PHILIPPINE GASTRONOMIC TOURISM MODULES

MODULE 3
HISTORY AND INFLUENCES: PHILIPPINE CUISINE

(Photo grabbed from F&B Report Magazine)

INTRODUCTION
Filipino food is a rich combination of cultures and influences. The food that we know today is the
product of exchange and experiment with flavors locally and internationally. This chapter will discuss
the history and influences of Filipino food and its characteristics.
TEST IT!
What is your description of Filipino food?

LEARN IT!
Learning Objectives:
 Explain the components of Philippine Cuisine
 Describe the characteristics of Philippine Cuisine
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HISTORY AND INFLUENCES: PHILIPPINE CUISINE

FOOD IN THE PHILIPPINES: WHAT IS FILIPINO FOOD?

Is it adobo? Which has a Spanish name, yet covers chicken, pork, vegetables or even seafood
stewed in vinegar and garlic, and is thus likely any Spanish adobado? Or is it pansit? Noodles of
many persuasions, found on many tables and utilizing local ingredients, yet obviously of Chinese
origin. Or would it be sinigang? The sour broth allied to similar Southeast Asian soup/stews – that is
cooling in hot tropical weather? Could it be fried chicken or arroz caldo (a chicken congee that is
popular even on airlines as comfort food)?
Or could it be all of the above?
Where did it all begin, where did it come from and how did it develop?
The land and water gave Filipinos their food providing a multitude of fish and other water creatures,
greenery all year-round, a garden of edible grains, leaves, roots, fruits, pods and air and land
creatures that inhabited the lands. Thus the Filipino diet pattern:
 • Rice as a staple, steamed white and plain, providing background to the flavors of fish, meat
and vegetables
Because the island geography makes food easily accessible to hunters, fishermen, food gatherers
and farmers, indigenous food is simply cooked:
• Grilled (inihaw)
• Steamed (pinasingawan)
• Boiled (nilaga)
• Or untouched by fire like Kinilaw – fish briefly marinated in vinegar or lime juice to transform it
from rawness, while retaining freshness and translucence.
Filipino food had been friendly and open to foreign influences and changes that such brings. Chinese
traders, the Spanish colonizers and the United States – all left their mark on local food.
During the Pre-Hispanic era in the Philippines, the preferred methods for cooking preparation were
boiling, steaming and roasting. Ingredients were obtained from available local livestock (kalabaw,
baka, manok, baboy and various kinds of fish and seafood)
Direct trade and cultural exchange with China in the Philippines in the Song dynasty (1960-1279)
introduced a number of staple food into the Philippine cuisine:
 Toyo
 Tokwa
 Toge
 Patis

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 (dishes that are
cooked by Chinese who stayed and taught their Filipino wives their dishes – thus giving birth to
Filipino-Chinese food):
• Pansit (something that is quickly cooked)
• Lumpia (vegetables rolled in edible wrappers)
• Siopao (filled buns that are steamed)
• Siomai (dumplings)
The Chinese 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 arrozcaldo (congee),
sinangag/morisqueta tostada (fried rice), chopseuy.
Some Filipino-Chinese food were indigenized-Filipinized by the ingredients and by local taste:
• Pansit Malabon has oysters and squid, since Malabon is a fishing center
• Pansit Marilao is sprinkled with rice crisps, because the town is within the Luzon rice bowl.
Trade with various neighboring kingdoms of Malacca and Srivaja in Malaya and Java brought food
and cooking methods that are still used in the Philippines today, these include:
- Bagoong - Rendang
- Patis - Kare Kare
- Puso - Infusion of milk products in condiments

Through the trade with the Malay-Indonesian kingdoms, cuisine from as far away as India and Arabia
enriched the palettes of local people particularly from the areas of Southern Luzon, Mindanao, Sulu,
Palawan, the Visayas and Bicol.
These foods include various dishes that are eaten in the Southern part of the archipelago today, such
as:
• Kurmah - is a dish originated in the Indian subcontinent, consisting of meat or vegetables
braised with yogurt or cream, water or stock, and spices to produce a thick sauce or glaze
• Satti - Its main ingredients are small pieces of beef, grilled on hot coals until it becomes red-
black in color
o A Zamboanga delicacy of grilled chicken and cubed rice from 'puso' dipped in
overflowing Satti sauce.
• Biryani - also known as biriyani, biriani, birani or briyani, is a mixed rice dish with its origins
among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent
Spanish settlers in the 16th century brought with them produce from America like:
 Chili peppers
 Tomatoes
 Corn
 Potatoes
 Method of sautéing with garlic and onions

