[Dirty Sick Pig]

Hello! This is my first ever post to this group.

HISTORICAL. During the couple of hundred of years of the Galleon Trade
between Manila and Acapulco, the importation by Mexico of Filipino
shipbuilders, Mexican and Filipino sailors jumping ship in each other's
country usually with matrimonial intent, and the formal governance by
Spain of their colony Las Islas Filipinas via Mexico, plus the
deportation from Mexico to the Philippines of an entire tribe of Olmecas
who ****ed of the Spaniards, it would be impossible not to have a very
healthy exchange of recipes and the inevitable adaptation of ingredients
in each culture's cooking.

GASTRONOMICAL. There is a very old city in the Philippines, in Pampanga
Province, called Mexico and pronounced the Mexican way. This
information is not just in passing, but to point out that Pampangueños
have a very strong passion for cooking (and eating), definitely stronger
than in other regions. Many Filipinos who formally earned the title of
*Chef* are Pampangueños.

GEOGRAPHICAL. The Philippines is subtropical and just off the coast of
mainland Asia on the Pacific side, so there are many ingredients and
spices available there not originally found in Central America but got
imported into Mexico. Also, the almost daily rains in the tropics
produce common fruits of gigantic proportions.

UNIQUENESS. For example, the avocados in Mexico and North America will
be just about the size of the seed of a tropical avocado. Tropical
papayas tend to be about two feet long and just over a foot in girth,
their seeds the size of peas. There are over ten varieties of edible
bananas in the Philippines, but the plantains there, I think, were
transplanted from Mexico.

There is tamales in the Philippines, but it's wrapped in banana leaves
just like the Oaxatlan (sp?) tamales, and made with glutinous rice meal
instead of corn meal.

INTERMARRIAGE. Adobo and palapas are reputedly of Philippine origin;
adobo is the unofficial national food of Filipinos. The word "palapas"
is an adaptation of "palaspas," which are the palm fronds brandished by
Filipinos at the church courtyard for blessing by the priest after
Easter Sunday mass. It is also the name of a holiday dish very similar
to the Mexican palapas.

DILUTION. It should also be noted that due to centuries of trade with
China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaya and Polynesia/Micronesia, Philippine
recipes transferred to Mexico long ago may have strong oriental and
Pacific Islands overtones that Mexican gourmets may not realize, such as
the hundreds of way to use and eat coconut--both the fruit and the tree
itself.

I could go on and on, but would like to read what others could
contribute to assuage my curiosity. Please post links and printed
references. I'll keep on adding in my responses whatever I could glean
from old Filipino folks (who, until the American conquest, spoke Spanish
AND cooked Spanish style) in my responses to others' posts.

But before I forget, Filipinos who settled in Mexico during the Spanish
colonial era were called "Chinos" and that, I think, is what their
descendants are still called, albeit inaccurately, to this day. They
may provide many golden nuggets to this thread if anyone knows any one
of them.

All this yada-yada is making me hungry. I'd better attack my camarones
rebosados and push 'em down with Cerveza San Miguel and Tecate Beer.

[Please don't be offended by my screen name. It's been around Usenet
for more than ten years.]

DSP

[Rechazador de Disparates]

On Jun 26, 10:07�am, Dirty Sick Pig > wrote:

> All this yada-yada is making me hungry. *I'd better attack my camarones
> rebosados and push 'em down with Cerveza San Miguel and Tecate Beer.

Camarones rebosados are breaded shrimp. If you saw that dish on the
wall menu in a taqueria, it would be called camarones panados or
something like that.

Did Filipinos ever grow wheat to make flour?

http://www.acomerbien.net/recetas/re...hp?Receta=1449

[Rechazador de Disparates]

On Jun 26, 10:07?am, Dirty Sick Pig > wrote:

> Adobo and palapas are reputedly of Philippine origin;
> adobo is the unofficial national food of Filipinos.

http://www.filipinofoodrecipes.net/adobo.htm

Filipino style adobo can be spiced up with ginger, but ginger just
doesn't taste the same as a chile pepper.?

[Dirty Sick Pig]

Rechazador de Disparates wrote:
> On Jun 26, 10:07�am, Dirty Sick Pig > wrote:
>
>> All this yada-yada is making me hungry. �I'd better attack my camarones
>> rebosados and push 'em down with Cerveza San Miguel and Tecate Beer.
>
> Camarones rebosados are breaded shrimp. If you saw that dish on the
> wall menu in a taqueria, it would be called camarones panados or
> something like that.

