Five Foods I Miss from the Philippines
Living in Toronto, you not only can see how multicultural the city is- you can taste it too! With all the amount of various foods that originated from different parts of the world, not only is there quantity but quality too. It’s one of my favorite things when it comes to living in the big city! Nevertheless, when it comes to comfort food, I find myself yearning for foods that remind me of home. There are some things that Toronto cannot replicate- especially when it comes to food.
- Fresh Tropical Fruits ("prutas") and Vegetables ("gulay")
A huge part of the beauty of the Philippines is the tropical climate. Growing up, there was a huge mango tree at my grandmother’s house where I lived. She also kept a small garden where she grew her own vegetables and some livestock. It’s not just being able to eat fresh fruits and vegetables but the flavour from the tropical climate that elevates the taste which cannot be replicated.
2.Taho!
“Taho! Taho!”. Whenever I heard the street vendor shouting these words, I would get in a panicked frenzy. First, I would need to find my grandma and ask for her permission and money to buy Taho, then run to the vendor and hope that there were others nearby interested in buying or else they would have moved on to another neighbourhood. It’s exactly like hearing the tune of an ice cream truck and begging your parents for some money before the ice cream man/woman makes their way elsewhere! Taho is similar to the recently popularized brown sugar bubble tea- think less beverage, more pudding, and served warm! Looking back, it was definitely worth going through the frenzy.
3. Chicken Intestines ("Isaw")
I think that it is safe to say that there are some street foods from the Philippines that would not be too popular in the Western World- grilled chicken Intestines being one of them. However, grilled chicken intestines is one of the street foods I miss the most. The flavour is almost buttery and if mixed with some “pinakurat” (a vinegar based sauce popular in the Philippines), it is the perfect savoury snack. The texture is gummy and the spaghetti-like shape makes it fun to eat!
4. Penoy
Speaking of street foods that might turn some heads in the West, penoy is similar to its more popular counterpart: Balot. However instead of being a fertilized duck egg, penoy is an infertile incubated duck egg or a dead embryo. Sounds super appetizing, I know but all eggs are embryos and most of us eat eggs for breakfast! If you get past this thought, you will enjoy a more buttery and flavourful version of soft boiled eggs.
5. Pandesal
My family owned a bakery when I was very young. Although it’s been twenty years since I’ve tasted the pandesal my grandma and mother used to make all from scratch, I have never forgotten it. Pandesal is not just any common bread roll. For me it signifies the hard work my grandma and mother taught me. They would get up before the rooster crows and start the process of making pandesal. We often sold out before lunch! Fresh baked pandesal is the perfect “saw-sawan” with your coffee first thing in the morning. You dip the pandesal in your coffee and it’s somewhat sweet flavour accompanies the bitterness of the coffee like a match made in heaven.
Although most of the foods I mentioned can be found in Toronto, there’s nothing like the real deal. Truly, it is not about the taste of some of the foods I mentioned, but the moments that surround them. I miss plucking fresh mangoes and vegetables from our garden back home. I miss waking up early in the morning, watching my grandma and mom make pandesal and knowing that I would be able to eat one fresh off the oven. I miss running after the taho vendor after frantically looking for my grandma. I miss eating inihaw with my friends and always getting chicken intestines. I miss helping my friends sell balot and penoy by yelling at the top of my lungs, and getting rewarded by free penoy. Without a doubt, food is more than sustenance for the body but also for the heart and soul.