Filipino Food Art logo - Leche

Filipino Food Art

An illustrated Filipino food glossary by Albert Balbutin Jr. @filipeanut

Menu

Skip to content
  • Glossary
  • About
  • Etsy
  • Art Prints
  • Blog

Banana ketchup

B
Maria Orosa banana ketchup web

Aside from toyo (soy sauce), suka (vinegar), patis (fish sauce), and many other condiments, banana ketchup is another favorite! It is a delicious combination of ripe bananas, vinegar, and spices, used for almost anything savory. Pair it with tortang talong, tortang ampalaya, ihaw or sugbang bangus, inasal or grilled chicken, and more!

A special thanks to Maria Ylagan Orosa, inventor of banana ketchup

Maria Ylagan Orosa or “Tia Mary” was born on November 29, 1893. She earned her bachelor and master of science degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry in 1919. After turning down a chemist position for the US state of Washington, she returned to the Philippines. Rosalinda L. Orosa once wrote that Tia Mary “came home in 1922 to serve her people.”

And serve she did!

She used her chemistry background to concoct various inventions and recipes. She made local jams from guava using tamarind, santol, and calamansi acids, a “palayok oven” which helped Filipinos bake everything from cakes to meats without electricity, and recipes for both banana and mango ketchup. From vinegars to jams to canning, Tia Mary had done it all. One colleague wrote, “Before Del Monte ever thought of making vinegar from pineapple, Miss Orosa had been making it even before World War II.”

But it was in World War II where she would meet her untimely passing. She had refused to evacuate Manila during the war, as she was also part of the resistance movement against the Japanese. She was soon killed by American bombing in Remedios Hospital in Malate, on February 13, 1945.

Source: Helen Orosa del Rosario, 1970. “Recipes of Maria Y. Orosa.” (PDF link)

Free printable art of Maria Orosa banana ketchup

Maria Orosa ketchup free printable art

Download a free printable of this Maria Orosa printable wall art in the Gumroad shop: https://filipinofoodart.gumroad.com/l/maria-orosa-banana-ketchup-art

More Filipino food that starts with B!

  • Banana cue or Q
  • Bangus
  • Binangkal
  • Buwad
  • More Filipino food that starts with B!

Post navigation

← Ampalaya
Sambong →
Widgets

Recent Posts

  • The importance of sharing food, and grief, after tragedy
  • Filipino-themed printable art
  • Catmon sinigang mix, kamias prunes, and more from the Southern Sierra Madre
  • Filipino Food Alphabet ABC and Numbers 123!
  • Bohol travel postcard

Archives

  • April 2025
  • January 2025
  • November 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • December 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • July 2020
  • January 2020
  • February 2019
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
Copyright © Filipeanut / Albert Balbutin Jr.