You'll find this hard to believe, but camaron rebosado despite its
Spanish name is considered Chinese food by Filipinos. Nobody makes them
at home! Chinese restaurants there use tempura batter instead of bread
crumbs. This is basically the same shrimp preparation in sweet-and-sour
shrimp found in U.S. Chinese restaurants.

Filipino cooks will rarely consider disguising the taste and appearance
of fresh seafood with batter or bread crumbs. It's all in the marinade,
broth, sauces, dips, and oil used for frying. Only coconut shell
charcoal will do for special grilled dishes!

Fresh seafood to Filipinos mean the fish, crustaceans, shellfish and
squids are still alive by the time they get to the sink for prepping, so
I can say they're a little bit snobbish about seafood freshness. Of
course there are fish that die the moment they leave the water so
there's one exception to the rule. But it is nice for seafood lovers to
live on 7,000+ islands with the South China Sea to the left and Pacific
Ocean to the right. (Now I want some escabeche!)

> Did Filipinos ever grow wheat to make flour?

Yes, just enough to support a baking industry and exotic recipes, and
other industries calling for flour. Flour is rarely stocked in homes.
Rice flour and corn flour are preferred. Excess trigo production
is.....food for prize pigs! I don't think wheat is indigenous to the
islands and it must be a transplant. It's rice, arroz, and more rice!

We have an arroz caldo dish - rice and chicken chunks in rice gruel,
flavored with ginger, lightly roasted garlic, scallions and spices.
Some regions substitute boiled tripe for the chicken.

You will start to notice how most Filipino dishes have Spanish names, as
well as the ingredients and utensils used.

> http://www.acomerbien.net/recetas/re...hp?Receta=1449

Thanks for the link, and for responding.

My next contribution will be Filipino lechon, and I have eaten it side
by side with Mexican Lechon. As advance information, Mexican lechon
with the fat and meat scraped off leaving just the skin.....is what
Filipinos would call "chicharon" although there are at least five other
varieties of Filipino chicharonnes. More on the bar chows later.

DSP

[Dirty Sick Pig]

Rechazador de Disparates wrote:
> On Jun 26, 10:07?am, Dirty Sick Pig > wrote:
>
>> Adobo and palapas are reputedly of Philippine origin;
>> adobo is the unofficial national food of Filipinos.
>
> http://www.filipinofoodrecipes.net/adobo.htm
>
> Filipino style adobo can be spiced up with ginger, but ginger just
> doesn't taste the same as a chile pepper.?

Filipinos for some reason are wary of ginger but do make good ginger
tea. It's used sparingly, and there's a deep yellow-gold variety used
for presentation and food coloring. But when it comes to garlic, Emeril
Lagasse will approve and applaud. We use TONS of the stuff!

As for spicing it up, we have a small chile pepper called "labuyo" which
is common in Southeast Asia and is used in everything. All other
peppers are decorative. Labuyo is so nasty that a breed of fighting
cock was named after it. The little bomblet is featured as well in lots
of old folks' sayings and modern smartypants insults.

I will compare its heat to the bigger Thai and Chinese Schezuan
pepper--which must be roasted like habanero. The labuyo pepper is never
grilled nor roasted because that will be like discharging pepper spray
into a closed room. It is crushed or chopped and used fresh. It can
also be pickled in cane vinegar. Some people boil it in sweet coconut
milk but I've never had the courage to try it. My labuyo pepper for
each mouthful is literally the size of a pinhead, cut from as far
forward towards the tip as possible.

[shawn]

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 06:34:49 GMT, Dirty Sick Pig
> wrote:


>As for spicing it up, we have a small chile pepper called "labuyo" which
>is common in Southeast Asia and is used in everything. All other
>peppers are decorative. Labuyo is so nasty that a breed of fighting
>cock was named after it. The little bomblet is featured as well in lots
>of old folks' sayings and modern smartypants insults.

