FILIPINO SNACKS AND OTHER STORIES

When I think of The Philippines, my mind swirls with rainbow rolls of saccharine pastillas made with pure milk of waterbuffalo, vibrant slices of kakanin or sticky rice cakes, chilly mountains of creamy halo-halo topped with leche flan, sweet and crunchy skewers of bananacue and kamotecue, and luscious plates of pansit tumbling with an assortment of vegetables.

Mind you, these are all snacks! We do take it seriously. As a rule, we eat five times a day, with snacks at mid-morning and another one in the afternoon. Midnight snacking is optional. You won’t get excommunicated. Probably. 

Often, foreigners are shocked by the amount of food we prepare and consume and how frequent we do it. Pussies. 

But really, eating is a way of life here. It is invariably a social affair. When we are happy, we eat. When we are mourning, we eat. When we are bored, we also eat! 

Such a shame we are grossly under-represented in the global culinary map. But, oh well, we still eat and eat good food regardless!