Though I was born and raised in the suburban hinterlands of New Jersey, my ethnic heritage is Filipino. The Philippines is a place I have visited many times starting from when I was barely one year old to this past summer. I’m always blown away by the people, the culture, the food, everything really. Unfortunately, there is this thing about the Philippines, particularly it’s food, that is incommunicable. People always ask me to explain to them what Filipino food is like. In a lifetime of eating the stuff, I still don’t have a good answer. For example, if I think of my top three favorite Filipino dishes, they have virtually nothing in common.
Part of the problem is that the Philippines is not physically coherent. It’s made up of 7,000 islands. So regional variance plays a role. Moreover, foreign influence is so deeply imbedded in the cuisine, it’s not really influence anymore. It is the cuisine. Let me try to explain. Take something like French influence in Vietnam. Here’s a picture of Bahn Mi, a typical Vietnamese food. Try and spot the French influence. Ready…go!
Bahn Mi
Hmmm…I see fresh sliced vegetables, coriander, thinly sliced grilled meats, yes…very Vietnamese. Wait a second – it’s on some type of…a baguette! Voila, French influence on Vietnamese cuisine.
Now here’s a picture of Pancit Palabok, a typical Filipino food. Try and spot the Spanish influence. Ready…go!
Pancit palabok
Hmmmm…I see hard boiled eggs, sliced scallions, noodles, is..are…is that the Filipino part? and is that a key lime or….noodles I see noodles…white noodles.
So I’m guessing your not really relating to anything in that picture. Much less seeing the portion of that dish which is Spanish. What I’m trying to get across is that foreign influence on Filipino food is very nuanced. The Spanish influence in the above dish is that the orange color of the sauce is derived from the use of annatto seed brought to the Philippines by Spain from the Americas, namely Mexico.
Anyway, the sole purpose of this runaway prologue is to introduce an article from the Wall Street Journal that was recently sent to me by one of my native Jersey brethren (thanks Drex). It does a good job of demystifying that which is Filipino food. Here it is
