The Essence of.....Philippines An exploration of the world through food and drink

www.wowphilippines.co.uk Essence -ial Information UK Tourist Office 146 Cromwell Road, London SW7 Currency Philippine Peso  Capital Manila Language Filipino  Main Airlines No direct flights Flying Time from UK 14 hrs 45 mins Visa No

PROFILE The Republic of the Philippines consists of a group of 7,107 islands situated southeast of mainland Asia and separated from it by the South China Sea. The two largest islands are Luzon (40,814 square miles/105,708 square kilometers), and Mindanao (36,906 square miles/95,586 square kilometers). Comparatively, the area occupied by the Philippines is slightly larger than the state of Arizona. Filipinos have been cultivating rice, and corn, since 3200 BC from their arrival of the Austronesian people from Southern China Yunnan Plateau and Taiwan, when they settled in what is now the Philippines. The arrival of Spanish settlers brought with them chili peppers, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and the method of sautéing with garlic and onions, which found their way into Philippine cuisine. The arrival of Spanish settlers brought with them chili peppers, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and the method of sautéing with garlic and onions, which found their way into Philippine cuisine. Popular dishes include lechón (whole roasted pig), longganisa (Philippine sausage), tapa (cured beef), torta (omelette), adobo (chicken and/or pork braised in garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar or cooked until dry), kaldereta (goat in tomato stew), mechado (beef or pork cooked in tomato sauce), pochero (beef in bananas and tomato sauce), afritada (pork or beef simmered in a tomato sauce with vegetables), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), crispy pata (deep-fried pig's leg), hamonado (pork sweetened in pineapple sauce), sinigang (pork, fish, or shrimp in tamarind soup), pancit (stir-fried noodles), and lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls). Dishes •Adobo - Would have to be one of the most common and popular dishes in the Philippines. Usually, but not limited to, pork or chicken which is cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and pepper. Adobo would have to come close to being the Philippines National dish. •Arroz Caldo - A thick rice soup with chicken pieces, flavoured with ginger, garlic and onions. •Bangus - Bangus is the Philippines National fish, milkfish. It is usually grilled. •Bicol Express - A pork dish, cooked in coconut milk with green peppers, very spicy. •Bulalo - Oxtail soup, with marrow and vegetables. •Caldereta - A stew consisting of goats meat, you can also use beef, pork or chicken, with peas and paprika. Has Spanish origins. •Camaron Rebosado - Shelled prawns battered and deep fried with tails left on. •Dinuguan - Can be a stew or a roast of chicken or pork offal with fresh blood, seasoned with peppercorns and vinegar and served with rice. •Embutido - Seasoned mince meat rolled in foil like a sausage and baked. •Humba - From Chinese origin, the rump of ham or pork cooked with garlic, water, soy, brown sugar and other spices. •Inihaw - Grilled meat of any kind and seafood. •Kanin - Steamed rice •Kare Kare - Oxtail or beef shanks stewed in peanut sauce with vegetables, onions or garlic. •Kinilaw - Raw seafood or any fish, marinated with either vinegar or kalamansi juice. •Lechon or Liston - The fiesta dish! Roasted suckling pig served with liver sauce. •Lechon sa Kawali - Deep fried pork. •Lumpia or umpiya - Philippine style spring rolls, with meat and vegetables. •Menudo - Stew made from chopped pork or liver with potatoes and other vegetables. •Mitsado - braised beef. •Paella - A rice dish with chicken, ham, pork, sausages, seafood and vegetables. •Pancit - Noodles. •Pancit Canton - Noodles with pork and vegetables. •Pancit Guisado - Thin fried noodles wuth meat and vegetables. •Sinigang - Soup which is soured. The soup can be either, vegetable, meat or seafood. •Tinola - Stew of meat and fish pieces flavoured with ginger, onions and garlic with vegetables.