Filipino Food / Pinoy Food: History and Influences

Ever wondered how your favorite Filipino dish came about? Noticed how the cooking methods and use of ingredients in one region differ from the other? Have you seen similarities of Pinoy Foods with dishes from other countries?

There are a lot of questions to ask regarding the origin of Filipino Food but I think that it would really help if we first define what Filipino Food is. So, how do we define it? We all know that it comes in different names such as: Filipino food, Pinoy food, Pagkaing Pinoy, Pinoy dishes, Filipino dishes, Lutong Bahay (though this is general). Whatever term we use, Filipino foods (in my opinion) can be any of the following:

Foods that are native to the Philippines (Authentic Filipino foods)
Variation of foreign foods modified to suit the Filipino taste (e.g. Pinoy Spaghetti).

Bon Voyage

Last friday, we threw a simple despedida (Farewell party) for our friend Tess, Noel, and baby Nathan. We all met with all our Filipino friends for a potluck dinner to bid them farewell and wished them a safe trip.

After working here in Illinois for quite some time, Tess and Noel decided to return to the Philippines to catch-up with family and friends and once more enjoy the wonderful things that our country could offer.

Betamax (Grilled chicken blood)

Photo Credit: Sidney Snoeck

You might think that this is your ordinary Betamax®, but it is not. It’s actually a street slang for grilled chicken blood.

Wait a minute, did I read it correctly? How can you grill something that is in liquid form? Most of you might be wondering how this happened, let me just give you a brief background on how this is done.

First Friday of Lent : Piniritong Galunggong

Today is the first Friday of lent for the year 2009. During friday’s and the whole holy week, Roman Catholics practice the virtue of fasting and abstinence. We fast by eating just one full meal a day while the rest of the meals should be lesser than the usual. It is also a day where [...]