The Philippines is the only Catholic country in Asia.

Although there are other religions (Muslim being a far second and focused mostly in the southern region), 300 years of Spanish colonization since the coming of Magellan in 1521, the Catholic church has been a strong influence in the culture of this South East Asian country. So when Holy Week comes around, business essentially comes to a standstill for a whole week starting from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. The traffic congestion in the Greater Manila area miraculously disappears because the urban dwellers venture out to the different provinces.

Naturally, long traffic lines form heading out of the city starts usually on the weekend of Palm Sunday. And the same lines form coming back on Easter Sunday. Some horror stories claim upwards of 10 hours of travel time. Not surprising, considering many provincial roads are only 2 lanes. It takes a skillful driver to know when to overtake and cut travel time.

R Samonte shared the creative routes he took to avoid the traffic. Video made for Traveling Boy.

What Events Happen during Holy Week?

Moriones Festival

The big tourist attraction is the colorful Moriones Festival in the island of Marinduque (just south of Manila in the big island of Luzon). It is an annual Lenten festival where the locals wear paper mache face masks and costumes depicting the Roman guards who crucified Christ. In the sweltering heat these actors search the village for a legendary folk hero named Longinus who betrayed Rome by becoming a Christian. Rumor has it that Longinus had one good eye. But when he pierced the side of Jesus who was hanging on the cross, the blood and water fell on his bad eye and, miraculously, he was then able to see.

A Spanish priest named Dionisio Santiago started this festival back in the Spanish occupation of the Philippines in 1887. As in many traditions, there is no historical evidence that this man, nor the miracle existed but why bother with historical accuracy when you’ve having fun, right? In fact, the reason there are so many religious festivals in the Philippines is because creating festivals was part of the Spanish strategy for conquest: Instead of a prolonged bloody war, the Spaniards realized the locals loved festivals; so by creating more festivals more and more locals salivated to participate in the merriment and this resulted in fewer unrest.

14 Stations of the Cross

In Bulacan (north of Manila) devotees do a pilgrimage to “The Grotto.” A land owner who was dying of cancer was miraculously healed and she sponsored a construction of the 14 stations of the cross where life-sized sculptures of the stages of Christ’s suffering can be prayed to.

There are other religious traditions like the Pabasa (literally translated as “The Reading”) where a designated reader (or readers) read the passions of Christ out loud. Churches also add the washing of the feet commemorating Christ’s washing the feet of his apostles during the Last Supper. Many other reenactments also take place — giving much opportunity for the devotees to grab the spotlight.

High Mass

High Mass is ordinary hour-long mass in steroids. The celebration adds a long procession with incense and extra long prayers. There are a lot more singing.

I heard some people actually do bloody penitence. Is that true?

Flaggelation

It certainly is. For several “sinners” this is the one time of the year when they can make amends for their sinful behavior during the rest of the year by way of flagellation. Yes, you heard me right. It’s actually a great religious bargain — one day of self-induced pain to wash out the 364 days of sinful living.

The flaggelants hide their faces under a thin piece of cloth, strip down to the waist and march down the street for all the world to sympathize with them as they whip themselves with broken glass and other thorny material. Why? Catholics (especially the Filipino brand of Catholicism) believe in rewards for their suffering. They believe in sacrificing and long long prayers. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the approval from man and god.

C Fernando shared this video of a procession of street flagellants and cross bearers.

Nailing on the cross

Different towns have their unique versions of the religious festival but Pampanga (north of Manila) is the most popular one because it boasts of actual nailings on the cross. It’s not as bad as you think. The nails are quite small and they are thoroughly washed in alcohol before they are hammered into strategic areas of their hands to do the least damage. And their weight is supported on the cross by ropes on their hands and foot platforms. Of course, the pain is still real.

From Western eyes these all look like silly barbaric superstition but to the locals, this is their way of life. This is how they display their total devotion to God. You know how the saying goes: “When in the Philippines, do as the Romans do.”

The post Holy Week in the Philippines appeared first on Traveling Archive.

What is Filipino food really? This was a question posed by a Filipino-American who grew up in New York as he traveled to his native Philippines with the late Anthony Bourdain in the latter’s food and travel show No Reservations. Growing up in America, this guy knew for sure what Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean cuisine is. But Filipino? As we somehow expected their travel to the Philippines did not yield any satisfactory answers. But in this case some questions are better left unanswered.

The Philippines’ 7,000 islands and multiple ethnicities have made its cuisine very diverse. Add the influence of the Malays, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, American and contemporary fusion trends and you will be as confused as that guy on No Reservations was. But such kind of influence has made many Filipino tourists and overseas workers adapt to foreign dishes with ease.

Perhaps, this is a major reason why Filipino cuisine is not so well-known internationally even if millions of Filipinos live and work outside their home country. Individuals of the Filipino diaspora tend to assimilate into the surrounding culture and try not to stand out; consequently Filipino food never went beyond their house kitchens and dining rooms. (That, however, is beginning to change as second and third generation Pinoys – an informal term for Filipinos – on a search for their ethnic identity are beginning to promote Pinoy cuisine where they are.)

