Ligo

I bet few people know that Ligo actually meant Liberty Gold. It says right there on the label. I guess nobody really read labels or cared much for brands back then (nowadays, however, you have to check if it's from China). But, for some of us Ligo is the only brand of sardine we knew. I could be wrong but I think it was Ligo that came out first with the little cylindrical can; all the other sardines in those days were in big flat oblong cans which contained about twelve pieces or in smaller rectangular flat cans of Spanish sardines which are really for the left over Peninsulares holed up in snotty subdividisions. It was also Ligo, I dare say, that came out with the groundbreaking idea of single serve "happy" meals. It also offered an instant meal in the days when home deliveries were still unheard of. Ligo saved the day for me when I need a quick meal at our dysfunctional home.

Inside a can of Ligo are two fat slices of sardine locked in a tight, almost sensual, embrace and bathing in a red orange sauce. Pouring out the contents of a can is like unraveling the folds of an Origami masterpiece. You tease the contents out and as soon as it hits the plate it magically unfolds leading one to wonder how the heck did they make those fat slices to fit inside.

I’ve seen people who sauté Ligo and some even drain out the sauce, mashed the sardines and mixed it with mayonnaise ala tuna spread. Blasphemy. These people have no respect. Ligo should be appreciated in its purest form-- straight out of the can and poured out in-- not in a deep bowl, but in a saucer or a medium sized shallow plate-- just deep enough for the slices of sardines to be immersed in exactly five millimeters of its sauce.

At least a tablespoon should be used when eating (-- a fork would be helpful but eating with the hands, though typically Filipino, is a no-no. Forget the table knife. We as a race are probably the only diners in the world who could make do without a knife. We cut food with a fork or spoon held sideways. Go ahead and take a look around in a restaurant and you’ll see that most knives are usually shoved under the plate and left untouched after a meal.).

Eating Ligo sardines is a ritual that parallels a Zen experience-- an attempt to achieve perfect balance that begins with mixing at least two green Kalamansi and Silver Swan soy sauce in a separate saucer, each slice of sardine quartered first on the bellies then once more in the middle where the grains of the flesh meet (-- with the tablespoon, of course), then scoop a small amount of soy sauce just enough to fill a third of the tablespoon then gently pass the tablespoon over to a piece and slice off a morsel getting enough of the tomato sauce to fill the tablespoon being careful to avoid an overflow. A perfect tablespoon would have a bit of sardine in the middle, sufficiently big enough to block the yin of the soy sauce from flowing unto the yang of the tomato sauce. A slight fusion in the middle would be acceptable. When this lethal combination of textures and flavors hits the palette it burst into a multitude of a bit of that and a bit of this… heaven in a can.

I vividly remember one time when I got caught up in one of our family's explosive moments in the middle of a Ligo meal. I was having a late dinner alone when I slipper flew and landed on my plate. The sauce splattered all over me, but I kept eating.