Food for Thought

One of the earliest memories I have is walking up to the front of Nana's house, with the smell of home cooked ube halaya wafting through her screen door. Nana greets me at the door, spatula in hand, telling me to tikim or taste her fresh batch of ube made especially for me. Who would say no to that?!

Nana's house still stands in a barangay or barrio called Balut in the Philippines. For a small town, it has a name with a big reputation. "Balut" loosely translated means "wrapped" but its more commonly known translation refers to a popular street-food in the Philippines, which is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside, boiled and eaten in the shell. Yes, I used to eat balut. No, I don't eat it anymore.

Ube and balut are just two of the many Filipino staples that bring back memories. Now that I think about it, they're somewhat representative of the majority of Filipino cuisine: sweets and meats. With meats out of the picture for me as a vegetarian, I think I might hold sweets on a whole new level nowadays. I no longer have access to traditional, hand-mashed and hand-stirred ube but I can still find its processed cousin at Fil-Am franchise markets like Red Ribbon, Jollibee, etc. And just like how I have bitter sweet feelings about the intersection of childhood memories and realizing how many years old I gradually turn, I have bitter sweet feelings about the intersections of Filipino food and American culture.

There's a part of me that's excited about the blossoming modern takes on Filipino food (especially in the vegetarian arena) but I also can't help looking back in true old fart fashion to the "good ol' days" of real Filipino food, whatever that means. This is where I get into the grey area of what real Filipino food even is... which reminds me of the more general question, "What makes something authentically Filipino?" Filipino food is in itself an intersection of the many cultures within the Philippines; a yummy manifestation of the political clumping together of the many islands after colonization... my Nana herself was part Spanish, so does her ube halaya not count as Filipino food to begin with?

As I muse about the many aspects of Filipino food (remembering memories attached to old dishes and taking in the emerging new versions), my brain takes me not only on a ride through food memory lane but also on a surprise journey to wrack my brain about ancestry and authenticity. Definitely food for thought.

GSM's Dinner at Mom & Dad's

What's it like having Thanksgiving dinner at a Fil-Am household like my family's?

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving, is traditionally a day of cultural fusion at my parent's dinner table. Growing up, our holiday dinners were usually a mix of American and Filipino dishes. Sitting next to the ham, turkey, and mashed potatoes would also be lumpia and pancit. It's like the mix of food symbolizes our cultural influences.

At first, my parents were worried about my being vegetarian, concerned that I wasn't getting enough protein. It took a long time for them to get used to the idea. For one, meat is a prominent feature in many Filipino dishes. However, over the course of many years, and with the health benefits of vegetarianism being well recognized in mainstream health circles, my mom no longer serves ham and turkey, and substitutes the ground beef in lumpia for veggie protein. It still tastes good. And though our family's pancit no longer has meat, it has a lot more vegetables that add to the texture of the noodle dish. I'm touched at how my mom has finally accepted my way of eating, and has incorporated it into our holiday traditions. To give her a hand, I'll step it up on the sides and make vegan stuffing, yam casserole, and green beans. No one leaves the dinner table hungry or unsatisfied.

Now, if I can just get everyone to not talk politics, religion, or about make fun of my violin playing at the dinner table...

Happy Holidays!

Kain na tayo! Let's eat!

According to an August SF Chronicle article Filipino food "might just be the next Asian cuisine to hit prime time..." But for us three bebots, Filipino food was, is, and always will be an integral part of who we are and how we identify with other Filipinos. Got adobo? Of course! Bring on the lechon! Halo-halo with a heaping of ube? Yes, please.

In this highly anticipated blog, we'll each discuss what Filipino food means to us. As you noticed with our No Worries restaurant review, two of us are vegetarians. This next blog post will address the conflict and compromise of incorporating traditional cuisine into a vegetarian diet, touch on the cultural evolution of "traditional Filipino cuisine," and reminisce about our memories of popular Filipino staples including ube. Join us in discussion as we dig into this culinary delight!

To read the full SF Chronicle article on the bourgeoning popularity of Filipino cuisine in the Bay area and the US, click here.