Symbolic food on Lunar New Year
Wherever in the world the Lunar New Year is celebrated, there’s always symbolic food chosen for their appearance, characteristic or because their names are homonyms for …
Food Tales
To understand food and its cultural and social significance, it is often necessary to go beyond recipes and cooking tips. This section includes a comprehensive guide on ramen broth, a history of mac and cheese, a dive into the (mostly Western) misconception that sate / satay is peanut sauce and how chocolate evolved to become the (second?) most popular Valentine's Day gift.
Sopas on the Christmas table
Filipino sopas is an adaptation of the American chicken noodle soup. It has been served by mothers, grandmothers, aunts and grand-aunts who came before me, and it was …
Salads from Christmas past
There were three salads that never failed to make an appearance on the Christmas dinner table when I was growing up. Chicken potato salad or chicken macaroni salad, …
Halloween in suburbia
Halloween parties in the Philippines often take place on the weekend before October 31st. Our village had its bash on October 25 with over 300 adults and children in …
Dim sum in a hotbox
Hotbox is the brand name of the "first self-heating, portable food box" made in the Philippines. The Old China dim sum hotbox has two strings. One end of each string is …
Brownies, blondies and dessert bars
Historically, a brownie was originally a blondie. No chocolate. Made with flour, brown sugar, eggs and butter, the first documented brownie recipe, made with molasses, is …
A passion for dough
Is fresh pasta exceptionally good? Well, it has this sensation in the mouth that one doesn't get from store-bought pasta no matter how pricey. The bite is different too. …