This is a legend often narrated by the old folks living in the town of Naujan in the island of Mindoro.
According to them, during the early Spanish times, many merchandises flowing to the country were brought in by the huge galleons coming all the way from Mexico. On their return voyage to Mexico, they would in turn ship out locally-made goods such as copra, tobacco and spices out of the country. One time, one of these galleons carried sacks of rice from Luzon and was to make a stopover in Cebu before heading east all the way to Mexico. As the ship passed by the turbulent waters surrounding Mindoro to reach Cebu, a strong typhoon caughtup with it. The ship, with all its men and crew and the cargo of rice capsized and fell into the bottom of the sea. As time passed, the whole incident was forgotten by everyone. Sea. The waters turned black and even the once white sandy beaches also became black in color.
When the storm subsided many of them proceeded to the shore to have a closer look. As they neared the shoreline, they were surprised to see piles upon piles of small hills of what appeared to be black sands, When they examined it, they found out they weren't exactly sands after all. They were much larger in size, elongated and resembled rice grains more than anything else they could think of but for the black coating. One of them tried tasting it as he popped a few beads into his mouth while everyone watched. "It's rice!," he exclaimed as he was followed still by another one of the elders who confirmed his finding.
Soon word got around and when everyone learned it was rice grains, many of the women folks came running with their bamboo sleves and filled them up with the dark rice grains they gathered by handfuls. Then they brought it home to strain and filter off the sands that became mixed with grains. Some who remained doubtful took a bite of the grains themselves to find true to their expectation to taste like rice, before cooking them.
Black Rice! God heard their call for help. And God sent them help and did not abandon the village were the shared sentiments fo the village folks who the more became deeper in their faith in God. Why the rice turned black remains a mystery to them, but that there was rice when they need it most was held as a miracle.
Up to now, if one were to go to Naujan, Mindoro once could still gather of these black rice along the shore which tastes sweeter and yummier that oridinary white rice.
But there came a time when the village folks of Naujan experienced famine in their lands. The locusts destroyed all their crops that left them with no rice to harvest upon which they depended on for their daily sustenance. It would be a long time from the next planting season. Thus, the people, led by the parish priest, thought of conducting a prayer vigil. They brought out their patron saint and carried the statue around the village, and wherever they went the folks and other bystanders would bow down and pray. Early the next morning the people were awakened by gusty winds and raging rains. Those a living close by the seashore had to shut offtheir windows. Peeping out once or so from their windows, they were also the first to notice the sudden change in the color of the Sea. The waters turned black and even the once white sandy beaches also became black in color.
When the storm subsided many of them proceeded to the shore to have a closer look. As they neared the shoreline, they were surprised to see piles upon piles of small hills of what appeared to be black sands, When they examined it, they found out they weren't exactly sands after all. They were much larger in size, elongated and resembled rice grains more than anything else they could think of but for the black coating. One of them tried tasting it as he popped a few beads into his mouth while everyone watched. "It's rice!," he exclaimed as he was followed still by another one of the elders who confirmed his finding.
Soon word got around and when everyone learned it was rice grains, many of the women folks came running with their bamboo sleves and filled them up with the dark rice grains they gathered by handfuls. Then they brought it home to strain and filter off the sands that became mixed with grains. Some who remained doubtful took a bite of the grains themselves to find true to their expectation to taste like rice, before cooking them.
Black Rice! God heard their call for help. And God sent them help and did not abandon the village were the shared sentiments fo the village folks who the more became deeper in their faith in God. Why the rice turned black remains a mystery to them, but that there was rice when they need it most was held as a miracle.
Up to now, if one were to go to Naujan, Mindoro once could still gather of these black rice along the shore which tastes sweeter and yummier that oridinary white rice.