunteered to put up a food exhibit dubbed “A Tribute To The Veterans: Heroes of World War II”, at the Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center. Centro Escolar University in Mendiola hosted her food exhibit “Food of Famous Women, Highlighting The Culinary Legacy Of The Women Of Malolos.”
Among her research papers are: “Food of the Soldiers: Alay Sa Kawal”, whose scope covers Rajah Sulayman, killed in the Battle of Bangkusay, to Boodle Fight Food in Mindanao; “The Evolution of the Christmas Menu—Ethnic to Present”; “Ang Mga Paboritong Pagkain Ng Mga Bayani”; “Favorite Food Of The Presidents”; and “The Malolos Inauguration Of Philippine Independence Menu”.
Milagros joined her Creator on June 8, 2008. Philippine historians owe her a great debt, and future gen¬erations can only be enriched with the information gained from her tireless efforts to fill in the gaps of our national and cultural history.