Fun and festive food of the Philippines a mix of flavors

Maria Endah Hulupi, Contributor, Jakarta

It's still time to gather up the family and dish up those special dishes, at least if you are Filipino. For May through August is a period of merriment as Filipinos celebrate regional and national fiestas.

In the country of 7,001 islands, Independence Day on June 12 is commemorated by holding various activities, including games and parades in villages. Apart from the nationwide major celebration, every town in the Philippines has its own lively fiesta or festivals, held to honor the town's patron saint or commemorate the town's anniversary or other events. The latter include the nationwide month-long celebration of Flores de Mayo or Santacruzan in May.

It's no fiesta without specially prepared dishes. There is a tradition in the Philippines that families, including those who do not have much mone, try their best to make the celebration special, especially through the array of dishes they serve up.

"During fiesta, we make sure that we serve nice meals on the table to be shared with families and invited friends. It's part of the tradition. It (the feast) is more like an intimate family gathering," said Gene Sanchez del Prado, executive sous chef from the Makati Shangri-La, Manila.

"Filipinos staying abroad usually return to their hometown during this period of the year because they can meet all their friends in the fiesta," he added.

The chef and fellow pastry sous chef Rene Del Sol were invited as guest chefs for Shangri-La Jakarta's Fiesta Filipina recently. The fiesta, held to commemorate the country's 106th anniversary of Independence Day, was spiced up with a Philippine food festival, featuring some of the country's traditional festive dishes.

Although perhaps not as famous as other Southeast Asian cuisines, such as Thai, Indonesian or even Vietnamese, the Philippines has its own unique, proud culinary tradition.

Popular dishes served in every household during fiestas are adobo (meat or fish simmered in vinegar, soy sauce marinated with garlic and cracked peppercorns), inihawna baboy (grilled pork belly), kare-kare (oxtail with peanut sauce), adobong baboy (pork simmered in vinegar, soy sauce & garlic) bicol express (squid cooked in coconut milk and chilies), tinolang manok (chicken broth with green papaya), itcison kawali (deep fried pork belly) and lechon na may salsang atay (roasted pig with liver sauce).

Unlike popular meats like chicken, fish and pork, beef is relatively expensive and beef dishes, like beef steak Tagalog, are mostly featured on the menues of wealthy families.

Filipino cuisine received influences from various countries, but especially Spain, Mexico, China, the United States and, of course, the Malay cuisine of its southern neighbors.

"Foreign influences have enriched our cooking methods, as have foreign ingredients, resulting in what is known today as Filipino cuisine. Most of the dishes are mildly sweet and sour," said Genaro.

Malay influences include the use of peanut and shrimp pastes, while from Spain there are lechon (roasted pork) dishes and adobo. The use of noodles, oyster sauce and cornstarch to thicken the sauce and black bean were adopted from Chinese cuisine, while steak is from the U.S. The southern region has palpable Malay and Indian influences, as curries are among the most popular dishes.

As for desserts, ube ice cream, made from purple yams, Spanish-influenced leche flan (cream caramel), brazo de merces (egg white roulade with vanilla custard) and some treats that are similar to Malay sweet snacks; banana fritters, sticky putau cake andhalo-halo (a dessert made of coconut milk and assorted diced fruits and nuts, with shaved ice).

Some of the country's distinctive flavors are derived from the particular produce, like calamansi, mango, mung beans, ube and bananas. Their flavors, textures and color give unique character to the dishes and sweet treats, representing a taste from home which Filipinos staying abroad yearn for.

And since the Philippine fiesta is a warm, intimate gathering of family and close friends, the feast is "officially" kicked off after all dishes, from soup to main dishes (and sometimes desserts), are served together on the dining table, where members of the family and invited guests are already impatiently awaiting their first taste.