According to what I just read the Sili Labuyo (Bird’s Eye chilli)
comes in at around 80,000-100,000 Scoville units which puts as just
about as hot as the lower end of the habanero.

http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/sili-chilli
http://www.answers.com/topic/thai-pepper

[Rechazador de Disparates]

On Jun 26, 11:00�pm, Dirty Sick Pig > wrote:
> You'll find this hard to believe, but camaron rebosado despite its
> Spanish name is considered Chinese food by Filipinos. *Nobody makes them
> at home! *Chinese restaurants there use tempura batter instead of bread
> crumbs. *This is basically the same shrimp preparation in sweet-and-sour
> shrimp found in U.S. Chinese restaurants.

Rebozar (culinary) to dip (in batter, eggs, or bread crumbs)

Consiste en cubrir el alimento con harina o pan rallado y,
opcionalmente huevo, para que forme una capa crujiente y que evita que
el interior quede seco.

Si solo lleva harina se denomina "a la andaluza".

Si lleva huevo y harina se llama "a la romana".

Con pan rallado y huevo se habla "de empanado".

Cuando se usan mezclas de harina, algun emulsionante (bicarbonato, por
ejemplo) y algun l�quido (uno tipico es la cerveza) se habla "de
rebozados" en general.

Uno de ellos se llama "gabardina".

Otro tipo de rebozado es la base del tempura japones, que fue una
aportacion de los jesuitas portugueses a la gastronom�a japonesa.

Gabardina (cloth) gabardine; (overall) raincoat

Gabardine - a smooth durable twilled cloth esp. of worsted or cotton

Rebozo (mantilla) shawl, mantilla

[Dirty Sick Pig]

shawn wrote:
> On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 06:34:49 GMT, Dirty Sick Pig
> > wrote:
>
>> As for spicing it up, we have a small chile pepper called "labuyo" which
>> is common in Southeast Asia and is used in everything. All other
>> peppers are decorative. Labuyo is so nasty that a breed of fighting
>> cock was named after it. The little bomblet is featured as well in lots
>> of old folks' sayings and modern smartypants insults.
>
> According to what I just read the Sili Labuyo (Bird’s Eye chilli)
> comes in at around 80,000-100,000 Scoville units which puts as just
> about as hot as the lower end of the habanero.

I am deeply in love with my tongue because it's the only one I have. I
refuse to test this 80K-100K figure so I'll take your word for it. But
I know what you say about habanero; a friend from San Antonio, Tx gave
me a 1-1/2 quart Bell jar of tightly packed roasted habaneros in brine
and I barely used the first 1/2" from the top. That was over two years
ago so I'm good to go until mid-century. Until then I hang on to his
nice antique jar. :-)

> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/sili-chilli
> http://www.answers.com/topic/thai-pepper

Thanks for these "hot" links!

[shawn]

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:46:48 GMT, Dirty Sick Pig
> wrote:

>shawn wrote:
>> On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 06:34:49 GMT, Dirty Sick Pig
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> As for spicing it up, we have a small chile pepper called "labuyo" which
>>> is common in Southeast Asia and is used in everything. All other
>>> peppers are decorative. Labuyo is so nasty that a breed of fighting
>>> cock was named after it. The little bomblet is featured as well in lots
>>> of old folks' sayings and modern smartypants insults.
>>
>> According to what I just read the Sili Labuyo (Bird’s Eye chilli)
>> comes in at around 80,000-100,000 Scoville units which puts as just
>> about as hot as the lower end of the habanero.
>
>I am deeply in love with my tongue because it's the only one I have. I
>refuse to test this 80K-100K figure so I'll take your word for it. But
>I know what you say about habanero; a friend from San Antonio, Tx gave
>me a 1-1/2 quart Bell jar of tightly packed roasted habaneros in brine
>and I barely used the first 1/2" from the top. That was over two years
>ago so I'm good to go until mid-century. Until then I hang on to his
>nice antique jar. :-)
>
You know I find it strange. Some times I can easily handle habaneros,
and other times I find Jalapenos too hot. I will say that I got a
bunch of dried habaneros a few years back and found that those weren't
that hot, and made a nice addition to a pot of chili.

I'm one that believes in adding chilis (powder or fresh) to a dish for
the taste and not just going for the burn. It reminds me of this Thai
place I used to go to with a bunch of guys I worked with. One day an
Indian guy (by ethnicity since he was either total raised in the USA
or mostly) went with us. They served most dishes with a variety of
heat levels from no heat, to a 1 (low heat) up to a 5 (crazy hot.)

