Tablea is popularly used in making champorado, a sweet rice porridge served for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. In recent years, tablea has been added to a slew of desserts and pastries, from cakes and pies to brownies and ice cream. But did you know that tablea...
It may not be as popular as ginger, which is of the same family, but turmeric still finds its way and takes its rightful space in traditional Filipino cooking. Known for its orange color, which can leave stubborn stains on hands and clothes, this mighty rhizome lends...
A ball of queso de bola is the gift that keeps on giving. The sight of this red ball immediately elicits joy and excitement. This salty cheese, actually Edam, is delicious to munch by itself or paired with other charcuterie items. It’s also wonderful when simply...
There’s cochinillo, chicken galantina, or even a whole roast turkey, but there’s nothing like a big ball of ham to steal the spotlight on the Christmas dining table. Filipino Christmas ham comes in all shapes and sizes and flavors: there’s bone-in and boneless;...
It’s hard to beat a classic like fruit salad, the ubiquitous Filipino holiday dessert enjoyed by both the young and old. It’s a simple medley of pantry staples that add color to the season’s festivities. A fruit salad starts with a can of fruit cocktail, with its...
Cookbooks are not only collections of recipes but also repositories of culinary wisdom, gustatory history, and communal stories. In many ways, cookbooks reveal realities about a particular culture, period in time, and notable individuals. They give a glimpse of flavor...
Banana ketchup is a condiment that is present in many Filipino pantries. The flavor profile of the sauce, sweetish with a hint of spice and just a tad acidic, highly appeals to locals, sometimes even more than its tomato counterpart. This further proves just how much...
Bihon is one of the most popular types of noodles in the Philippines. Introduced by the Chinese, bihon stems from “bi,” which means rice, alluding to this type of noodle’s main ingredient. The noodle sticks are made of only rice flour and water that are formed into...
Biskwit is the Filipino term encompassing traditional biscuits, cookies, and crackers that have been part of the local culinary culture for centuries. Many of these were introduced by the Spaniards, later adapted to cater to Filipino tastes, ingredients, and...
Turon is a ubiquitous street food enjoyed by Filipinos of all ages. It is a popular afternoon snack, sold by street vendors or peddled within barangays by entrepreneurial mothers. Turon is made of sliced saba bananas, wrapped and rolled in spring roll (lumpia)...