Photograph by: Any Lane/Pexels
A Guide to Filipino Flavors
Brent Nakano
The Philippines is made up of different ethnic groups making for a multitude of variations of cuisine within its own boarders. This diversity has been enhanced by the unique and rich East meets west culture due to trade, and imperialism. In its recorded existence, it has been a major trade center in Asia due to easy access by trade routes through the Austronesian islands, and a territory of both Spain and the United States. This has also left a major impact on the people of the country and its cuisine.
Austronesia
Tracing the first homosapiens to the Philippines is difficult, as there has been recent archaeological discovery of humanoid activity from 50,000 to 67,000 years ago by the now named homo luzonensis found in the Callao Cave located in Northern Luzon. Additionally, archaeological evidence of a butchered rhinoceros in Luzon between 631,000 and 777,000 years old.
Détroit, F., Mijares, A.S., Corny, J. et al. A new species of Homo from the Late Pleistocene of the Philippines. Nature 568, 181–186 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1067-9
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1067-9.epdf?sharing_token=RgX-8Ad5t7U8mW1D1MixrNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PDxe8TKBl8CZPkS5IrIXjA-b0_eDckBP0VtkgU41_o85Ahn4XkTvgJfpFafH-ngwGp0Wxp_Ciz0NiyWSx6U8H3SxFE1L44yBcTLkMnkBjTwPhbzziZpC8N6Uybz6kzvFZ406SxWhF_KL2RPRYqtA8NmmlXMugdbjz--coPR9ra3iQMHYVIO01cMROnIaBVQ8w%3D&tracking_referrer=www.nationalgeographic.com
The earliest Homo sapiens are thought to have arrived in the Philippines around 3200 BCE from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in southern China en route from Taiwan. These people brought the knowledge of rice cultivation and other farming practices. As mankind developed further seafaring technology, trade routes from Asia opened. In particular, the Chinese have been trading since the early 9th or 10th centuries, though immigration not prevalent until the 16th century. From a culinary perspective, noodles which turned into pancit and spring rolls which turned into lumpia are major dishes.
However the ingredients of soybeans to make soy sauce and tofu, and black beans. Direct trade and cultural exchange with Hokkien China in the Philippines in the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD) with porcelain, ceramics, and silk being traded for spices and trepang in Luzon. This early cultural contact with China introduced a number of staple food into Filipino cuisine, most notably toyo (soy sauce; Chinese: 豆油; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-yu), tokwa; (tofu; Chinese: 豆干; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-koaⁿ), toge (bean sprout; Chinese: 豆芽; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-koaⁿ), and patis (fish sauce), as well as the method of stir frying and making savory soup bases. Many of these food items and dishes retained their original Hokkien names, such as pancit (Chinese: 便ê食; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: piān-ê-si̍t)(Chinese: 扁食; pinyin: biǎn shí), and lumpia (Chinese: 潤餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jūn-piáⁿ, lūn-piáⁿ).[9] The food introduced during this period were food of the workers and traders, which became a staple of the noodle shops (panciterias), and can be seen in dishes like arroz caldo (congee), sinangag (fried rice).
Indian influences can also be noted in rice-based delicacies such as bibingka (analogous to the Indonesian bingka), puto, and puto bumbong, where the latter two are plausibly derived from the south Indian puttu, which also has variants throughout Maritime Southeast Asia (e.g. kue putu, putu mangkok). The kare-kare, more popular in Luzon, on the other hand could trace its origins from the Seven Years' War when the British occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764 with a force that included Indian sepoys, who had to improvise Indian dishes given the lack of spices in the Philippines to make curry. This is said to explain the name and its supposed thick, yellow-to-orange annatto and peanut-based sauce, which alludes to a type of curry.(6)
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Ingicco, T., van den Bergh, G.D., Jago-on, C. et al. Earliest known hominin activity in the Philippines by 709 thousand years ago. Nature 557, 233–237 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0072-8
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0072-8.epdf?sharing_token=-Sl4vU3IeRjJdrCigWbkKdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0ObkKvOsP7xjaY7h5AcPpfszkFdYpl2Wiwf13q9eqCiQahJ7RjXhBGhF07a5BR4cVZdVSXwa8rSEh4lljur99VAeF9Yp9ILZsQuWrthVgEgdBNsN30ZJX6lLBfZLeuQ6ACSn6SbbhT0BJjVI0zIgZcod2bMXhY4EQ23V_Hf8ofk7rAoaIGksX9gA_qWxsTo3s%3D&tracking_referrer=www.nationalgeographic.com
The Spanish influence on the Philippines was less about what the Spanish brought from Spain, but more what the Spanish brought from the Americas. In particular, chili peppers, chocolate, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples, bell peppers, jicama, chayote, avocado, peanuts, annatto and the method of sautéing with garlic and onions. It also It should be noted that adobo is a Spanish word for a cooking technique that already existed in the Philippines pre-contact.
