In celebration of the First Filipino Food month, the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) held a hands-on training on processing of carabao’s milk particularly the creation of white cheese (kesong puti) and milk candy (pastillas de leche) last April 26 at the PCC National Headquarters and Gene Pool (NHGP) at the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.
The theme of the activity is “Pagkaing Pilipino mula sa Gatas ng Kalabaw”. It was participated in by 10 farmers, processors and aspiring entrepreneurs from San Jose City, Science City of Muñoz, and Rosario, Pangasinan.
Apart from processing, the participants also learned about milk quality testing, maintenance of milk quality and the dairy supply chain, which covers production, processing, and delivery to consumer.
“It is important to know and maintain the quality of milk because if it is bad, the product also becomes bad. We have to ensure that the milk reaches the consumer in good condition,” Mina Abella, Carabao Enterprise Development Section head, underscored in her message.
She also urged the participants to expand their horizons and think of expanding their livelihood towards a progressive enterprise. And that they shouldn’t be afraid to take risks as entrepreneurs.
Two of the regulatory agencies on milk are the National Dairy Authority (NDA) and Food Safety Regulatory Agency (FSRA). The NDA regulates raw milk while the FSRA is concerned with pasteurized liquid milk products.
Meanwhile, as part of PCC’s participation in the Filipino Food month celebration, it earlier facilitated a cooking demo on the processing of “kakanin” (bibingkang gatas and espasol de leche) using carabao’s milk as an ingredient. The demo was conducted last April 12 at the PCC NHGP.
About 30 attended from the areas of the National Impact Zone, PCC at Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, PCC at Cagayan State University and PCC Mariano Marcos State University. The demo was done by a member of Catalanacan Multi-Purpose Cooperative, which is one of the progressive cooperatives in Nueva Ecija.
According to Ma. Theresa Sawit, Senior Science Research Specialist, the initiative was a combined effort of PCC Operations-Carabao Based Enterprise Team, PCC National Impact Zone team and PCC Carabao Enterprise Development Section.
