an introduction to christmas eating in the philippines

Lechon during Noche Buena.

Christmas in the Philippines means lots of eating opportunities.

A majority Catholic country with a long history as a Spanish colony, most people in the Philippines celebrate Christmas with a lot of church-going, eating, and more eating.

From about December 16 to 24, churches - both Catholics and Protestants - hold nightly mass or service, locally known as "simbang gabi" in Tagalog. But, in practicality, they usually occur before the crack of dawn so it is called "simbang madaling araw" (or pre-dawn worship).

For food lovers, simbang gabi is exciting because of what happens after the mass or service. Because they tend to be well-attended, many food vendors usually set up their stalls outside the churches. There, you can find delicious goodies. Watch out for:

primer on filipino food when visiting the philippines (or that pinoy restaurant near you)

Pinoy (as inhabitants of the Philippine islands are lovingly called) food is an unsurprising mish mash of versions of Spanish, Chinese, Malay and whatever-the-natives-ate food. After all, the islands were colonized or visited by imperialists and traders for centuries. The dishes range from vegetarian to meat centric, and from light to heavy. So, if you go to the Philippines, or to a Filipino restaurant (also sometimes called "Filipino Chinese" or "Filipino Hawaiian" or whatever else Filipino it is named) in a town near you, check out the following savory dishes.

Oh yeah, I'm skipping dessert because there are too many to mention. I'm also skipping pansit (noodles) and lumpia (eggroll) because there are many types of each dish and those are worthy of their own individual posts. Finally, I'm skipping all the simply grilled or fried seafood, meat or vegetables (e.g., grilled fish, squid, shrimp, eggplant, chicken etc.) that Pinoys also love to eat because they're pretty much self explanatory.

Aligue from Abe.

Aligue (ah-lee-GEH) - you know when you open the shell of a crab, there's a gooey reddish pink stuff in the shell? That's aligue (or the cholesterol). The stuff is sweet and rich -- maybe too rich, so just have a small portion. Although it can be served by itself, you can also find it mixed in fried rice.