After the Spanish-American war of 1899, when the Philippines became a U.S. territory, the incorporation of hot dogs, SPAM, fried chicken, and evaporated milk, instant coffee and canned corned beef became staple items.
Austronesia
Tracing the first homosapiens to the Philippines is difficult, as there has been recent archaeological discovery of humanoid activity from 50,000 to 67,000 years ago by the now named homo luzonensis found in the Callao Cave located in Northern Luzon. Additionally, archaeological evidence of a butchered rhinoceros in Luzon between 631,000 and 777,000 years old.
Détroit, F., Mijares, A.S., Corny, J. et al. A new species of Homo from the Late Pleistocene of the Philippines. Nature 568, 181–186 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1067-9
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1067-9.epdf?sharing_token=RgX-8Ad5t7U8mW1D1MixrNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PDxe8TKBl8CZPkS5IrIXjA-b0_eDckBP0VtkgU41_o85Ahn4XkTvgJfpFafH-ngwGp0Wxp_Ciz0NiyWSx6U8H3SxFE1L44yBcTLkMnkBjTwPhbzziZpC8N6Uybz6kzvFZ406SxWhF_KL2RPRYqtA8NmmlXMugdbjz--coPR9ra3iQMHYVIO01cMROnIaBVQ8w%3D&tracking_referrer=www.nationalgeographic.com
The earliest Homo sapiens are thought to have arrived in the Philippines around 3200 BCE from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in southern China en route from Taiwan. These people brought the knowledge of rice cultivation and other farming practices. As mankind developed further seafaring technology, trade routes from Asia opened. In particular, the Chinese have been trading since the early 9th or 10th centuries, though immigration not prevalent until the 16th century. From a culinary perspective, noodles which turned into pancit and spring rolls which turned into lumpia are major dishes.
However the ingredients of soybeans to make soy sauce and tofu, and black beans. Direct trade and cultural exchange with Hokkien China in the Philippines in the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD) with porcelain, ceramics, and silk being traded for spices and trepang in Luzon. This early cultural contact with China introduced a number of staple food into Filipino cuisine, most notably toyo (soy sauce; Chinese: 豆油; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-yu), tokwa; (tofu; Chinese: 豆干; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-koaⁿ), toge (bean sprout; Chinese: 豆芽; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-koaⁿ), and patis (fish sauce), as well as the method of stir frying and making savory soup bases. Many of these food items and dishes retained their original Hokkien names, such as pancit (Chinese: 便ê食; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: piān-ê-si̍t)(Chinese: 扁食; pinyin: biǎn shí), and lumpia (Chinese: 潤餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jūn-piáⁿ, lūn-piáⁿ).[9] The food introduced during this period were food of the workers and traders, which became a staple of the noodle shops (panciterias), and can be seen in dishes like arroz caldo (congee), sinangag (fried rice).