Me and this guy ordered the same dish, but I got it at a 1 and he went
for a 5. He said that the heat doesn't bother him. Needless to say
that was way too hot for him. LOL. It was funny looking at the two
plates as mine just had a slight tinge of brown too it and his was
totally brown due to the spices. I tried a bit of his dish and the
spices just overwhelmed the taste of the dish. That's why I stuck with
my level 1 heat since it provided some spice while still allowing you
to enjoy the taste of the underlying dish.
>> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/sili-chilli
>> http://www.answers.com/topic/thai-pepper
>
>Thanks for these "hot" links!

LOL. You are welcome.

[Wayne Lundberg]

"Dirty Sick Pig" > wrote in message
news:0Jbgi.2374$YS.1641@trnddc03...
> Hello! This is my first ever post to this group.
>
---snip for brevity---

> All this yada-yada is making me hungry. I'd better attack my camarones
> rebosados and push 'em down with Cerveza San Miguel and Tecate Beer.
>
> [Please don't be offended by my screen name. It's been around Usenet for
> more than ten years.]
>
> DSP

My culinary 'gusto' is basically Mexican, and tropical Mexican at that. I
love a Mango de Manila, thrive on avocados and corn based anything. But I
also have great admiration for some 'Filipino' goodies.

Back when I had my own machine shop I let my secretary, a Filipina, lead the
company July 4 party. We got a pig, shoved a shaft up it's you know what,
put the shaft on uprights, built a good fire and while my foreman and I
sipped tuba and beer during the night, took turns turning the shaft (and the
pig) until dawn's early light. The ladies went to work making poi, rice,
other goodies too many to mention since a Filipino day of eating consists of
at least 20 dishes including the roast pig.

Now that I'm in Chula Vista, otherwise known as Chula Juana for our Siamese
joining with Tijuana, I still hanker for a good mango de Manila...

Tell us more!

[Dirty Sick Pig]

Wayne Lundberg wrote:
> "Dirty Sick Pig" > wrote in message
> news:0Jbgi.2374$YS.1641@trnddc03...
>> Hello! This is my first ever post to this group.
>>
> ---snip for brevity---
>
>> All this yada-yada is making me hungry. I'd better attack my camarones
>> rebosados and push 'em down with Cerveza San Miguel and Tecate Beer.
>>
>> [Please don't be offended by my screen name. It's been around Usenet for
>> more than ten years.]
>>
>> DSP
>
> My culinary 'gusto' is basically Mexican, and tropical Mexican at that.

I'm really interested in how Mexican food adjusted to the tropics!

> I love a Mango de Manila, thrive on avocados and corn based anything. But I
> also have great admiration for some 'Filipino' goodies.

I would gag if you tell me you can eat one Philippine avocado all by
yourself.

As for corn-based Filipino food, I can only think of charcoal broiled,
roasted, boiled and lately, microwaved whole ears of corn. There is one
corn-rice-cocomilk gruel dish, but it calls for canned cream of corn.
Ginataang (boiled in coconut milk-"gata") Mais (who needs a translation)
is an in-between-meals goody designed to spoil any appetite left for
lunch or dinner.

There is only one island, Cebu, where corn is really the staple and not
rice. Everywhere else rice reigns supreme.

> Back when I had my own machine shop I let my secretary, a Filipina, lead the
> company July 4 party. We got a pig, shoved a shaft up it's you know what,
> put the shaft on uprights, built a good fire and while my foreman and I
> sipped tuba and beer during the night, took turns turning the shaft (and the
> pig) until dawn's early light. The ladies went to work making poi, rice,
> other goodies too many to mention since a Filipino day of eating consists of
> at least 20 dishes including the roast pig.

I already promised to start a sub-thread on Philippine and Mexican
lechon laid side-by-side. Still working on it, there will be pictures!

Poi is Hawaiian, a paste made from the root of taro. If the cook
doesn't know his or her stuff, you simply die. Taro is not poisonous,
but improper processing and cooking can turn it toxic. It's also good
for making permanent fences, archs and trellises.

> Now that I'm in Chula Vista, otherwise known as Chula Juana for our Siamese
> joining with Tijuana, I still hanker for a good mango de Manila...
>
> Tell us more!

