How to get the pili kernels out of the hard shell?

Photo: http://pamughaton.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/parabuong/
Paratilad in Bulusan doing the deshelling job for a local pili nut trader in Poblacion Central 

'Lagting' is the local term for the pili sans the pulp. After 2 to 3 days of sun drying these pili seeds (stones in botanical parlance) can last for more than a year in storage. The precious kernels will remain protected by the stony hard shell during this period with the right amount of sun drying done. During this stage the kernels inside the hard shell shrink a little ('reseko') due to moisture loss allowing it to naturally detach from the shell while still inside the shell thus saving a lot of effort in retrieving the kernels for the next process.

A closer look of the 'lagting'

The next process will be the manual deshelling or 'pagtilad'. Most often the schedule of this post production process depends solely on the pili traders who usually follow the dictates of the market's most profitable time to sell the pili kernels locally known as 'ilog'.

The 'paratilad' or skilled pili nut sheller of Bulusan can open the shell in a split second separating the kernel whole and the shell cut into two perfect cone shaped half shells called binung-an. The kernels fall out automatically in the process unharmed.The technique lies in the positioning and angle of the bolo (shown in the above photo of a paratilad second from right) and the precise hitting of the shell. The paratilad knows this technique almost intuitively.

In the province of Sorsogon, it is commonly observed in the pili confectionery industry that the paratilad either came  from the district of Bacon or from Bulusan town.  Those from Bulusan are probably a lot since any day of the year the paratilad are always available for the  job.

Bulusan pili nuts are known to be stout with larger kernels

One anecdote from a local resident tells a story on how a local paratilad beat the pili deshelling  machine of  a government agency during a dry run test in a bid to mechanize the system. Hands down the winner was the paratilad the resident related with a big guffaw. No breaking news about that machine test incident in Bulusan  though it became a favorite pili industry story. The paratilad beating the machine* clearly demonstrates how an indigenous skill of 'pagtilad' is truly an indispensable factor in the pili industry as a whole. To this day the traders still rely on the paratilad for their deshelling process. Pagtilad is in fact an indigenous livelihood synonymous with the pili nut. Each paratilad could easily retrieve pili kernels from 2 sacks of pili nuts or 'lagting' in a day.  An average of 100 kilograms of pili nuts de-shelled in a day by one paratilad is a conservative estimate.
  

Pili nuts spread evenly for uniform drying 

Roam around Bulusan town and check for an on-going 'tiriladan' acitivity in a pili trader's bodega, you might be lucky to chance upon these skilled paratilad making precise mini samurai strokes on the pili shells quietly seated on the floor with only a tuktukan (a wooden hard board) so as to perfectly position the lagting and a dependable bolo as tools of their trade.It is fascinating to watch the pili kernels fall off from the half cone-shaped binung-an in perfect rhythm to the sound of the lagting deshelled one pili nut at a time.   


The post production process of 'pagtilad' is probably as old as the utilization of the pili nut itself. The traditional skill could only arise from the pili growing areas like Bulusan. It will not be a surprise if the local paratilad will service also emerging pili nut areas with cultivated pili crop.

Pili nut sun drying on the street in Poblacion Central (Photo: Alma P. Gamil)

 *Note: According to Trade Winds Bicol, a DTI 5 Quarterly publication the "Pili deshelling machines are not quite successful as they do crush the extremely hard, bony shell, but unfortunately tend to crush the precious kernel as well, in statistics too high for commercial viability. "


Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines