More on the Philippines - The Food

I am not sure I have ever had Filipino food – but I did look up some restaurants in both Chicago and New York and I plan to try some before I go. Again, from the Welcome Book and the Rough Guide: Rice is the staple food for Filipinos in the lowlands, while corn, potatoes and tubers are staples at higher altitudes. Fish, pork, chicken, bread, noodles, vegetables, bananas and other fruits are widely available. Food is often cooked in lard or coconut oil. Many Filipinos prefer rice, fish, meat and sweets to vegetables and fruits. It can be hard to maintain a vegetarian diet (I was thinking of trying to do this in order to avoid things I don’t eat or don’t want to eat, until I saw this in the Welcome Book).

The Rough Guide mentions willingness to try balut, an allegedly aphrodisiac duck embryo, or bagoong, a smelly, salty fish paste, as a way to get instant admiration. Three meals a day is not common – there are also merienda, or snacks, eaten between meals. Not to partake when offered can be considered rude. In general, the cuisine is a mixture of the familiar and the exotic. Coconut, soy sauce, vinegar and patis (a brown fish sauce, more watery than bagoong) are widely used to add flavor. Influences include Malay, Chinese, Spanish, and, more recently, American – sometimes all combined in one meal. The national dish is adobo, which is chicken or pork cooked in soy sauce and vinegar with pepper and garlic. Pig is the base of many coveted dishes, including pig’s knuckles, suckling pig and roasted pig stuffed with pandan leaves, and pork ribs soaked in coconut milk. Common beverages include iced tea and fresh coconut juice, and there is also local beer, rice wine, rum, gin, and a spirit made from fermented coconut sap.

There are quite a few things on the above list that I wouldn’t choose to eat. But for now I shall keep an open mind. I wonder how late they eat? The evening meal in Morocco was too late for me.

There are also noodles and egg roll dishes, street food such as fried sweet potato, cheese rolls, fish balls, and taho, a mushy confection of mashed bean curd, caramel and tapioca that is a common breakfast-on-the-go. Fruits include custard apple, starfruit, coconut, lime, soursop, star apple, jackfruit, lanzones, mango, watermelon, papaya and pineapple. Desserts are made from rice, coconut, caramel, and bananas. Permission to eat more chocolate now, while it’s available? The fruit seems promising…again, I’m keeping an open mind….