Indian influences can also be noted in rice-based delicacies such as bibingka (analogous to the Indonesian bingka), puto, and puto bumbong, where the latter two are plausibly derived from the south Indian puttu, which also has variants throughout Maritime Southeast Asia (e.g. kue putu, putu mangkok). The kare-kare, more popular in Luzon, on the other hand could trace its origins from the Seven Years' War when the British occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764 with a force that included Indian sepoys, who had to improvise Indian dishes given the lack of spices in the Philippines to make curry. This is said to explain the name and its supposed thick, yellow-to-orange annatto and peanut-based sauce, which alludes to a type of curry.(6)
___________________________
Ingicco, T., van den Bergh, G.D., Jago-on, C. et al. Earliest known hominin activity in the Philippines by 709 thousand years ago. Nature 557, 233–237 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0072-8
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0072-8.epdf?sharing_token=-Sl4vU3IeRjJdrCigWbkKdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0ObkKvOsP7xjaY7h5AcPpfszkFdYpl2Wiwf13q9eqCiQahJ7RjXhBGhF07a5BR4cVZdVSXwa8rSEh4lljur99VAeF9Yp9ILZsQuWrthVgEgdBNsN30ZJX6lLBfZLeuQ6ACSn6SbbhT0BJjVI0zIgZcod2bMXhY4EQ23V_Hf8ofk7rAoaIGksX9gA_qWxsTo3s%3D&tracking_referrer=www.nationalgeographic.com
The Spanish influence on the Philippines was less about what the Spanish brought from Spain, but more what the Spanish brought from the Americas. In particular, chili peppers, chocolate, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples, bell peppers, jicama, chayote, avocado, peanuts, annatto and the method of sautéing with garlic and onions. It also It should be noted that adobo is a Spanish word for a cooking technique that already existed in the Philippines pre-contact.
After the Spanish-American war of 1899, when the Philippines became a U.S. territory, the incorporation of hot dogs, SPAM, fried chicken, and evaporated milk, instant coffee and canned corned beef became staple items.
Regional Cuisine
The Philippines has 8 major ethnic groups, each with their own cuisine. They are:
Food is regional
- Tagalog
- Percentage of population: 28.1%
- Ilocano
- Percentage of population: 9%
- Visayan (Cebuano, Waray, Hiligaynon/Ilonggo, Karay-a, Aklanon, Masbatenyo, Romblomanon)
- Percentage of Population: 31.6%
- Bikol
- Percentage of Population: 6%
- Kapampangan
- Percentage of population: 3%
- Pangasinan
- Percentage of population: 2%
- Zamboangueño 1.5%
- Others 23.3%
Food is regional
Contrasting Combination of Base Tastes
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Like most cuisine, Filipino food utilizes a combination of sweet (tamis), sour (asim), and salty (alat), though spicy is another base on cooking. There are also common pairings where a sweet dish is paired with a salty dish as is the case of pairing a sweet cocoa rice porridge called champorado, with tuyo, fish which is salted then sun-dried. Dinuguan, pigs blood stew, is also paired with puto, a sweet steamed rice cake. Also green, unripe mango, is dipped in vinegar, salt or bagoong (fish sauce). The use of cheese with ice cream or sweetcakes like bibingka and puto is also common.
Additional Insight: Tiki and Filipino Bartenders In a great article by Drew Lazor in PUNCH, he describes how Filipino service staff were behind some of Tiki’s most iconic bars. In particular, the “Four Boys” who tended bar at Don the Beachcomber, one of which, Ray Buhen went on to open Tiki-Ti in Los Angeles on Sunset Blvd., Mariano Licudine who became the beverage director of Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale, and Bob Esmino and Ray Barrientos, who opened various Kon-Tiki locations across the country. https://punchdrink.com/articles/without-filipino-bartenders-there-is-no-tiki-ray-buhen-four-boys/ Mariano Licudine: Mai-Kai, Fort Lauderdale
Bobby Batugo, of Tip’s in Valencia, California, won multiple United States Bartenders’ Guild awards during his career; Midori and Baileys hired him to popularize their brands in the States by using them on his menus. Popo Galsini, whose head-spinning career was recently chronicled by David Wondrich, is the originator of the Saturn, a favorite non-rum cocktail among today’s tiki cognoscenti. |
Alcoholic beverages in the Philippines
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