A: 7,100 islands, 86 million people, 81 provinces, dozens of ethnic groups, and more than 170 languages and dialects.
Q: What is the PHILIPPINES?
That is a lot of diversity to overcome, no? So what is the Filipino melting pot? Why, the cooking pot, of course! Filipinos and food, can’t take one without the other.
And fiestas. In the largely Catholic Philippines, most towns and municipalities have a patron saint, and on the patron saint’s feast day, a fiesta is celebrated. Festivities can go on for days, and preparations can start from as early as the day AFTER the feast the year before! Even the Muslims in the south of the country, with their culture rich in tradition and ritual, celebrate with their unique cuisine.
The spirit of bayanihan (buy-a-knee-han) prevails over fiesta time, when the entire town comes together to prepare the food and the decorations. It is the same spirit of bayanihan that a Filipino extends to family and neighbors in need, such as in building a house, or taking care of widows and orphans, or victims of natural calamities. Bayanihan is what makes anything possible, through community and cooperation. The spirit lives on in the diaspora, among millions of Filipinos who have found permanent residence the world over, especially the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), who annually sends some US$10B-15B in remittances back home. In the case of the heroic OFWs, bayanihan = dollar remittance.
Truly, it can be said that the Philippine’s best export has become the Filipino, and yes, Filipino food! It is with this same spirit of bayanihan amongst us in this school, that we welcome you today, to the First Filipino Fiesta at TRCS.
Q: What is the PHILIPPINES?
That is a lot of diversity to overcome, no? So what is the Filipino melting pot? Why, the cooking pot, of course! Filipinos and food, can’t take one without the other.
And fiestas. In the largely Catholic Philippines, most towns and municipalities have a patron saint, and on the patron saint’s feast day, a fiesta is celebrated. Festivities can go on for days, and preparations can start from as early as the day AFTER the feast the year before! Even the Muslims in the south of the country, with their culture rich in tradition and ritual, celebrate with their unique cuisine.
The spirit of bayanihan (buy-a-knee-han) prevails over fiesta time, when the entire town comes together to prepare the food and the decorations. It is the same spirit of bayanihan that a Filipino extends to family and neighbors in need, such as in building a house, or taking care of widows and orphans, or victims of natural calamities. Bayanihan is what makes anything possible, through community and cooperation. The spirit lives on in the diaspora, among millions of Filipinos who have found permanent residence the world over, especially the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), who annually sends some US$10B-15B in remittances back home. In the case of the heroic OFWs, bayanihan = dollar remittance.
Truly, it can be said that the Philippine’s best export has become the Filipino, and yes, Filipino food! It is with this same spirit of bayanihan amongst us in this school, that we welcome you today, to the First Filipino Fiesta at TRCS.
The food of the Philippines is infused with the flavors of the lands of its colonizers: Spain and yes, America. It is also spiced with the flavors of China, Malaysia, India, and Indonesia, its trading partners from pre-Hispanic times. The galleon trade between Acapulco and Manila was not just the exchange of gold and porcelain across the oceans, but food recipes, spices, and ingredients as well. On a recent visit to the Yucatan, I was pleased (and surprised!) to find versions of Filipino dishes from my childhood. Some Mexican friends, upon first partaking of Filipino food, were surprised to find familiar tastes and flavors, a shared palate indeed.
Only a few years ago, it was hard to find Filipino cookbooks, other than the kitchen bible called Galing Galing by Nora Daza. Perhaps it was because the Filipino cook practices his or her art largely by taste, touch, and feel. Recipes were passed down through generations, orally or in highly prized and secret kitchen notebooks, the latter passed down as inheritance after the cook died. Or not. Many Filipino recipes of old died with their creators because they were never written down, likely on purpose. Having many secret recipes added value to a cook’s repertoire. Employing a “professional” cook was the mark of a wealthy family, and “loaning” the cook to others, or to a nearby town for their fiesta, was further proof of a family’s largesse.
In the last half of the 20th century, Filipino cuisine was influenced very much by American cuisine. The best evidence is seen in the golden arches mushrooming in every major city, and generations of Filipinos fattened on Hershey Bars, pizza, Coca-Cola, Dunkin Donuts, and Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise. (Trivia: did you know that McDonald's outlets, nicknamed "McDo" in the Philippines serve spaghetti?)
In recent years, there has been a revival in the Philippines, to resurrect and rediscover the original, purer essence of Filipino cooking. There are now shelves upon shelves of newly minted Philippine cookbooks, many produced by famous “cooking” families, who have finally opened up the secret archives to share their knowledge with the world. Many “family” restaurants have opened; some right at the ancestral homes that are now part-museum and open to the public.
We’d like to share recipes of some of the dishes you will taste tonight. My guess is that many of our cooks prepared your dinner without a recipe or did not strictly follow one, cooking entirely by sense and memory. The recipes below are not necessarily what were used this evening, but a reasonable facsimile, allowing you to try the dishes yourselves at home.
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