Philippine Cuisine

tips & insights


 

 

Note

Click the buttons below to read my other thre Philippine food pages:

Why

Philippine Cuisine

is special

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 pre-Hispanic Chinese, Indian and Arab traders - and Spanish and American colonizers - and Japanese conquerors.

Despite the foreign culinary impact, Philippine food is more than a melting-pot cuisine. It has successfully evolved into an enticing culinary style that is distinctly Filipino. The local cooks have a flair for adapting imported recipes to suit their tastes.

Tips & insights

on Philippine cuisine

The three long-established tastes that most distinguish Philippine cuisine are the liberal use of salt, vinegar and garlic.

In the last half century, a fourth taste has emerged: sweetness. Today sugar is used convincingly in a broad array of traditionally non-sweet preparations, including ground meat.

Cooks in the southern part of the Philippines lavishly use chili to perk up their dishes. Northern diners (except in the Bicol region) have milder palates.

Pork is adored in the northern Philippine regions but shunned in large areas of Mindanao in the south (most Mindanaons are Muslim, not Christian).

The Philippines has an archipelago with 7,017 islands. Consequently, fish and shellfish play a major role in the national diet.

Each region of the Philippines has its own distinct specialties and cooking styles. Yet, some dishes have become national favorites. I briefly describe them in my “10 most famous” and “20 more” specialties web pages.

Rice is the dominant food of the Philippines. It is often served for breakfast, lunch and dinner – and is used for appetizers, entrees and dessert, in grain or flour form.

Rice is so important in the Philippine diet that it goes by 3 different names based on its preparation state.

Palay - Unhusked rice

Bigas - Husked, uncooked rice

Kanin - Cooked rice

Food is an integral part of Philippine socializing. It’s a virtual must accompaniment for family and friend get-togethers.

Food in most eateries is not served table-service style. Rather, it is displayed on steam tables in turo turo ("point point") or cafeteria establishments.

Frequently used bottled condiments include patis (fish sauce), bagoong (strong-scented fermented shrimp paste) and (toyo) soy sauce. The fresh tiny kalamansi (indigenous lime) also flavors many dishes.

An obstacle of Philippine cuisine becoming as popular as Thai and Vietnamese cooking in countries around the world is its relative lack of visual appeal and variety of flavorings. For example, dishes often lack the on-the-plate wow factor. The food is usually not enticingly presented and an excessive number of entrees are brownish. And, there tends to be too much sameness in seasonings among dishes. But it taste good.

As in some other countries, young adventurous Filipino chefs are developing a "New Cuisine" for their country. The emphasis is on using fresh, tasty, local ingredients cooked lightly to preserve natural flavors.

A "Philippine Fusion Cuisine" has also been launched. That names sounds anachronistic to me when used to describe a new Philippine culinary style because Philippine cuisine has been a fusion cuisine for centuries.

My other

Philippine food pages

Also learn
about these exciting
world cuisines

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credentials

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I hope my Philippine Cuisine food & travel page

helps you enjoy your vacation, tour or trip

©2008 HQP / Hillman Quality Publications