3 Ways to Use Tablea in Savory Dishes

3 Ways to Use Tablea in Savory Dishes

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...

There’s more to cacao than chocolate

There’s more to cacao than chocolate

It’s been a few years since the health world painted cacao nibs as the ‘it’ superfood. The appeal was–is–understandable. After all, it is a reasonably healthier way to enjoy chocolate. In shorthand, cacao nibs are crushed cacao beans before they become chocolate....

A rundown of Filipino chocolate brands

A rundown of Filipino chocolate brands

No other food is more universally beloved than chocolate. In the Philippines, our local chocolate bars, tsokolate drinks, and chocolate-flavored deserts have always been part of the local food culture. Here is a list of local chocolate brands to satisfy your sweet...

Celebrate Noche Buena with these holiday hams

Celebrate Noche Buena with these holiday hams

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;...

10 ways to upgrade your Fruit Salad

10 ways to upgrade your Fruit Salad

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...

The range of roasted pigs in the Philippines

The range of roasted pigs in the Philippines

A grand celebration in the Philippines is incomplete without an irrational amount of food, and holding court in the center of it all is the glorious lechon. This culinary tradition may have been passed on to us by our Spanish colonizers, but over the centuries we have...

Learning about lechon

Learning about lechon

It may not seem like it, but the history of the beloved lechon has political and religious roots. The name would suggest that lechon was adapted from the Spanish invaders who colonized the Philippines for over 300 years. Leche means “milk,” referencing the suckling...

Traditional dishes Filipinos enjoy during Christmas

Traditional dishes Filipinos enjoy during Christmas

No Filipino celebration is ever complete without food. Birthdays are observed with Pinoy-style spaghetti and hotdogs on sticks with marshmallows. On All Saints Day, families feast over bowls of ginataan after visiting their loved ones in the cemetery. Whenever there...

The Favorite Cookbooks of Local Chefs

The Favorite Cookbooks of Local Chefs

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...

Why cookbooks remain relevant

Why cookbooks remain relevant

Cookbooks are more than just a collection of recipes people can turn to for kitchen experiments and references. They are part memoir: when the author culls memories of his or her childhood, moments when the dishes are not just enjoyed but celebrated, the book becomes...