Through my stint as legit blogger for the Lifestyle Network’s FoodPrints, we got to unearth not so common heritage recipes in two not so talked about food-tripping destinations in the country. One of them is gorgorya (or gurgurya or golloria). According to Riza Santiago-Hernandez, a niece of awarded food and culture historian Milagros Santiago Enriquez, who made a short and sweet demo on gorgorya-making in Malolos, Bulacan — in the colonial period, when the friars were building churches, incorporating egg whites to bind rocks, corals and shells together, people found ways to utilize egg yolks, hence the rise of egg-based desserts such as shell-shaped gorgorya, leche flan, pinaso. yema and many more.
The late Tita Mila, as she is fondly called by Riza, wished to share the heirloom recipes for the next generations of Pinoys to enjoy.
Gorgorya can last up to a month without refrigeration, making it suitable to cook in big batches. It’s Christmastime, so Lynne and I tried to roll some for friends. Riza’s demo included kalumata leaves for an herby anise-like flavor. Kalumata plant, she says, is typical near old churches in Bulacan.
Tita Mila’s original recipe was lifted from the book, Kasaysayan ng Kaluto ng Bayan, (Zita Publishing Corp., 1993) she penned, and translated in English by BlauEarth for this post.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup margarine
- 5 tsps milk
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsps water
- grated dayap rind (native lemon)
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients together except sugar, water and dayap. Mix evenly. Mold dough and cut into small pieces. Press each piece into a fork and roll to form a shell shape. Deep fry in oil until golden-red. Set aside.
Boil sugar and water until thick. Drop in grated dayap rind and the shell-shaped pieces and mix until fully coated.
The BlauEarth’s Kitchen version
I used artificial flavors in place of kalumata leaves, and butter rather than margarine. Lynne and I added some dayap rind directly to the dough mixture, then followed the rest of the steps. There’s a semblance of how local binuelos or cascaron are made.
It’s easy to recreate the time-honored Bulacan cookies. Enjoy!
Acknowledgements: Thanking food historian Milagros Santiago Enriquez for the recipe, Riza Santiago-Hernandez for the cooking demo and the Lifestyle Network’s FoodPrints.
Photographed by Blauearth © Blauearth™ All Rights Reserved 2009-2013
BlauEarth 
I love this desert. I didn’t realize it is that easy to make. I’m definitely going to try to make some this weekend.
sure, it is! thanks!
Gracie, please use one half cup margarine or butter. I made an error, but edited it already. so sorry about that.
Oh cool. Thanks for the update. I didn’t get a chance to make it this weekend, but I’m glad I didn’t yet before I saw your update 🙂
ok, have a good time:)
equal parts flour and butter??? is this correct?
I’m really sorry it was a writing error… margarine should be one half (1/2) cup. thanks for ponting out.
Kalumata is hard to find these days. Last year a friend showed me a kalumata given to him. and it does smell like anise.
Wyatt, I really haven’t found time to look for kalumata. it must be available in Ilocos.
My Mom used to make this when we were children. I’d like to make this one of these days, that is after I’ve made the tupig recipe from your blog.
bebs1, this should be softer than pilipit and cascaron.. the crunch comes from the outside.
please describe in detail (pwede with pictures please) how to make the shell shape? please? i cannot imagine how to do it with a fork. it must be super easy, but please demo for us, newbies! thank you!
just place the dough against the back of the fork.
Sorry, I do not have pictures Marcy. But we used to do this when we were kids. After pressing the dough with a rolling pin to desired thickness, cut into rectangles the size of the back of a fork. Press the fork against the cut piece and roll until you form a shell. Pinch the edge to seal it to prevent it from opening during frying.
I’ve been scouring the internet for a golgoria recipe (that’s how we call it in Bicol). My mother’s recipe didn’t include butter (or margarine) so I wasn’t sure if she omitted it by mistake. Your recipe appears to have too much butter — one-half cup equals one full stick of butter. Also your photos show the butter pieces whole (not creamed separately) and the egg is not beaten. I am confused by the discrepancy between what’s stated (or not stated) in the recipe and the accompanying pictures. Kindly clarify as I’ve already ruined one batch using another recipe with 3 parts flour and 1 full stick of butter.
The recipe was directly lifted from an old book penned by a Bulakenya as stated. I just followed the recipe and tweaked the flavoring since I didn’t have the original kalumata leaves, and used butter instead of margarine. The recreation turned out fine, so it should have no problem.