Professional Documents
Culture Documents
January 5, 2010
INTRODUCTION
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a renowned gastronome, once said, Tell me what you eat and Ill tell you who you are. A nations food gives us a lot of insight about its peoples ability, creativity and history. Anthony Bourdain, an American chef and a TV personality, went to the Philippines and among the Filipino treats he sampled were Sisig, Lechon, Sinigang and of course, Adobo. He tried out the street food as he always does, went to a carinderia in Pampanga, a wet market/restaurant in Binondo and ate Lechon with a family in Cebu. In his stops, he always has a Filipino host share with him the food and they, in turn, shared stories and backgrounds about the food they were partaking in. One dish he particularly liked was the Sizzling Sisig. Aside from its appetizing form and taste, he liked the story of how it was developed by a Filipina who was thinking of a way to utilize unused (pigs head) food portions from the former U.S. Military Base in Pampanga. Overall, his impression about our food and our people was very favorable. Towards the end of the show, while thoroughly enjoying a freshly roasted Lechon with the host family in Cebu, Bourdain ponders why even though Filipinos are fairly represented overseas and discovering firsthand how unique and enjoyable our cuisine is, how come it does not have a higher awareness and profile on the global stage. One of the Filipinos at the table theorizes that it must have something to do with our willingness to adapt to other environments. Instead of a Filipino bringing with him Adobo to Italy, he will learn to eat Spaghetti. from http://filipinovoices.com/philippine-cuisine Significance of the Study As we all know, the Philippines is still a developing country, so Filipinos must introduce and showcase our cuisine internationally. But to be able to do so, we must first have full understanding about the different flavors of the country. Also, food preparation is one of the most important traditions we inherited, so this research would help one appreciate and preserve Philippine cooking and at the same time recognize its real identity.
Statement of the Problem This paper will attempt to answer the following questions: (1) What are the factors that affect Philippine cooking? (2) What countries contributed in the formation of Philippine cuisines identity? (3) What are the famous Filipino dishes here and abroad? (4) What are the flavors found in the different provinces of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao? This research paper will attempt to answer the following questions while giving more information about Philippine cuisine.
I. A Backward Glance
The Philippines culture starts in a tropical climate divided into rainy and dry seasons and an archipelago with 7,000 islands. These islands contain the Cordillera mountains, Luzons central plains, Palawans coral reefs, seas touching the worlds longest coastline and a multitude of lakes, rivers and springs. The population consist of 120 different ethnic groups and the mainstream communities of Tagalog/Ilocano/Pampango/Pangasinan and Visayan lowlanders worked within a gentle but thriving environment. In it, they shaped their own lifestyles: building houses, weaving cloth, telling and writing stories, ornamenting, decorating, and of course, preparing food. The Chinese who came to trade sometimes stayed on. Perhaps they cooked the noodles that used local condiments and surely they taught their Filipino wives their dishes, and thus Filipino- Chinese food came to be. The names identify them: Pansit are noodles; Lumpia are vegetables rolled in edible wrappers; Siopao are stuffed steamed buns; Siomai are dumplings. All, came to be indigenized Filipinized by the ingredients and by local tastes. An example is that Pansit Malabon has oysters and squid, since Malabon is a fishing center; and Pansit Marilao is sprinkled with rice crisps, because the town is within the Luzon rice bowl. When restaurants were established in the 19th century, Chinese food became a staple of the pansiterias, with the food given Spanish names for the ease of the customers: these Chinese foods include Arroz Caldo and Morisqueta Tostada (fried rice). When the Spaniards came, the food influences they brought were from both Spain and Mexico, as it was through the viceroy of Mexico that the Philippines were governed. This meant the production of food for the privileged, non- food- producing class, and a food for which many ingredients were not locally available.