Chili leaves are commonly use in the Philippines as a cooking green which is distinct from the
cooking of neighbors.
Spanish (and Mexican) dishes were eventually incorporated into Philippine cuisine with the more
complex dishes usually being prepared for special occasions.
Fil-Hispanic food had new flavors and ingredients- olive oil, paprika, saffron, ham, cheese, cured
sausages and dishes such as:
• Paella – dish cooked in the fields by Spanish workers, came to be a festive dish combining pork,
chicken, seafood, ham, sausages and vegetables, a luxurious mix of the local and the foreign
• Relleno – the process of stuffing festive capons and turkeys for Christmas, was applied to
chickens, and even bangus
• Ensaymada – brioche-like cakes buttered, sugared and cheese-sprinkled
• Tamal (Mexican)/Tamales – rice dish that is wrapped in banana leaves
Americans introduced to the Philippine cuisine the ways of convenience:
 Pressure-cooking
  Freezing
 Pre-cooking
 Sandwiches and salads
 Hamburgers
 Fried chicken
 Steaks

Add to the above other cuisines food in the country along with other global influences: French, Italian,
Middle Eastern, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese.
Filipino diet is higher in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than other Asian cuisines
Today, Philippine cuisine continues to evolve as new techniques, style of cooking, and ingredients
find their way into the country.
WHAT MAKES THEM FILIPINO?
The history and society that introduced and adapted them; the people who tuned them to their tastes
and accepted them into their homes and restaurants, and especially the harmonizing culture that
combined them into contemporary Filipino fare.
So, what really is Philippine Food, then?
Indigenous food from the land and sea, field and forest. Also and of course: dishes and culinary
procedures from China, Spain, Mexico, and the United States, and more recently from further abroad.
So the answer to the question, what is Filipino food, is therefore all of the above.

CHARACTERISTICS: PHILIPPINE CUISINE

YOUR OPINION PLEASE!
What do you think is/are the distinct characteristic/s of Philippine Cuisine?

Filipino cuisine is
distinguished by its bold
combination of sweet
(tamis), sour (asim), and
salty (alat)
Counterpart is a feature in Philippine cuisine which normally comes in a pairing of something sweet
with something salty, and results in surprisingly pleasing combinations:
 Champorado (a sweet cocoa rice porridge), being paired with tuyo (salted, sun-dried fish)
 Dinuguan (a savory stew made of pig’s blood and innards), paired with puto (sweet, steamed
rice cakes)
 Unripe fruits such as mangoes are eaten dipped in salt or bagoong
 The use of cheese (which is salty) in sweetcakes (such as bibingka or puto)

Vinegar is a common ingredient. Adobo is popular not solely for its simplicity and ease of preparation,
but also for its ability to be stored days without spoiling, and even improve in flavor.
Sun dried fish - tinapa (smoke-cured fish), tuyo, daing, and dangit are corned - are also popular
because they can last for weeks without refrigeration
Cooking and eating in the Philippines has traditionally been an informal and communal affair centered
around the family kitchen.
Filipinos eat three meals a day:
 Agahan or almusal (breakfast)
 Tanghalian (lunch)
 Hapunan (dinner)
 Plus, an afternoon snack called merienda (minandal/ minindal)

Snacking is normal. Dinner, while still the main meal, is smaller than other countries.
Usually breakfast or lunch is the largest meal. Food tends to be served all at once and not in courses.
Unlike other Southeast Asian countries, Filipinos do not eat with chopsticks. Due to western
influence, food is often eaten using flatware – forks, spoons and knives.
But the usual pairing of utensils in a Filipino table is that of spoon and fork. The traditional way of
eating is with hands, especially dry dishes such as inihaw or prito.

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References:

Barreto, Gretchen; Calalang, Conrad; Fores, Margarita; Segismundo, Myrna; Sincioco, Jessie and
Tayag, Claude. (2016). Kulinarya, A Guidebook to Philippine Cuisine. Tuttle Publishing

DDV Culinary. The Philippine Cook Book. Retrieve from www.ddvculinary.com

Sarthou, Tatung. (2016). Philippine Cookery: From Heart to Platter. ABS-CBN Publishing
Incorporated

REVIEW IT!
TRUE OR FALSE. Write “TRUE” if the statement is correct otherwise write “FALSE”.

______________1. Direct trade and cultural exchange with Spain introduced the method of stir frying
and making savory soup bases.
______________2. Kurmah’s main ingredients are small pieces of beef, grilled on hot coals until it
becomes red-black in color.
______________3. Cooking and eating in the Philippines has traditionally been a f and communal
affair centered around the family kitchen.

______________4. Rice is a staple in the Filipino table.

______________5. Mexicans introduced to the Philippine cuisine the ways of convenience.

______________6. Sinangag is also called morisqueta tostada.

______________7. Counterpart is a feature in Philippine cuisine which normally comes in a pairing of

something sweet with something bitter.

______________8. Chili leaves are commonly use in the Philippines as a cooking green which is
distinct from the cooking of neighbors.
______________9. During the Pre-Chinese era in the Philippines, the preferred methods for cooking
preparation were boiling, steaming and roasting.

______________10. Satti is a dish originated in the Indian subcontinent, consisting of meat or

vegetables braised with yogurt or cream, water or stock, and spices to produce a thick sauce or
glaze.