Filipino Cookbook. Miki Garcia
and condensed milk. Karne Norte, for example, is a popular dish consisting of canned corned beef sautéed with garlic and onions, and Halo-Halo is a delicious dessert of shaved ice with sweet syrups and canned evaporated milk. The Philippine-American experience gave the Filipinos many new ways of turning foreign food influences into something delicious and uniquely Filipino.
Regional Cooking Styles
In addition to these foreign influences, the geography of the Philippines has also contributed to the diversity of its cuisine. As an archipelago comprising of 7,107 islands and seventeen regions, 120 different ethnic groups and 170 different languages, the formation of regional cooking styles is inevitable. Regional traditions, preferences, and available ingredients can transform a dish into something entirely different as one travels from one end of the archipelago to the other. To give you a sense of the richness of Filipino diversity in its cuisine, this book includes the best recipes from these various regions—from the rugged north shores of the Ilocos region to the southern island of Mindanao.
On the northwest coast of Luzon, between the mountains and the sea, is the Ilocos region. Here, the land is rugged and dry. In this harsh climate, the Ilocano people survive by being frugal and hardworking. Ilocano meals include an abundance of vegetables with some type of meat as the main feature of the meal. Ilocanos prepare their vegetables by steaming or boiling them with a dash of sautéed fermented shrimp paste. Red meat dishes are not commonly found, but freshwater fish are featured prominently. Their signature vegetable dish, Pinakbet (Mixed Vegetables with Anchovy Sauce, page 80), includes plenty of locally grown vegetables like bitter gourd, okra, and eggplant served with a tasty anchovy sauce.
Pampanga has a well-earned reputation as the home to the most creative and refined cuisines found in the Philippines. Located in the central part of Luzon just east of Manila, Pampanga’s fertile soils and fish-filled rivers give the region the necessary ingredients to build its well-deserved reputation. Spanish chefs provided the Kapampangans with just enough guidance on European cooking techniques to enable them to create their own unique and delectable native dishes. Soon these dishes would outshine their European equivalents on the tables of Spanish royalty (it was the Kapampangans who prepared the meal at the proclamation of the first Philippine Republic). Among the original Kapampangan recipes featured in this book are Kaldereta Beef Stew (page 53), Oxtail Vegetable Stew (page 56), Traditional Tocino Bacon (page 50), Chicken Tamales (page 28), Kapampangan Paella (page 89), and Filipino Leche Flan (page 108).
The Bicol region is located at the southern tail of the Luzon peninsula, and includes some of the surrounding small islands. A part of the “Ring of Fire,” it has several volcanoes whose lava flows provide the region with its fertile and lush green landscape. Possessing an ideal climate for coconut trees, the region is one of the major coconut-producing provinces in the Philippines, and so their dishes often include coconut ingredients. Coconut milk, for instance, is cooked with virtually everything—vegetables, meat, and seafood. Their signature dish, Bicol Express (Fiery Pork Stew with Coconut, page 49) is pork simmered in coconut milk with a generous helping of spicy peppers (Bicolanos are famous for using hot peppers to liven up their regional dishes).
The Visayas region of the Philippines consists of a group of islands that draws upon the abundance of the sea to create its cuisines. I’ve included Visayan dishes like Filipino Ceviche (Kinilaw na Tanigue, page 77), which is fish marinated in vinegar and then eaten raw—a typically Visayan way to enjoy fresh seafood from the local waters. This is a region with a large population of Chinese settlers, so there is a range of Chinese-influenced specialties, such as Wonton Soup (page 37) and Noodle Soup with All the Trimmings (Batchoy, page 40), reflecting that influence.
