The tradition of broiling / grilling eggplant by means of baga is known to me since I was a child. I believe its the only way to do it before I met her.

Baga is the tagalog term for ember or smolder which means hot fragment of wood or coal that is left from a fire and is glowing. Or, burning with thick smoke but no flame, a glowing coal.

When I was still courting her: I travel weekly form Cavite to Quezon City, a three hours trip especially during rush hours.  She always cooks  a meal for me using the one and only source of flame in their boarding house, the wonder gasul (LPG gas).

One day, she told me that she gonna make a broiled eggplant (inihaw na talong). Then I asked her how, they only have the LPG gas there.  I was a bit surprised when I saw here directly grilling the eggplant over the gasul flame.

I was afraid that my favorite eggplant might absorb gasul odor but I was wrong. The menu taste great like the one broiled over a smolder.