Philippine Regional Cuisine - PDF

PHILIPPINE REGIONAL CUISINE History • The Philippines was named after King Philip II of Spain (1156-1598) and was Spanish colony for 300 years a The image part with relationship ID rId2 was not found in the file. History • The Philippines’ location between the South China Sea and the Pacifi...

PHILIPPINE REGIONAL CUISINE History • The Philippines was named after King Philip II of Spain (1156-1598) and was Spanish colony for 300 years a The image part with relationship ID rId2 was not found in the file. History • The Philippines’ location between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean has made the islands a crossing point for migrating people all over the world. As a result, the Philippines is made up of a range of different people and ethnic groups. • The first people in the Philippines were hunter-gatherers. • Between 3,000 BC and 2,000 BC, people learned to farm. They grew rice and domesticated animals. • From the 10th AD century, Filipinos traded with China and by the 12th AD century, Arab merchants reached the Philippines and Islam was then introduced. History • Malays, from Malaysia, were also among the first inhabitants of the Philippines. They brought with them the knowledge of preparing hot chilies and the use of coconut milk in sauces to balance the spiciness which is reflected in different Filipino dishes like the Bicol Express. History • The Chinese established colonies in the Philippines between 1200 and 1300 and introduced pansit or Chinese noodle dishes and bean curds. • This Chinese influence on the Philippine cuisine is found in noodle dishes such as bihon, miki, mami, lomi, sotanghon and miswa. • They later introduced egg rolls and soy sauce. • Like the Chinese, the Filipinos consume a variety of dipping sauces to accompany their dishes. History • Spain occupied the Philippines for around 300 years, beginning in 1521 and because of this, a majority of the dishes prepared in the Philippines can be traced back to Spain. • The Spaniards introduced a Mediterranean style of eating and preparing food. Techniques such as braising and sautéing and meals cooked in olive oil are a few examples. • Spain also introduced to the Philippines cooking with seasonings such as garlic, onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers and vinegars. History • The United States then took control of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War in 1898, staying through World War II (19391945) until 1946. • The U. S. Military introduced goods shipped in from their country such as mayonnaise, hot dogs, hamburgers and apple pies. Canned evaporated and condensed milk often replaced the traditional buffalo milk used in desserts such as flans. • Although Americans didn’t make that much of an influence in Philippine cuisine compared to other countries, they certainly changed the way Filipinos dine. They introduced fast food to the Filipinos which can now be found almost everywhere in the Philippines. Topography • An archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, the Philippines is the largest in world that is found in the south eastern coast of the Asian mainland. • Surrounded by water in the east by the Pacific Ocean, south by the Celebes Sea and in the west and north by the South China Sea. Topography • To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan and to its West across the South China Sea is Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo and to the south, the Celebes Sea separates it from the other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Topography • Divided into three populated and mountainous islands: Luzon being the largest with 141,395 square kilometers, Visayas with 56,060 square kilometers and Mindanao with 102,000 square kilometers. • Divided into 15 regions and each is divided into provinces and the provinces divided into cities and municipalities also divided into barangays. Topography • Luzon and Mindanao is distinguished by narrow valleys, alluvial plains, rolling hills and high mountains. • The highest mountains are found in larger islands which are Luzon and Mindanao. The mountain ranges are running from north to south and the altitudes of the mountains vary from 1,790 to 3,144 meters. These mountain ranges are Sierra Madre, the Cordillera and the Cotabato mountain ranges. • The four major lowlands are found in Eastern Cordillera, Central plain of Luzon, Agusan and Zambales. Topography • The smaller islands of the Philippines are mountainous in the interior and are surrounded by narrow strips of irregular flat lowlands which constitute the coastal rims. • Forests cover almost one-half of the land area and are typically tropical with vines and other climbing plants. • Philippines has the finest seaport in Southeast Asia known as the Manila Bay that has an area of 1,970 square kilometers and coastline of 192 kilometers. Topography • Philippines has an estimated coastline of 18,411 kilometers and its islands has beautiful coral reefs which attract tourists from all over the world. • Philippines sits in the unstable Pacific Ring of Fire which means it has a volcanic topography and its climate makes the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources. Staple Food • Rice is the most common staple food in the Philippines. Bread can also be considered a staple food of Filipinos. • White rice is most preferred by Filipinos but some consider brown rice as a substitute because of its added nutritional value. • Philippines is currently the largest importer of rice in the world. The Philippines has around 300,000 square kilometers of which around 43,000 square kilometers of harvested area are used for rice production. • The typical Filipino person will always want to eat meals with rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For Filipinos, rice improves the taste of other foods especially meat.