At the southeastern end of the archipelago is the second largest Filipino island, Mindanao. It was here that Muslims from Indonesia and Malaysia converted the people to the religion of Islam. When the Spaniards arrived, they were unable to completely dominate the island due to the resistance of its recently established Muslim religion. This separatist attitude has flavored the development of Mindanao’s culture and cuisine. Mindanao offers a wide range of exotic dishes, and, though Christians form the majority of the population of Mindanao today, the Islamic religion continues to be a dominant influence on this island’s cuisines (pork dishes, for example, are hardly present). Their distinct chicken curry is simmered with taro roots in a very spicy sauce and served with rice. Mindanao food, especially the Sulu and Tawi-Tawi Islands, is renowned for its use of spices such as turmeric, cumin, lemongrass, coriander, and chilis. In this warm climate, spices help keep food from spoiling while lending richness to the dishes.
As one travels through the Philippines, each of the dishes encountered reflects the character and spirit of the people who live there. The Filipino people have a loyalty and devotion to their home regions matched only by a feeling of national pride borne from centuries of foreign rule.
Foods for Celebrations
Filipinos love to celebrate! Throughout the year they will find any excuse to hold a feast in order to prepare delicious foods and socialize with friends and family. Of all the annual events that are an occasion to celebrate, the most conspicuous event of the year is the town festival called fiesta in honor of the town’s Catholic patron saint. As a result of almost four hundred years of work by Catholic missionaries, the Philippines is the largest Catholic country in Asia and Filipinos have embraced their Catholic beliefs and customs, especially the annual fiesta.
The day’s festivities start at the crack of dawn, when a band plays music while walking the streets of the town, awakening the whole village. Richly embroidered tablecloths are spread and tables are set in preparation for the day’s feast. The culinary centerpiece of the celebration is the beloved Lechon, a whole pig stuffed with rice and roasted slowly over a charcoal pit. The sight of this distinctly Filipino fiesta food will immediately conjure mouthwatering childhood memories for all adult Filipinos.
Another time for food and celebration is All Souls’ Day when Filipinos visit cemeteries to pay respects to their deceased loved ones. All through the night of November 1st, Filipinos eat, sing, and gossip—while large amounts of food and drink are passed around and over tombstones. This same celebratory ethos applies to funerals, where refreshments are provided for everyone in attendance and there is a sense of communal gaiety. Typical meals eaten on these days are Pig Blood Stew (Dinuguan), Steamed Rice Cakes and Sautéed Bean Thread Noodles (page 95).
The biggest national Philippine celebration is Pasko, or Christmas. Filipinos do not confine the celebration to December but will start as early as September when they begin hanging Christmas lights and singing Christmas carols. They even continue the celebration past Christmas and make the first Sunday of January the official end to their holiday reveling. From the 16th of December through Christmas Eve, Filipinos celebrate Simbang Gabi, a Filipino version of Misa de Gallo (Mass of the Rooster), a nine-day celebration held at four in the morning on each day. An integral part of Simbang Gabi is the availability of refreshments from local street vendors. Sleepy and hungry churchgoers can enjoy Coconut Sponge Cakes (Bibingka, page 103), Purple Rice Cakes with Coconut Shavings (Puto Bumbong), Chicken Tamales (page 28), Filipino Hot Chocolate (page 105) and Healthy Ginger Tea (Salabat, page 107) as a part of the celebration. As Christmas Eve becomes Christmas morning, family members gather to share a festive Noche Buena meal of Glazed Christmas Ham with Pineapple (Hamon, page 49), cheese, lechon, Spring Rolls (Lumpiang Shanghai, page 31), Fried Rice Noodles (Pancit Guisado, page 93), Barbequed Chicken Skewers (page 61), Fruit Salad, Chicken Macaroni Salad, and other dishes.
Finally, New Year’s Eve provides another chance for family to gather around a table of celebratory foods. This meal is called the Media Noche and is served just before midnight strikes. Filipinos believe that plenty of food on the table means a year of plenty for everyone in the family. Twelve different fruits, especially round ones like grapes and chicos (or sapodilla, a brown berry with a sweet and malty taste) that resemble money, are displayed to invite prosperity for the coming year. Other Filipinos believe that eating twelve grapes on New Year’s Eve will ensure a year of good luck.
If all of this isn’t enough, many Filipinos get married in the months of December and January providing yet one more reason to cook large