Like any other cultural component, food is influenced by the geography of a place. Because the Philippines is a tropical archipelago lying in the apex of the Coral Triangle, seafood is a staple of local cuisine. Most of the seafood we have enjoyed at our beach and island-hopping forays are simply fried, grilled, broiled or steamed without much fancy but often very fresh (taken straight from or very close to the source). At other times they might be included in a soup dish (tinola or sinigang) or cooked in creamy coconut milk.

As with most cuisines of the world Filipino food is constantly evolving, having been shaped by history and by many unique and affluent cultures. Influences from China, India and Arabia are evident in Filipino food and culture due to economic trade over time. Influences from Spain (actually more from Mexico from which Spain ruled the Philippines) and America may be observed throughout the country’s colonial history.

Each region is known for specialty dishes and in many cases these are also the result of their geography and consequently their farm produce (or lack thereof).

Pampanga, home of great Filipino chefs, is known as the food capital of the country. There is a dizzying array of Kapampangan food available but the ones that have been adopted by the rest of the country include sisig, tocino, kare-kare, morcon and bringhe (kind of similar to biryani from South Asia).

There are exotic Kapampangan dishes too such as betute tugak (stuffed frog), camaru (deep fried, adobo-style mole crickets) and balo-balo or buro (mudfish fermented in rice) most of which may look intimidating to the fainthearted but which we did try and enjoyed.

Humba is a popular dish from the Visayas group of island provinces that has been adopted elsewhere in the country. The Visayas are known for fish dishes, no doubt because of the abundance of water in the region. But they have also developed their own specialties besides: the La Paz batchoy (a noodle soup made with pork offal, crushed pork cracklings, chicken stock, beef loin and round noodles), chicken inasal (grilled chicken marinated in a mixture of calamansi, pepper, coconut vinegar and annatto), and pansit molo (a pork dumpling soup using wonton wrappers) of the Ilonggos, a people group of the western Visayas.

Although you’ll find lechon or roasted pork all over the Philippines in different versions, Cebu province in the central Visayas is famous for their version of this dish. Lechon is a Spanish word that originally refers to a roasted suckling pig, hence the obvious Spanish influence. Often the preferred lechon – the lechon de leche – is a suckling pig whose meat is tender and whose skin is super crispy. How good is the Filipino lechon? Anthony Bourdain once said it’s the best pork he’s ever had. The “Lechon Diva,” Dedet de Leon, and her Truffle Rice Stuffed de Leche was awarded in London as the Tastiest Dish in Asia for 2015.

(See food vlogger Mark Wiens’ video of the Lechon Diva’s specialty lechon and other Pinoy dishes here, get an idea of what Filipino boodle food fight is and hear the crispy crack of the lechon skin as it is cut and devoured.)

From the Ilocos region in Luzon comes the mixed vegetable dish pinakbet, yet another crispy pork dish called bagnet and empanada. Some towns like Batac and Vigan have their own specialty empanada, a deep fried rice wrapper filled with various meat, egg and vegetable ingredients. (We should also mention the dried espada or beltfish from La Union that is so crispy good when fried that a Malaysian-American friend and mentor calls it the “Philippine bacon.”)

We’ve also come to enjoy the fresh vegetables and coffee beans from the mountain provinces of Northern Luzon and still try to get a supply whenever we can even if we no longer live there. Farther down south in Luzon, the abundance of coconuts in Bicol and the Bicolanos’ love of chili peppers have resulted in spicy dishes cooked in coconut milk such as laing. The Bicol Express, originally from the Malate district of Manila, is inspired by Bicolano cuisine. This stew is made from chili peppers, coconut milk, shrimp paste, pork, ginger, garlic and onions.

Mindanao, because it is closest to Indonesia and Malaysia, shares a lot in common with the culture and cuisine of these countries. The rich, pungent-smelling, fleshy durian from Davao and nearby provinces is a favorite of ours. And then of course, the inihaw na panga ng tuna (grilled yellowfin tuna jaw) is something that we always try to get every time we visit Davao, that is until we became plant-based eaters. In the past Visayan settlers have migrated here bringing with them their cuisine which has evolved over time to fuse with local fare. The food of our Muslim countrymen in western Mindanao though is something we still have to try.

Finally no one talks about Pinoy food without mentioning the internationally famous (or infamous) balut, originally from Leo’s hometown of Pateros. A not-so-well known fact is that this fertilized developing duck egg embryo (boiled before consuming) has its beginnings from China. Leo’s Chinese ancestors were said to have brought it with them to the country sometime in the 18^th century. After some more research we later discovered that while balut originated from Pateros, its creation was accidental. A Chinese immigrant named Lao Chuy who had married a Filipina settled in Pateros in the 18^th century. While trying to hatch duck eggs by heating them over charcoal, he ended up cooking them instead. When he tried them he found the cooked embryo delicious and started to produce and sell them. The original balut soon became a hit among locals. Surprisingly most Chinese-Filipinos never became fond of the balut. It is not unique to the country, however. There are similar eggs in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia which we encountered during our visits to these countries.

Our travels are not just about enjoying the beauty of the places we visit. Even when just traveling to other places in the Philippines we have always appreciated and relished the diversity of the people, their culture and their cuisine – all of which contribute to the richness of our travel experiences.

The post Musings About Pinoy (Filipino) Food appeared first on Traveling Archive.