What is a Pinoy food?

To begin with, Pinoy is a colloquial term for the inhabitants of the 7,ooo + islands of the Philippines- the Filipinos (as they are formally called). Pinoy cooking, therefore, pertains to the preparation of Filipino dishes. In this particular blog, Pinoy cooking is an attempt to prepare known Filipino dishes on a weekly basis. Mainly at weekends when I am free from work. I say attempt because the only qualification I have to do this fun is my being a full-bloodied Filipino. Well, of course, I also have the penchant for throwing anything edible in the pot and turn it into a dish. Filipino cooking is not totally instinctive so I gonna rely on my informal training in the preparation of the dishes.

I would say that I have been cooking since I was 7 years old. Rice being the first food I learned to cook and my parents being my first teachers. Fast forward to highschool and college, I was lucky to have lived with people who were into cooking. They taught me basic culinary skills and consequently entrusted their kitchens to my care. I would prepare their breakfast, lunch and dinner. While it took me time to satisfy their fastidious kitchen standards, I was given enough training to be able to confidently prepare a dish. After college, instant food dominated my gastronomic indulgement as work impeded me from splurging on home cooking. Thanks to the occasional celebrations as they provided opportunities to cook for family and friends.

Then a chance to work abroad presented itself. In Thailand, the abundance of home cooked dishes overwhelms me. It is simply amazing to be able to get healthy, delicious Thai food practically in every soi of Bangkok. The food is tasty and cheap. That said Thai cuisine is definitely inspirational to food lovers and aspiring cook like myself. Having stayed here for three years, there has been the intermittent longing for Filipino dishes. I bet all pinoys abroad feel the same. I started cooking Filipino dish when I got tired of Thai dishes. I was craving for a victual variety although a friend would bring me out for dinner at least once a week. Cutting meat, chopping onions and crushing cloves of garlic in my own proved to be therapeutic. It's relaxing. Some of my Pinoy friends celebrated their birthdays and I volunteered to cook their all-time favorite pinoy dishes such as Adobo. The famous adobo eventually invaded not only our apartment where my friends' bdays usually take place but our office as well. Foreign friends who wondered what a Filipino food tastes like got the answer to their questions as I tried cooking for them, too. Interestingly, the feedbacks have been positive. However, there remains the question which I myself doesn't know how to answer. What is Filipino food?

Back in 2005, I went with a friend to Pattaya for swimming. On our way, he said that we would eat in a Filipino restaurant for lunch when we got there. Delighted that Filipino food has a place in Thailand, I asked him the Filipino dishes he has so far tried. He laughed at my question for two reasons: firstly, he has never tasted a Filipino dish before and secondly, the Filipino resto he's referring to is MC donald. This reality stunned me. Why is Filipino cuisine isn't as recognized as other cuisines? What is a Filipino cuisine in the first place?

Taking the national dish Adobo as an example, some Filipino food (as much as the Filipino culture and psyche) reflect and even echo the gastronomic influences of the countries which the Philippines has had historical relationship with such as Spain, China, America and even India. To say that Filipino food is an amalgamation of these influences is somewhat true. What may give the unique identity or character of the Filipino dish is the preparation that goes with it. As one writer put it "The essence of Filipino food is best appreciated in the context of the Filipino home". I very much agree with the writer's point.

In this blog, I try to present to you some of the famous Filipino dishes I myself love. Hopefully, those who love to cook Filipino foods will learn something new and to those asking what is Filipino food will perhaps have their questions answered.

Get ready because it's time to cook Pinoy food and it's Kainan na (time to eat)!