What is REAL Filipino Food According to a Historian?

Summary

Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, a pioneer in Philippine food history, reflects on the evolution of Filipino cuisine, tracing its roots back to pre-colonial times. She explores how trade, colonization, and regional diversity shaped the nation's food culture. Sta. Maria discusses the lack of comprehensive documentation of Filipino food history and the influences from various cultures over the centuries. She emphasizes the importance of food as a cultural expression and its role in creating a sense of community. The conversation highlights Filipino food's uniqueness, adaptability, and resilience throughout history.

Takeaways

• 😀 Filipino food history is a complex, ongoing story shaped by both internal and external influences, such as Austronesian migration and foreign trade.
• 🍚 Filipino food has been influenced by many cultures over the centuries, including Chinese, Indian, and Southeast Asian, but the transformation of Filipino cuisine has been uneven across regions.
• 📜 Unlike other cultures with detailed food records, Filipino cuisine lacks comprehensive documentation due to the absence of strong centralized political structures during the colonial era.
• 🥘 Filipino cuisine developed over time, with regional variations emerging due to geography, trade, and cultural influences, but certain Filipino dishes like adobo and leche flan became internationally recognized.
• 🌍 Filipino cuisine started to gain global recognition in the 19th century, and dishes such as kare-kare and pancit became symbols of Filipino identity.
• 🍴 Filipino food is deeply rooted in hospitality, with a cultural emphasis on sharing and serving food to others to create happiness and build connections.
• 🍋 Authenticity in Filipino food is flexible, as Filipino culture embraces experimentation and adaptation, making variations of dishes like adobo and sinigang widely accepted.
• 🍲 While some ingredients like calamansi emerged from hybridization during the 20th century, Filipino food has continuously evolved, sometimes reviving older practices.
• 🌱 Filipino food culture embraces sustainability, with an emphasis on making sure food is accessible to everyone and considering the environmental impact of food practices.
• 🍤 Kinilaw, a pre-colonial Filipino dish, holds strong cultural significance and represents a link to the Filipino people's relationship with their natural environment.
• 🍞 The evolution of pan de sal shows the adaptation of foreign culinary traditions in the Philippines, transforming from a salty bread to the sweet version we know today.

Q & A

What sparked Felice Sta. Maria's interest in Filipino food history?

Felice Sta. Maria became interested in Filipino food history when, as a teenager, she was reading foreign materials that discussed the history of food in other cultures. She wondered why the same wasn't being done for Filipino food and decided to pursue this gap in research.

What is the significance of studying Filipino food history according to Sta. Maria?

Sta. Maria believes that Filipino food history is crucial to understanding who Filipinos are and how food reflects the cultural, social, and economic transformations over time. She emphasizes the need to document Filipino food's evolution and its diverse influences.

How does Sta. Maria describe the development of Filipino food history?

Sta. Maria describes Filipino food history as a continuous process shaped by many influences over time, such as trade and migration from neighboring countries. The changes in Filipino food were not uniform across the archipelago and were influenced by different regions and cultures.

Why is Filipino cuisine not as well documented as other Southeast Asian cuisines, like Vietnamese or Thai?

Filipino cuisine lacks extensive documentation because the Philippines did not have a centralized political state or strong record-keeping systems like those in Vietnam or Thailand. Written records in the Philippines were scarce, often made on perishable materials, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking food history during colonization.

How did foreign influences impact Filipino food?

Filipino food has been shaped by various foreign influences, including trade with China, India, and Southeast Asia, as well as colonial impacts from Spain and the United States. These influences affected the ingredients, preparation methods, and even language related to food in the Philippines.

What role did Filipino immigrants play in promoting Filipino food internationally?

Filipino immigrants played a significant role in promoting Filipino food abroad. As they settled in different countries, they brought their food with them, cooking and sharing it in their new homelands. Over time, Filipino dishes became recognized as part of the broader international food scene.

What are some examples of Filipino dishes that have become internationally recognized?

Dishes like adobo, leche flan, and kare-kare are examples of Filipino foods that have gained international recognition. These dishes were chosen for inclusion in international cookbooks, helping to define Filipino cuisine abroad.

What does Sta. Maria think about the concept of authenticity in Filipino cuisine?

Sta. Maria believes that Filipino food is inherently diverse and adaptable, and that 'authenticity' in Filipino cuisine can take many forms. Rather than adhering to rigid traditions, Filipino food allows for variations based on region, available ingredients, and personal taste, while still maintaining essential qualities like the use of souring agents in dishes like adobo and sinigang.

How did the Spanish colonization affect Filipino food culture?

During Spanish colonization, the Philippines was introduced to new ingredients like cacao, coffee, and peppercorns, which were cultivated for tribute and commercial purposes. The Spanish influence also shaped Filipino food culture by introducing practices like eating lechon during festivals, which symbolized Christian identity.

What surprising discovery did Sta. Maria make during her research on Filipino food history?

Sta. Maria discovered that calamansi, a key ingredient in Filipino cuisine, is actually a hybrid fruit that was developed in a Philippine laboratory in the early 20th century. This fruit was a cross between the thornless calamondin and other types of citrus, making it a unique Filipino creation.