I had wanted to write this piece April, when the Filipino Food Month is celebrated. But due to the busy schedule, I only went as far as writing the title.

So now, while I have time, and while I just finished an evening meeting and my mind is still very active and sleep is still several hours away, let me share with you some moments that my palate remembered.

Childhood in Albay – aside from the beach & the sun & the kites & wooden toy guns (because I loved playing outdoors then), the cartoons, girls scout, my first solar eclipse, the lovely dresses at the end of each school year during academic recognition days, there are some snacks and meals that remind me of childhood. (1) The rice crispies, made from drying leftover rice on our kitchen’s galvanized iron roof, then frying them, then adding sugar, and eating them in paper cones while the crispies are still warm, and smells so good; (2) The candied tangkua (I’ll write our native term first; I can’t remember the English term). We harvested these big oval-shaped fruits from our backyard, cut them into halves, shredded the flesh using a small handheld coconut grater or sometimes cut them into small cubes, then cooking them in caramelized sugar.

(3) The bibingka and suman that my mom and aunt prepared in almost all occasions, made from rice flour, or cassava or kamote. We had an abundance of any ingredient, and we had a ready supply of banana leaves from our backyard. The ingredients (rice or root crop, water, coconut milk, sugar) were mixed (added preparation for cassava, because after grating, the liquid must be thoroughly squeezed). (4) The avocado ice candies prepared by my mom, especially during summer. They were so creamy–the best ice candies I’ve ever tasted. (5) The street food sold in the afternoons (biniribid, bola-bola, kutsinta, hinagom, etc.) (6) Nilupak – We have an expansive backyard planted with coconut trees, banana trees (mainly saba), and a hodgepodge of fruit-bearing trees and plants. So all-year round, we have a steady supply of saba. Unripe saba is one of our favorite ingredient for nilupak. Newly-boiled saba, pounded in a gigantic mortar and pestle (we call this lubang in Albay), with grated coconut, sugar, and margarine, this makes for a delicious treat. Sometimes, we use boiled cassava. This one leads to a stickier consistency. Equally, if not more (for some of my siblings) delicious.

Fiestas in Albay – Fiestas in our province are always joyful celebrations, with lots of guests, family visits, exchange of dishes with neighbors, and church ceremonies. In addition to the usual pansit and suman, we usually prepared the following at home: (1) Ubod ng niyog with lots of crabs, cooked in coconut milk; (2) Dinuguan — these are sure to be clean because the the ingredients are freshly ordered from the market, washed intensely under running water, and boiled in guava leaves, before being sliced into small pieces. Cubed unripe saba were added as extenders, small slices of pork with a thin layer of fat were included, and sometimes, semi-ripe pineapples made the dish tastier (I think it’s either this or saba).

Student Days – My super caring mom always made sure we eat our heavy breakfast. Everyday, there would be steamed or fried rice, sunny side up or scrambled eggs, hotdog or corned beef or tinapa, plus beverage (mine was always hot milk). Sometimes, it’s pandesal with filling and hot drink.

When I went to college, I stayed in the Kalayaan Dorm in UP Diliman. I don’t remember the breakfast. But I looked forward to Sunday meals because they were a bit more special than the other days. I also bought snacks (biscuits, peanuts, chips) from the nearby cooperative store and I would munch them when I studied at night, hunched at my small study table. (No wonder, I gained weight in college.)

Org days – I had many organizations during my stay in UP: Kalayaan Student Council, Sampaguita Student Council, Ibalon, Lingua Franca, Navigators, Anakbayan, UP Parish Choir, Universities (briefly). There’s not a lot of food memories because we were busy with many things, and not so much of food events.

But two (2) things stand out in my memory: the sandwiches (with cheese, pimiento, condensed milk filling) and juice (so-diluted barely there orange flavor) we prepared for some UP Ibalon student gatherings, and the Fita canapés we passed around during poetry reading in UP Lingua Franca, while seated on the grass/ground.

Morayta Days – I was an English Teacher in FEU-East Asia College, then FEU Manila for over 10 years. Both were located in Morayta, Manila. At the same I worked there, I also handled short communication courses in Speechpower-Espana, which was also in the same area. There are many commercial centers in the vicinity; thus, there were several options for eating out. These include fast foods, small restos, food stalls, the infamous “Hepalane,” and the best tasting resto-carinderia in the area, Nitz. There’s even a 7-11 at the corner, if you suddenly crave siopao or just want to have a sugar high by drinking soda. And there’s the St. Thomas Square’s which had a siomai stall, Korean rest, Inasal stall, noodles place, and pancit Cabagan stall. I loved pancit cabagan; the serving was generous and piping hot. As for Nitz, it offers the best chicken burger that rival all the burgers served by fast-food chains. They offered a wide selection of ulam, snacks, and desserts.

