Philippine Travels

Food, glorious food and I can attest to the fact that food and me have a great relationship. Also as a person that has travelled to a lot of countries and experienced a broad range of  ethic styles, it has taken me some time to come to grips with the limited range of foods that you can get here in the Philippines.. Ooops did I just say that, well I stand to be corrected as once you dig deeper in to the different plates that are available you will experience a whole range of different tastes and styles. It goes without saying that the Filipinos have a sweet tooth, you only have to look at the type of tomato spaghetti sauces in the supermarkets plus the range of ready made cheese squeezes you can buy, and lets not talk about Jollibee servings. For myself, its about the spices, sweet and sour tastes that you can get in your foods, and as I have spent most of my time with a base in San Fernando La Union Luzon, we have been blessed with wonderful local fresh food market...

One of my all time favorites,when fighting off the sweltering heat. When I pick up this chilling treat that will quench my thirst and satisfy my sweet tooth I can see why I have gained a few pounds in these months I have been here. The Filipino community is especially lucky to have and share a drink that doubles as a cold dessert: halo-halo is a Filipino dessert-drink that is part slushie and part sundae. Literally translated from Tagalog, halo-halo means “mix-mix”, and it is the perfect name for this distinctly delicious concoction. The basic foundation of halo-halo is shaved ice that is bathed with either evaporated milk or condensed milk. What differentiates this pairing from a snow cone is the inclusion of fruits (such as jackfruit, plantain, and coconut palm), beans (garbanzo, kidney, and red), and tapioca underneath the ice, as well as the leche flan (Filipino custard), pinipig (young crushed rice), and ube (purple yam) ice cream that is used to top the dessert. The ingr...