The “Tostado” of Santander, Cebu
Santander, at the southern tip of Cebu Island, is known for its Tostado Festival. The town’s festival takes its name from its famous delicacy – the “tostado.”
“Tostado” is a Spanish term that means ‘toasted’ in English. Curiously, Santander’s “tostado” is not toasted – but baked. It’s a kind of butter cookie made from sugar, flour, eggs and baking soda. The simple cookie is baked to a goldenbrown color. It comes in different shapes, including star, the moon, and flowers.
Particularly during the town’s fiesta, the “tostado” figures prominently in the banquets. As the fiesta celebration is also a form of thanksgiving for abundant harvest, every house would prepare food and invite visitors in. It a folk belief that the more people enter their house on fiesta day, the more blessings the house residents would get in the following year.
“Tostado” is the popular take-home gift to visitors that come to the town during fiesta. It also makes a good snack for the people to munch on while on their way back home. Amazingly, the cookie can stand for months without spoiling.
The cookie is good to pair with ice cream or coffee. It is crunchy and at the same time fluffy. Many people like to dip it into their favorite drink. Tostado has a sweet, butter-milky taste.
The popularity of the delicacy qualified the “tostado” to be the name of the town’s yearly festival. The Tostado Festival was first celebrated in 2006 in Santander town.
The annual festival features street dancing, with choreography depicting the process of making “tostado.” The different barangays of the town participate. There’s also a tostado-making contest to identify the best “tostado” baker in the town.
Lately, the “tostado” makers of Santander make “tostado” in commercial quantities, for distribution to the different parts of the country and, at times, even abroad. The town delicacy is now a thriving home business, providing livelihood to the local people. It is, in a significant way, a boost to the town’s economic and tourism efforts.