Food says a lot of things about any culture. It shows how rich a culture is or how it was influenced by other cultures. This is quite true with the island of Cebu. Being in the center of the archipelago, Cebu has become the melting pot of cultures from different parts of the country and the world.
Lumpia ni Senyang – image source: Lumpia ni Senyang Facebook Page
The Chinese had a major influence on the Cebuano culture. The thriving Chinese community in Cebu is proof of this influence on the culture of Cebuanos. Nothing demonstrates this more than the food Cebuanos love. In fact, some of the popular food items in the Queen City of the South were influenced by the Chinese in one way or another. One such food item that shows the depth of the influence of the Chinese on Cebuano culture is the spring roll or the lumpia. There is one place in Cebu that has caught the attention of food-loving Cebuanos.
Lumpia ni Senyang – image source: Lumpia ni Senyang Facebook Page
Even as people from the mainland are not quite familiar with Lumpia ni Senyang, residents of Mactan have been raving about this simple store located close to a school in the island. The store is owned by Hertrudes Tendon, who is fondly called Nang Senyang. She started off selling lumpia outside the gate of Saint Alphonsus Catholic School (SACS) to augment the income of her husband. Starting off with an initial capital of PHP100, the business proved to be the venue for Nang Senyang to show off her entrepreneurial skills.
Lumpia ni Senyang – image source: Lumpia ni Senyang Facebook Page
From selling at the gate, she was able to get a stall inside the school with the assistance of a person from the maintenance department of the school. As the business grew, she was able to rent a place outside the school and opened it as a small restaurant. While she was able to open other branches of the store, the original location is the only one that is currently open after the other locations were closed due to poor management. Former students of SACS who used to buy crunchy and delicious lumpia from the stall still come back for a bite to eat at the store of Nang Senyang.
Lumpia ni Senyang – image source: Lumpia ni Senyang Facebook Page
When she started selling lumpia decades ago, these were priced at PHP0.40 for three pieces. She now sells the lumpia at PHP15 each. The price increase is due to the increase in the prices of the ingredients. Despite this, people still flock to the store just to have a taste of the famous Lumpia ni Senyang.
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