A tale with a mouth full

The beauty about going to another country is not just the people, the atmosphere or the scenery. It’s the food and how it is prepared and presented. My names Vanessa, I’m Australian but from a Philippine background and today I will be discussing the wonder of food in relation to my culture and experiences.

In 1998 I had the opportunity to travel back to the Philippines and see for myself the kind of lifestyle and environment that my people lived in, and what I learnt from the people and immediate family was the appreciation of the nature resources, due to limited amount of money available to them.

I don’t know if you know much about the Philippine culture but the city life is different to the rural tropical forest types; was lucky enough to experience book spectrums in relation to lifestyle, food and culture. But one I things for sure the weather will always be the same, stinking hot and humid! My advise bring a fan with you everywhere u go, or a hankerchief,lol!

Now to the food! Pansit and halo halo was my favourite! Pansit is a savoury dish, like signapore noodles, made out of thin rice noodles, vegetables and meat, yumo! With a fresh sprinkle of combination of kalamansi (like lemon or lime) and soy sauce over the noodles completed the dish, eaten with meat or fish. No chopsticks here, either eat with your washed hands, usually the right hand, but for us a spoon and fork.

Desert next, mmmm! Halo halo, made of a mixture of different kind of beans such as red kidney, mong beans, bannanna pieces, mango slices, jelly (guleman) and ice, drizzeled over with sweeten milk. What a facinating range of colour when layered in a tall see through glass, topped off with ice shards, and then mixed together with a spoon. What a delite! Absolutely delicious, healthy and refereshing due to the weather. A perfect combination, with a touch of sweetness from the milk, is a perfect way to finish off a meal!

What I did noticed about the philippines are the people, as I noticed each family member or family friend, helping with the house work, food preparation, fishing, cleaning, getting fresh water, getting supplies from groceries, etc.To see how responsibe each family had to make sure there was food on the table, which was a amazing to witness, as everyone wanted to help and contribute, as they get to have a feed at the end.

No wine here, just simple food, karoke and family!

And we have alot of family, lol!

Best of all we.... we get to eat with our hands, haha!