Pili Nuts of Sorsogon

The pili grows on tall trees in Bicol and almost nowhere else commercially, and it is a difficult crop: the shell is so hard it has to be cracked by hand, one nut at a time, usually by women working through sacks with a small blade. Inside is a kernel with a texture between an almond and a macadamia, richer than either. It is sold raw, salted, candied in a hard sugar shell, ground into pastes and baked into pili tarts, a small flaking pastry that is the standard thing to take home from a Bicol trip. The pulp around the nut is cooked and eaten separately, and the oil is pressed for cosmetics.

What you actually see

• Hand cracking - workers splitting the very hard shells one at a time with a short blade.
• Candied pili - kernels in a hard caramelised sugar coat, sold by the bag at every bus stop.
• Pili tarts - small flaking pastries filled with the ground nut, the standard gift from Bicol.
• The whole fruit - the dark oval pulp around the nut, boiled and eaten in the region.

When to go

Harvest runs roughly from May into October, when the processing workshops are busiest and it is easiest to see the cracking done. The finished products are sold year-round in markets and pasalubong shops. Bicol's typhoon exposure is highest from June to November, which overlaps the harvest, so plan travel with that in mind.

Honest expectations

It is expensive by local snack standards, because the cracking cannot be mechanised well and the yield per sack is low. Candied versions are extremely sweet and the sugar shell hides the nut. Quality varies and roadside bags are often stale; buy from a shop with turnover. Workshops are working businesses, not visitor attractions, so seeing the cracking usually means asking permission rather than joining a tour.

Nearby

Donsol's whale shark season is on the Sorsogon coast; Mayon volcano is north near Legazpi.