Philippine Regional
Cuisines
Philippine Cuisines
The Philippine islands are home to
various ethnic groups resulting in
varied regional cuisine
Because each region has its own
resources, the people have come up
with different ways to make use of what
they have
Thus, it’s hard to pin down Philippine
cuisine with a fixed description, as it
seems to fit into practically every taste
Today, Philippine cuisine continues to
evolve as new techniques and styles of
cooking find their way into one of the
most active melting pots of Asia
Filipino Cooking Style
Early settlers or civilization of the
Philippines cooked their food by
either roasting, steaming or boiling
Later food preparation methods of
the Filipinos were influenced by the
Malay style of cooking in the Pre-
Hispanic era and thus food was
cooked by boiling, frying, roasting
or steaming
Meat included pork, fowl, dog, fish,
snakes, lizards, etc
Business with China and other parts
of Asia brought in food influenced
from these parts of the world too
Sour and salty flavors dominate
Filipino cooking
Philippine Food
Food in Philippines is not very
spicy and is usually bland and
mild, chilies are kept at bay
Salt flavor is derived from shrimp
paste, fish sauce, patis sauce,
bagoong paste and soy sauce
(borrowed from the Chinese)
Chinese traders introduced
concepts of stir fried cooking;
noodles, soy based cooking etc
and the early Spaniards
introduced stews, sausages,
dairy, and meat products.
Coconut and coconut milk is
used copiously in most Filipino
dishes thus adding to the taste
and flavor
A Look at Philippine
Regional Cuisines
Bicolano
Cuisine: Not
for the faint of
tongue
Bicolano Cuisine
Bicolano cuisine has two staple
ingredients: gata (coconut milk)
and sili (chili peppers)
Most main dishes in the region
are based in gata and sili
particularly the way vegetables
are cooked
Bicol express is the cuisine
that has come to symbolize the
region’s image as the “spice”
capital of the Philippines
Story Behind Bicolano Cusine
Bicol is coconut country. It
supplies the country (and the
world) with coconut oil
Its natives are also famous for
going crazy over native, super hot
chili—munching them raw as a
local past-time
“Secret” Bicolano recipe is ‘one
part of long chili to two parts of
coco thick cream’
The native long chili are so
important to every household—
when a typhoon strikes, Bicolanos
are said to prioritize the safety of
their chili plant over their houses
The native chili has become
symbolic of the fierce courage of
the natives in times of calamities
and war.
Ilocano
Food:
Backyard
gourmet
Ilocano Cuisine
Rice and vegetables make up most
of Ilocano cuisine
Their dry, mountainous land is
perfect for growing vegetables, so
most people actually grow their
own ingredients
Because their food is vegetable-
based, patis or fish sauce is
commonly used to add flavor
The most famous dish in this
region is pinakbet, a combination
of vegetables (most commonly
okra, squash, bitter gourd,
eggplant, and string beans) cooked
in bagoong
Ilocanos also are keen about grilled
ampalaya with bagoong or
fermented fish as the sauce dip.
Story Behind Ilocano Cuisine
Being known to be frugal and tight-
fisted as they are, nothing goes to
waste in an Ilocano kitchen
Ilocanos make use of everything
that can be eaten, perhaps due to
the harsh climate and limited
resources
What makes Ilocano cooking
distinct from other Philippine
regions is the bitter range of flavors
Pampanga
Cuisine:
Satisfy your
sweet tooth
Pampanga Cuisine
Rice and sugar are among Pampanga’s staple
products, so a lot of their dishes-including meat and
vegetable ones-are made with sweet sauces or
fermented in sugar
Kapampanganns have ingeniously incorporated
indigenous, Spanish and Chinese elements into their
cuisine that have made the Pampanga food famous
Meat and seafood preserves are another Pampangan
specialty
Crabs, milkfish, and shellfish are fermented in buro
or rice sauce, giving them a strong, smoky flavor
Story Behind Pampanga Cuisine
Kapampangans dishes are
influnced by the abundance of
sugar canes in their region
Seafood specialties are derived
because of the early settlers’
proximity to rivers (Pampang
means along the river)
The geography of the region has
also made it ideal for livestock
and poultry livelihoods, thus their
love for meat dishes
Visayan
Cuisine: A
medley of
flavors
Visayan Cuisine
Visayan people share a common
affinity for seafood, a result of being
close to the coastline
Visayan cooking is generally simple
One of the most popular dishes is
kinilaw, which is fish or shellfish
marinated in vinegar or sour sauce
Meat or fish is merely boiled with
vegetables and spices to prepare a
dish called tinola
Story Behind Visayan Cuisine
Famous delicacies are influenced by the
people’s closeness to the sea
Ancient trading relations with Malays and
Chinese have come up with famous
delicacies like the “Pancit Molo”
Kinilaw has been derived from peoples
adaptation to climatic conditions (a way to
preserve food to last longer in times of
calamities)
Mindanao
Cuisine: Twice
the spice
Mindanao Cuisine
Mindanao cuisine is largely influenced
by Malay and East Asian food
Cuisine is influenced by culture of near
neighbors like Indonesia and Malaysia
Spices rarely used in the rest of the
country find their way in Mindanao
cuisine, such as turmeric, curry, and
lemongrass
Seafood plays a big part in Mindanao
cuisine
A typical meal is a seafood platter,
which includes a mix of raw, fried, and
grilled seafood and a variety of local
sauces
Story Behind Mindanao Cuisine
In Mindanao, most cuisines are
influenced by the exotic taste bud
of the Malays
Pork dishes are not very popular
because most of the people are
Muslims
Abundant resources in the region
makes Mindanao dishes one of the
richest
Mindanaoan seafood platters are
prepared raw, grilled or fried; or put
in soups based in lemon grass,
ginger and green papaya and in
some ways mixed with coconut
cream and turmeric
That’s all folks! Thank you
very much for Listening!!!