5 Fil- Hispanic food had new flavors and ingredients olive oil, paprika, saffron, ham, cheese, cured sausage and the like. Paella, the dish cooked in the fields by Spanish workers, came to be a festive dish combining pork, chicken, seafood, ham, sausages and vegetables, a lavish mix of the local and the foreign. Relleno, the process of stuffing festive capons and turkeys for Christmas, was applied to chickens, and even to milkfish. Christmas is a feast for Filipinos that coincided with the rice harvest. It came to feature not only the myriad native rice cakes, but also Esaymadas dipped in hot thick chocolate, and the apples, oranges, chestnuts and walnuts of European Christmas. Even the Mexican Corn Tamal turned Filipino by becoming rice- based Tamales wrapped in banana leaves. The Americans introduced to the Philippine cuisine the ways of convenience: pressure cooking, freezing, pre- cooking, sandwiches and salads, hamburgers, fried chicken and steaks. Aside from those aforementioned, other cuisines found in the country along with other global influences were French, Italian, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese. They grew familiar, but remained imported and not yet indigenized. George Lang once quoted, There are two categories of cuisine: one is that which should be sampled in its native land because raw materials are only in that particular country; the other one is the national cuisine which can be successfully repeated anywhere because the style, technique and method totals a unique gastronomy. Our very own Philippine cuisine belongs to the second category. Even if many of our ingredients are available elsewhere, our dishes still come in a variety that surpasses that of the other nations. According to Eleonor Laquian and Irene Sobrevinas (Filipino Cooking Here and Abroad, National Bookstore, Inc., Copyright, 1977, p.1), foreign visitors to the Philippines are often pleasantly surprised by how quickly they develop a taste for Filipino food. Filipino dishes are neither too spicy nor too sweet. The curries that smother Indian, Pakistani or Ceylonese dishes are rarely found in Philippine cooking. The location of the Philippines astride the great sea routes to Asia has resulted in varied foreign influences in its history and culture. As in most countries, food plays an important part in the Philippine social life. Dishes served in a Filipino home depend on such factors as the weather, the presence of visitors or just family, religious festivals, kinds of fruits and vegetables on season and most important of all, the culinary skills of the wife or husband.
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13 on Buko juice or juice from young coconut. Another dish they have is the Pansit Molo which originated in Molo, Iloilo. Visayans favor raw seafood marinated in vinegar or calamansi juice. Its widely known as Kilawin. Chicken Inasal is another favorite most likely to be served throughout the region. Some of their special dishes are Pata at Kadios, Pinasugbu, Otap and Biko.
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15 prepared with turmeric and pimento. Cassava, is boiled and grated into cakes or any other sweet pastries. Some of their special dishes are Malasugue sa Bagon Gata, Estofadong Manok, Flan con Merengue and Ensaladang Agar-Agar at Manggang Hilaw.
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17 live fire. On special occasions, a suckling pig is roasted almost all over the country. On daily fares, ingredients are just thrown into a pot in the order of how fast they cook. Fresh vegetables that are boiled are usually dipped in bagoong. Often, theyre simply washed and placed on top of boiling rice. According to Eleonor Laquian and Irene Sobrevinas (Filipino Cooking Here and Abroad, National Bookstore, Inc., Copyright, 1977, p.169), the basic cooking methods commonly used in the Philippines are boiling, roasting, frying and steaming. Though frying seems to have been introduced to Philippine cooking by the Chinese. Coconut oil must have been used in the beginning as it is still often used now although lard and other vegetable oils have become popular. Most Filipino dishes follow the Chinese example of cutting, dicing or chopping ingredients into small pieces. While this method of preparation is convenient for the Chinese who use chopsticks, it is also suitable for the Filipinos who often eat with their hands. Traditional Filipinos rarely use cutlery for eating. Only Western influence introduced this way to them. Filipinos learned to eat with a spoon and fork which were practical for getting the rice, chopped meat and vegetables and a bit of broth.
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XI. Conclusion
The dishes and cooking techniques of the Philippine Islands were originally Malay. Then, over many centuries, they were greatly influenced by visitors from distant lands. These include preHispanic Chinese, Indian and Arab traders, and Spanish and American colonizers and Japanese conquerors. This blending resulted to an extraordinary cuisine. The Philippines has successfully formed an enticing culinary style that is distinctly Filipino. This was made possible by the locals who improvised their native dishes to blend with foreign concoctions through combination of cooking techniques and spices. Filipino food recipes are distinguished by their bold combination of sour, sweet and salty flavors. Generally, most authentic Filipino food recipes are not heavily spiced. Filipino dishes showcase a sudden incursion of flavor and are usually delivered in a single presentation. This gives the eater a simultaneous visual feast, a gustatory glee and an aromatic bouquet. An important feature of Filipino food is contrastic. For example, pairing sweet with salty; like salted sun dried fish being paired with sweet cocoa rice porridge. So, it may be said that Filipino food recipes provide a range of rich flavors, colour and spices. And these rich flavors make the Filipino cuisine unique, mouth watering, delicious and tempting.
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Bibliography
Alejandro, Reynaldo. Food of the Philippines. Manila: Periplus Editions, 1999 Belmonte, Leonarda and Del Mundo, Perla. Philippine Fiesta Recipes. Manila: National Bookstore Inc., 1987 Del Fierro, Norrie. Popular Recipes of the Philippines. Manila: National Bookstore Inc., 1986 Laquian, Eleonor and Sobrevinas, Irene. Filipino Cooking Here and Abroad. Manila: National Bookstore Inc., 1977 Rosales-Baretto, Glenda. Flavors of the Philippines. Manila: Via Maria Catering Services Inc., 2001