Pinoy Christmas food

December 3, 2010

Filipinos love Christmas as much as they love food, and to have both in one occasion makes up for one big, happy celebration all over the country.

The Christmas season gives people the opportunity to prepare and eat celebratory dishes or special delicacies that they couldn’t otherwise afford or be bothered with in any regular day. There is a different, special feeling when these foods are served and enjoyed with family and friends during this holiday period, and Filipinos go out of their way to make the most out of it.

Simbang Gabi favorites

One of the Filipino Christmas traditions is the Simbang Gabi, a series of 9 pre-dawn masses that begins on December 16th and lasts until the day of the Christmas Eve, December 24th. Part of this tradition is the belief that you will be granted a wish if you attend all 9 masses as well as an after-mass breakfast of the following delicacies:

Bibingka – It’s not Christmas in the Philippines without bibingka. Although this rice cake is available all throughout the year, there seems to be a special taste to it when you buy it from a vendor outside the church and eat it after Simbang Gabi. Made from galapong (glutinous rice), sugar and coconut milk, bibingka is placed in a pan lined with banana leaves and baked in a clay oven with coals underneath and on top. This is served topped with itlog na maalat (salted eggs), kesong puti (white cheese), butter and, sometimes, grated coconut or sugar.

Puto bumbong – Wherever you find bibingka, you will most probably find puto bumbong. This purple-colored pastry (courtesy of food coloring) is made from ground glutinous rice and steamed in a special steamer with bamboo cylinders. The tubes are half-filled with the purple rice batter and wrapped with cloth to avoid burning the hands of the vendor upon the removal of the cooked puto bumbong, which is spread with butter or margarine and topped with sugar and grated coconut before being wrapped in banana leaves.

Tsokolate – The traditional tsokolate or hot chocolate drink served after Simbang Gabi is made from tablea (dry, powdery chocolate tables), or cocoa.

Salabat – To those who don’t have a sweet tooth, salabat or tea brewed from ginger root is a good alternative to tsokolate for your after-mass partner for bibingka or puto bumbong.

Noche Buena stars

Probably the biggest highlight of the holiday season in the country is not Christmas Day itself but Christmas Eve, December 24th. This is celebrated by attending an anticipation mass on the night of the 24th and then going home to wait for the clock to strike 12, signaling the start of the traditional Christmas midnight dinner called Noche Buena. The family will gather to open gifts, celebrate and share the spirit of love and goodwill over a feast that includes the following:

Lechon­ – Although to most average Filipino families this is almost a luxury, lechon is probably the number one celebratory food in the country. A whole pig roasted over a spit, with crispy skin and tender meat, lechon is always a sure winner in any celebration. With the Christmas season of sharing and generosity, some Filipinos believe that it’s worth every penny. Go easy, though, or you’ll find your blood pressure shooting a notch or two.

Christmas Ham – The appearance of this in red-and-green holiday boxes in supermarkets is one of the tell-tale signs that the Christmas season is upon us. Although varying in sizes, prices, presentation and flavors, the typical Christmas ham served in Noche Buena is usually made from pigue or pig’s legs without the bones but with the skin and fat intact and flavored with honey and pineapple juice. This is a staple in Noche Buena, usually together with another well-known Christmas regular, the Quezo de Bola.

Quezo de Bola – Like bibingka and puto bumbong, Quezo de Bola is almost always paired with Christmas ham and is one of the iconic foods of Filipino Christmas. Translated from Spanish as “Ball of Cheese”, quezo de bola is actually a Dutch cheese called Edam named after the town of Edam in the province of North Holland. This cheese is aged for at least 17 weeks, has a pale yellow color and covered with a coat of red paraffin wax. It is slightly salty and nutty with almost no smell compared to other cheeses. It becomes firmer and its flavor sharpens as it ages and does not spoil easily.

Filipino ulam, atbp – Christmas, just like any other festive celebrations, calls for the preparation of Filipino favorite ulam or dishes made special with extra touches, ingredients or effort. These often include relleno (stuffed chicken or milkfish), mechado (beef stew traditionally cooked with beef briskets, potatoes, bell peppers and tomato sauce), afritdada (pork or chicken cooked with vegetables and tomato sauce), caldereta (spicy tomato-based stew made of beef or goat), menudo (pork and liver dish in tomato sauce), paella (a rice dish of Spanish origin), morcon (beef roll stuffed with various ingredients), among others. These are enjoyed with rice or as pulutan during a Christmas drinking session.

Spaghetti/Pasta and/or Pancit ­– To those who don’t like rice for Noche Buena, noodles and pasta are the alternatives. Pancit may vary from pancit canton, pancit guisado, pancit malabon, to palabok, among others. Pasta, on the other hand, can range from the usual Filipino-style sweet spaghetti to more sophisticated ones like carbonara, lasagna, etc.

Desserts – Some of the main desserts traditionally made for Noche Buena are leche flan (caramel custard made of eggs and milk), ube halaya (purple yam), buko/fruit salad (strips of coconut meat and/or fruits mixed with condensed milk and cream), macaroni salad (cooked macaroni pasta mixed with mayonnaise and other ingredients), maja blanca (a soft dessert made of coconut and corn starch), native kakanins (puto, sapin-sapin, kutsinta) and western desserts like ice cream, cakes, etc.

Filed under: Pinoy Culture