The term "Mango de Manila" almost caused a diplomatic rift between the
Philippines and Mexico just over a year ago!

This mango variety is the best the Philippines has to offer, and
probably the best in the world. However, it's called "mangang kalabaw"
in the Philippines, which is irreverent and unsavory to the unwary.
Kalabaw is Asia's tractor, the water buffalo (carabao), and produces
piles twice as big as a cow's. Water Buffalo Mango doesn't sound so
cool and appetizing in any language including Filipino.

Water Buffalo Mango has a sub-variety called Susong Dalaga (maiden's
tit). A dwarf variety is called Supsupin (suckable) <sigh>.

Anyway, the main buffalo here, I mean, beef, is Mexico's branding of
Mexican-grown fruit as manila mangoes, with Mexico arguing strongly that
"manila" (not "Manila) has long ago evolved into an adjective, and there
are available worldwide such things as manila paper, manila bags, manila
hemp, manila rum, manila rope, and manila men (NOT mail order husbands
but more on this on a thread on Louisiana shrimp).

Of course Mexico was taking advantage of a term not technically true,
but the term "manila" no longer belongs exclusively to the Philippines.
It's just like "hola" that no longer belongs exclusively to Hispanics
and "shalom" that no longer belongs to Jews, but to the whole world.
Other examples are "Aloha" and "matey."

The Philippine government's reply was to cite champagne as an example of
a term which cannot be used on a bubbly unless it was produced in the
Champagne Region of France, and a host of other examples. However, this
practice and the other examples used by Manila are enforceable under
international treaties, the main ingredient lacking in Manila's
arguments. Naturally, it lost "manila," but I can't really see any
damage done.

As I see it, Mexico is inadvertently helping the Philippines promote one
of its most exported fruits and foreign exchange earner--fresh, candied,
sun dried, juice, nectar, canned, bottled, mashed, and for Filipinos
overseas, green pickled. Mexico only exports fresh mangoes and no other
forms or by-products. And Mexican manila mangoes can't even come close
to Philippine manila mangoes in size and sugar content. Must be the
soil and water combination. Side by side, there can be no competition.
Only the shape and profiles are the same.

As an aside, Philippine mangoes have long been banned in the U.S. (only)
as a possible--but NEVER proven--carrier of exotic tropical insects. I
think this is more an industry protective rather than a disease control
measure.

So, enjoy your Mexican manila mangoes, probably the only fruit good
enough to warrant heated diplomatic exchanges between capitals and
almost caused Mexican and Filipino ambassadors all over the world to
quit talking to each other.

[Dirty Sick Pig]

shawn wrote:
> You know I find it strange. Some times I can easily handle habaneros,
> and other times I find Jalapenos too hot. I will say that I got a
> bunch of dried habaneros a few years back and found that those weren't
> that hot, and made a nice addition to a pot of chili.

Fresh, canned and bottled jalapeños vary in their heat factors. Just
like apples, there are sweet McIntosh and bland McIntosh. I think it
all depends on the suppliers' suppliers and where the peppers were grown
and how the growers pampered their crop. There are also more than one
variety of jalapeños, if I'm not mistaken.

> I'm one that believes in adding chilis (powder or fresh) to a dish for
> the taste and not just going for the burn. It reminds me of this Thai
> place I used to go to with a bunch of guys I worked with. One day an
> Indian guy (by ethnicity since he was either total raised in the USA
> or mostly) went with us. They served most dishes with a variety of
> heat levels from no heat, to a 1 (low heat) up to a 5 (crazy hot.)

I'm just a Tabasco kind of guy, from my Bloody Mary to my huevos
rancheros. Anything stronger than Tabasco requires more beer and that's
not good for business.

> Me and this guy ordered the same dish, but I got it at a 1 and he went
> for a 5. He said that the heat doesn't bother him. Needless to say
> that was way too hot for him. LOL. It was funny looking at the two
> plates as mine just had a slight tinge of brown too it and his was
> totally brown due to the spices. I tried a bit of his dish and the
> spices just overwhelmed the taste of the dish. That's why I stuck with
> my level 1 heat since it provided some spice while still allowing you
> to enjoy the taste of the underlying dish.

There are dishes in the Philippines where hot peppers are the main
ingredient. Never tried them so I can't comment, but man, those are
things you don't want to sniff!