Women Behind the Curtain: María Orosa

María Ylagan Orosa (1893-1945) was a Filipino food technologist and war heroine. She used food preparation and preservation techniques to create and package locally-grown foods. Her work nourished the Filipino people and saved the lives of thousands during World War II. 

For Further Reading:

• Maria Ylagan Orosa and the Chemistry of Resistance
• Maria Ylagan Orosa
• Overlooked No More: Maria Orosa, Inventor of Banana Ketchup

This month, we're pulling back the curtain to reveal women overlooked in their own lifetimes or in our historical accounts of the eras in which they lived. We're talking about the activists, thinkers, leaders, artists, and innovators history has forgotten.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more.  Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. 

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, and Abbey Delk. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. 

Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Womanica. This month, we're pulling back the curtain to
reveal women overlooked in their own lifetimes or in our
historical accounts of the eras in which they lived. We're
talking about the activists, thinkers, leaders, artists and innovators, histories forgotten. Today,
we're talking about a woman who fused the culinary arts

(00:23):
with chemistry to feed her country and free theom of
colonial constraints. Her best known invention became an internationally popular condiment,
and her food literally saved lives. Please welcome Maria Arosa.
Maria Arosa was born on November twenty ninth, eighteen ninety three,

(00:46):
in the coastal town of Taal in Batanga's Philippines. Her
early childhood years were defined by war and strife. She
grew up during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine American War.
Her father was a part of the resistance movement, first
against Spanish rule and then against the US forces. As
a steamship captain, her father would secretly carry Filipino soldiers

(01:09):
and supplies from island to island. At one point, the
family had to flee for safety, and Maria's father was
even taken as a political prisoner. These experiences instilled an
unshakable Filipino pride in Maria. When she was twenty three
years old, Maria left home to attend the University of
Washington as a government sponsored scholar. To help pay for college,

(01:32):
she worked year round. Over the summer as she worked
at fish canneries in Alaska, she absorbed all the information
she could about packaging and preservation methods. During the school year,
she worked as an assistant chemist in the School of
Pharmacies Food Lab. In nineteen twenty one, Maria graduated with
a bachelor's degree and master's degree in pharmaceutical chemistry, plus

(01:54):
another degree in food chemistry. Maria could have stayed in
the US after graduating. She was offered a job as
an assistant chemist at the university, but she turned that down.
In nineteen twenty two, Maria returned to the Philippines to
work at the Bureau of Science. She wanted to get
back to her country to share all that she'd learned abroad.

(02:15):
Maria returned with a specific goal in mind. She saw
how much the Philippines relied on food imports. She wanted
to help make the country self sufficient and free it
from foreign control. Part of this effort involved launching her
own version of four H clubs. These clubs focused on
improving conditions in rural areas by teaching local women how

(02:36):
to prepare meals, preserve food, raise livestock, and tended gardens.
Maria also contributed to the well being of rural communities
by inventing the pala yoke oven. This was a riff
on the traditional clay pot. Maria's version could make cakes
made from local flour without using electricity. At the Bureau
of Science, Maria focused on increasing food supply and limiting malnutrition.

(03:00):
She explored all the ways to preserve food, such as fermenting, dehydrating, canning,
and freezing. Maria pioneered a method for canning whole mangoes
that allowed the Philippines to distribute this popular local fruit
around the world. Maria was keen on using endemic ingredients
to fix food and security in the Philippines. She used cassava,

(03:22):
green bananas, and coconuts to make flour, fermented wine with
local fruits and nuts, and extracted vinegar from pineapples. One
of her most famous food creations was banana ketchup. When
America colonized the Philippines, Americans brought along tomato ketchup, which
became very popular, but it was pricey to import and

(03:42):
tomatoes didn't grow well in the tropical climate. Maria didn't
let that stop her country from enjoying the condiment. She
mashed together saba bananas, brown sugar, vinegar, and some spices
to make a sweet and tangy tomato ketchup alternative. She
also added a bit of red dye to fix the
less than appletizing brownish yellow color. Banana ketchup quickly became

(04:03):
a staple in Filipino households and grocery stores, but Maria's
name did not. Many Filipinos know her name because of
the busy street named after her, but not for her
culinary contributions. Over time, corporations saw the popularity of Maria's
creations and began to produce them in mass, but they
didn't credit or pay tribute to the original inventor. In fact,

(04:27):
the first company to mass produce banana ketchup, Universal Food Corporation,
credited its founder as the creator of the condiment. Still,
Maria didn't stop there. She traveled all around the world
to research food preparation and preservation techniques. She spent time
in China, Japan, and Hawaii. When Maria returned, she was

(04:48):
appointed chief of the Food Preservation Division and the Home
Economics Division, and in nineteen thirty four she became head
of the Plant Utilization Division of the Philippine government's Bureau
of Plant Industry. Some of Maria's most significant inventions include
Soilac and Derak. Soilac is a nutrient rich drink made
from soybeans. It was considered a miracle food. Derac is

(05:11):
a rice flower rich in vitamin B one. These two
products were critical during World War II. When the Japanese
army invaded the Philippines. After attacking Pearl Harbor, Maria had
a choice to make evacuate with her family or stay
and support her fellow Filipinos. The decision was clear. She
told her family, my place is here. I cannot in

(05:33):
conscience abandon my work and my girls. Maria became a
captain for one of the underground guerrilla units. Food was
scarce during the war. Imports came to a halt, and
agricultural production stalled. Maria and her unit turned their attention
to creating nutrient rich foods that would sustain the soldiers.

(05:53):
As the war waged on, Filipino and American war prisoners
were kept at the University of Santo Tomas prison camp.
They suffered from poor living conditions and malnutrition. Maria figured
out a way to smuggle food into the camp and
began sending soylac. It saved thousands of Filipinos and Americans
from dying of starvation. On February thirteenth, nineteen forty five,

(06:18):
Maria was on the way to a bomb shelter during
the Battle of Manila. Before she could make it, she
was hit by shrapnel. A member of her team rushed
her to the nearest hospital. Shortly after she arrived, the
hospital was hit by an American bomb. Hundreds of doctors
and patients died. Maria was one of them. In the

(06:39):
chaos of the war, Maria was buried in a mass grave.
Today it's still unclear exactly where she was laid to rest,
though in twenty twenty, a memorial marker was on earth
to the hospital where she died. All month, we're talking
about Women behind the Curtain. For more information, find us
on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica podcast special thanks to

(07:01):
Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator. Talk to
you tomorrow.