I once bought from this stall selling siomai + rice for only 20 pesos, ’cause I noticed that many students were buying from there. The rice was okay, not those really cheap stuff with a certain taste and small. The siomai, well, what can you expect? It has lots of extenders and mainly flour, with a bit of meat, and tasted blank, except for the toyo and kalamansi. The banana cues from hepalane were the best. I wasn’t brave enough to try all the street food there, but it was almost always teeming with students.

Work Duties/Trips – Because of work, I’ve been to various hotels, several in the Philippines, and some abroad. (1) I loved the breakfast spread of Sofitel Manila (It’s closed now, though.) I don’t eat a lot; I just get a little of this & that, but just walking along the entire display made me feel happy then. (2) Admiral Hotel along Roxas Boulevard is a lovely hotel with themed rooms. Breakfast is on the top floor. Not as expansive as the options in Sofitel, but I loved the dumplings and customized noodles area. Admiral was also very kind to offer us complimentary meals when we were there for an ocular visit for an event; (3) Diamond Hotel & Marriott Hotels offered great booking experience; right now, I can’t recall anymore a distinct dish or food category because we were mainly there for work an dit was several years ago, but it was very pleasant overall; (4) Hotel in Koh Samui was very airy and relaxing and breakfast was always freshly prepared; (5) Hotel in Hyderabad was okay. What was distinct was, aside from water (placed in a water dispenser covered with a black cloth, the only juice was guava juice;

(6) Hotel in Paris where I stayed for 4 days – I don’t recall now whether it served breakfast; I just remember that it was beside a Korean/Asian store where I bought noodles and dumplings, which I discovered only after I had checked out; (7) Hotel in Rabat, Morocco had good food selections; highlight was the special ways of serving tea; (8) Hotel in Ankara, Türkiye had a cozy dining area. I had early breakfast there twice; it was quiet and peaceful and for those few who were talking did so in soft tones.

Cultural Diplomacy Days – I was with the DFA Office of Cultural Diplomacy (in Manila) for four (4) years before my current foreign assignment here in Suva. Part of the many activities we did were cultural projects that always involved food/snacks such as this wonderful Crossing Borders project. Many cultural events were onsite, so we always included food for our guests, which usually numbered 50-250 depending on the event. We had partnered with Via Mare, Chef Jessie, hotels in Manila for our events. They were undoubtedly good, no question about that. But we also gave opportunities for small local businesses to be part of our events. Goodness Graze is amazing and never let us down; they offered various packages; the personnel were efficient, professional, easy to deal with. A few times, we also got Creatives Decor (I can’t find their link now). Their food is okay, but their added charm is having this bahay kubo/sari-sari store setup with all your local chichiria and little packed snacks that make you feel nostalgic of the past. We got La Dolce Vita Food Carts in one of our film events in partnership with UNESCO and Film Development Council of the Philippines. They were really amazing! Food was great; varied drinks were offered; they even have freebies.

We weren’t always lucky with our food partners. Sometimes, in our goal to be inclusive and give chances to some new local small businesses, especially if these were suggested by someone we know or trust. In one such event, which happened to be a celebration of Filipino Food Month in the Department, our food provider which we got for the first time, which promised to present artisan Filipino food, with a nice presentation as endorsed by someone we know. The company was supposed to deliver the snacks by 1:30p.m. but later informed us that the food are on the way, so we did not worry; but then 2p.m., 3p.m. came and only 1/4 of the food was delivered. 3:30p.m. came at which time, we had to come up with a solution because the panel discussion would be finishing in 30mins. Our event organizers (after consulting with me in hushed tones because I was seated near the front) rushed to the nearby commercial center and bought donuts & pastries and paper saucers and plastic forks. Food finally arrived at 4:30pm when most of the guests have left. We packed the food and distributed them to the guests who were still present, the tech team, the cleaners, and some for our Office.

Hmm…I wasn’t intending a lengthy paragraph for that flop but there it is. We managed to pull off our event, but the sad thing is, I know that we will never get that local business again.

Any how, let’s end with something happy and positive. From my various trips in various places and countries, some tastes stand out: Bratislava rolls (How I miss this! ) ; La Pierrade in Montmartre; small rests in the Latin Quarter of Paris; croissant and pain au chocolat from that small boulangerie near Ranelagh station in Paris; that small noodle house by the side of the street in Bangkok; the lomi shop in Ilocos across that bakery (I need time to remember the name, but bread there was amazing); the newly-roasted lechon at my uncle’s place in Davao; the torta in Cebu; the putong bigas with candied minatamis na niyog from a waiting shed in San Jose, Malilipot, Albay.; the Aida cafe in Vienna.

Most of all, our dining area in Albay, with that round and proud narra table, with a lazy Susan, and around the table were wooden chairs with intricate carvings. That’s where we spent so many fond memories and relished food served with so much love, by my mom, my lola, and occasionally, my aunt, uncle, and siblings. ❤