Binignit, that dish of root crops cooked in coconut milk, finally broke out among the trending Google search terms for the Philippines today. Today is likely its peak.

For the past few years, searches for “binignit” always peak on the Holy Week. This piece of information provides big data support to that observation that binignit is a dessert closely identified with the Holy Week, when Catholics avoid meat.

Google Trends for binignit March 21 to March 28, 2024

Google Trends for binignit 2019 to 2024

The “binignit” search term is also popular only in Central Visayas and Mindanao. Among Tagalogs in Luzon, its equivalent is bilo-bilo, which appears as a related search term. In some parts of the country, it’s known as tabirak, which is again a related search term.

What’s the etymology of binignit? Sustainable and cultural tourism advocate Boboi Costas said that in the old Cebuano language, “bignit (synonyms: tipak, tipik, sapsap) means chopped, cut, sliced, pared or whittled. Which means binignit is anything that was chopped, cut, sliced, pared or whittled.”

Related searches to binignit are all about how to cook it: ingredients and recipe.

On this Maundy Thursday, may you have a warm and delicious bowl of binignit for your merienda.