In the Philippines, life is heavily involved with family and friends, and most especially, delicious meals. Filipinos love food because it’s very delicious, and we enjoy eating it with others. Food is very much like another language of love or appreciation to Filipinos. Food can be replaced for words that Filipinos struggle to say out loud.
In our culture, cooking homemade meals plays an important role by, not just bringing family and friends together, but cooking homemade meals preserves our Filipino heritage in households that aren’t in the Philippines.
For Filipinos, food can create a sense of home, belonging, and comfort. Filipino food is very simple. Sometimes the ingredients we have at home make the best meals, especially when you cook it surrounded with family.
Our culture highly emphasizes on strong family bonds and hospitality. Almost every Filipino gathering is like Thanksgiving, bringing families and friends together to be grateful for one another, and eating an enormous amount of food. Even if you’re not Filipino, you’re still family because of Filipinos’ generosity and warm welcoming.
Food can mean love and appreciation, but for Filipinos, food can be also like a truce between parents and their children.
“Kumain ka na ba?” Means “have you eaten yet?” in Taglong. In every Filipino household, someone will ask if you’ve eaten yet. If you say no, they’ll make you food and if you say yes, they’ll still make you food.
Asking if someone has eaten then making them food right away is one of the most polite thing that Filipinos do.
Since it’s Filipino American History Month, it’s only appropriate to write about Filipino food. Food is more than just food to Filipinos; it’s love, togetherness, the bonding of families, and most importantly, it reflects Filipino people, history, and culture from a specific region of the island.
