Tuesday, November 30, 2004

A Typical Filipino Dinner

Ron is a constant silent visitor of my blog. He is a Caucasian who is contemplating on offering marriage to his Filipina girlfriend, Lilia who is from Luzon. He is trying to familiarize himself with the Filipino culture and our “infamous exotic food”. He said he’s been to Filipino parties but he is more interested to know what a typical Filipino family dinner is like.

Well Ron, this is the closest I could give you. Contrary to what you see in my blog (a little tickled with your description), there are also days that I get lazy and my family make do with what is in the fridge. The pictures show that we love leftovers and for some reason, find fried fish close to a “must”. In my opinion, we are used to frying fish for lack of ideas on how else to cook them. One thing I am sure though is, Filipinos love fish.

Yes, we also love eggs, fried eggs, salted eggs, boiled eggs, omelette and balut. I don’t think your future wife will impose on you to have balut though. She will only attempt to let you taste it for experience’ sake. Relax.

We do eat vegetables too. I am an explorer as all other Filipinos are. Just watch out for the dressing. I used bagoong here. We basically eat the same vegetables made out of green vegetables, tomatoes and onions. We only differ in the dressing. (Just kidding). I was more daring last night and thought of using bagoong. You see bagoong goes well with my fried fish. You did tell me that your girlfriend loves bagoong.


And oh, you mentioned that you feel disgusted everytime you see Lilia eat with her fingers. Mind you, it is not only in the Philippines where people eat with their fingers. They do too in Indonesia. I was at a Kentucky Restaurant in Jakarta and I ordered fried chicken with rice. I was a little bit shocked actually to be told I should eat my stash with my fingers. I was only shown where the sink was so I could wash my hands before I eat. At least at Kentucky Restaurants in the Philippines, they serve you with spoon and fork so there's really no reason for you to learn how to eat with your fingers for now.

You really made me laugh about your rice with spaghetti story or the pancit with rice. I know, they’re all carbohydrates. Actually, in the Philippines, we consider pancit and spaghetti as snacks..yes like a "three-o’clock-kinda-thing". But we also have them as “ulam” (you did well in mentioning it).

Anyway, don’t fret. Filipinas are resilient. You will notice that some of the Filipinas I “blog” with are married to men of different nationalities. Some are Britts, Americans, Canadians, Chinese and we play around with our recipes to make them appetizing to our palates. I am married to a Filipino (did I get you there?) but I spend at least 7.5 hours of my day, 5 days a week with Caucasians, thus the western influence in my blog.

I recommend these sites to you: Kitchen for Filipinas by Filipino women living in the Western Hemisphere and Radical Chef from the Philippines who is a lawyer but has the passion for cooking.
Generally, more than the concern about our food, consider offering marriage ASAP. Filipinas are loving and caring (wink, wink).

14 comments:

Unknown said...

hi ting-aling! what a nice "cross-cultural orientation" you've given to Ron. (sure you're not related to Lilia?? hee hee just kidding).
i think he's on the verge.....what a great ride it will be for him.

Dr. Emer said...

Filipinas are loving and caring...and most them know how to cook good food. Well, nowadays, and it is a pity indeed, most young Filipinas do not know how to cook anymore. Not even simple rice. I was once told that the easiest dish (if you can acall it that) to cook is water: maglaga ng tubig.

These days, young Filipinas prefer the "instant" food items. The Radical Chef, Ting-Aling, ManangKu, and CeliaK breed are fast becoming extinct.

ting-aling said...

myyummyvice..haha..the well-wishers is something else..but it's funny..

Doc Emer..that's a scary thought but true..what with our rice cookers, slow cookers and what-have-yous now?

Drstel..nope, not related to Lilia at all)..Ron is my e-mail buddy who's got lots of questions re Filipino traditions, customs and culture. I think I am going to talk about marriage customs and traditions next..yes, the pamamanhikan and the dowries.. Ron, just trying to scare you buddy..but really, we're harmless.

Anonymous said...

the veggies look yummy

celia kusinera said...

Ting tell your friend Ron to propose right away or else ... where is the shotgun around here? Heehee! Joking joking lang Ron! :) But Filipinas generally are very attentive to their husbands needs and has a very family centric attitude. Almost like geishas - they would do almost everything for their kids and husband.
About the eating, Indians traditionally eat with their fingers, too. As for the double carb, well we have chip butties here in Engaland. This is a buttered bun with thick fries as fillings. Talk about carb overload!

JMom said...

Hi TingAling, great description on 'filipinoness'. My baby Clone always says she is eating like "pinopino" when she is eating with her hands :)

CeliaK, my hubby says I must have ditched the "geisha" lessons, hehe! I guess I'm not very attentive ;)

ting-aling said...

There you go Ron! You got more than what you have bargained for, I bet. The Geisha (the ditching out) description is of course is an "assimilation" thing..

ting-aling said...

J/K..didn't mean it by heart.

rolly said...

I think you did well in orienting Ron to our culture. A culture of food. Ron, I, too eat rice with pansit and spaghetti. You should try it. Anyway, I'm sure you would eat it with bread, and that's carbo, too,right?

Filipinas are not only sweet and resilient, they are fragrant and soft, too. But mind you, don't ever make them angry if you know what I mean.

Ms One Boobie said...

Hahhaha!! I will tell my FIL's story about his friend.. who married a filipino gal.. later.. too tired now.. :)

JMom said...

BTW, after posting yesterday, I went home for lunch and had pansit and rice :) hehe!

Manang said...

I seldom cook rice now, but when I do, my sons never fail to have them even with another carbo dish like spaghetti.

Ron, treasure her and be with her as she grows older. A well-cared for Pinay is priceless. Just don't abuse, or she'll transform into a monster! Kidding...it does not take much to please us, especially if we grew up in a culture where extra-marital affairs are accepted.

ting-aling said...

Ron said he's now embarassed and feel good that he maintained his anonymity..

RVA said...

paboritok daytoy saladmo ken daytoy itlog na maalat...!

umanayen a sidak dayta nakilnat a naganus a marabusel a baguio beans nga ideppel iti bugguong!