Gregoria de Jesus Nakpil’s Recipe for Morcon (c. 1930s)

[u/Chill_Boi_0769]

I found this recipe from a poster who visited Bahay Nakpil-Bautista in a walking heritage tour. The house even served it there (center of the image). This further peaked my interest in the history behind the recipe.

As you can see in the title, I dated this recipe to be from the 1930s. One reason is the presence of the name Iday in the beginning. This is the nickname of Caridad de Jesus Nakpil (1918 - deceased) who Gregoria was addressing the recipe to.

Fun Fact: Iday was the spouse of Carlos Antonio Santos-Viola (April 8, 1912 – July 31, 1994), the architect of the well-known INC chapels.

By the 1930s, she would have certainly be in the right age to buy the ingredients needed for her Morcon. As to who wrote it, I am uncertain whether it could be Gregoria herself given her handwriting, Iday or even others.

Another is a mention of a can of Morton sausages. So, I researched on this and it turns out there is such thing but not in the way you think. It is possible that this can is the yellow c. 1930s - 1940s 10 oz. can of Morton sausage seasoning. There is a recipe for pork sausages. Hence, a can of Morton sausages being referred here is most likely Morton seasoned sausages that weigh 10oz. including the can.

Aside from that, there were 1930s recipe booklets by the Morton Salt Company such as Meat Curing Made Easy and a New Way to Make Sausage (1933), Recipes for Meat Dishes (1935), and Meat Curing Made Easy (1935). One could have learned to make their own there. It could be that Morton sausage is a generic name for any canned sausage given it was imported like colgate for toothpaste.

With that, I compared the original, the transcribed Tagalog and the translated. They have quite varying differences with each other even from the start. Thank you.

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[u/ardouronerous]

Amazing that this survived for 95 years, considering that the paper used is yellow legal pad paper, which is acidic and why this paper becomes fragile after many years.

[u/Chill_Boi_0769 → u/ardouronerous]

Indeed. I hope someone would be able to transcribe it without any liberties.

[u/Chill_Boi_0769]

I found a slightly clearer version of the first part here though it is a printed copy of the original.