The Filipino Way of Celebrating

Filipinos love celebrating occasions from the smallest to the largest of reasons. From anniversaries and graduations to holidays and fiestas, Filipino families ensure that tables are filled with a delicious and abundant variety of hearty dishes, fresh fruits, and colorful drinks. 

We celebrate with music while dancing in our beautifully decorated homes and, sometimes, we even bring out our cultural costumes or the pieces of clothing passed on to us by our ancestors. Every major celebration is a family affair and that’s why we make sure to prepare weeks or even months before.

Food and Festivity

Food brings life and flavor to celebrations and varies depending on the occasion. Here in the Philippines, we take birthdays seriously! It’s often a chance for our families to reunite. Saucy spaghetti paired with deep-fried chicken brings smiles to children attending birthday parties. Pancit with slices of pork and vegetable toppings is prepared as a sign of wishing our beloved birthday celebrants a long and bountiful life.

From late November to early December, the smell of puto bumbong and bibingka marks the start of cold Christmas nights for us Filipinos. Pork baby back ribs and barbequed beef briskets, paella, fruit salad, lechon kawali, celebration ham, queso de bola, and so many more special dishes fill every Filipino household and complete each family’s Christmas Eve.

We celebrate the New Year with the utmost effort by serving different kinds of food to go with the colorful fireworks that fill our night skies. Families and loved ones gather to celebrate and wish a prosperous new year at a lavish media Noche. Round-shaped fruits are present alongside Filipino rice cakes or kakanin,  biko and tikoy, which symbolize family bonds. We also prefer different pork and beef dishes to wish prosperity for the upcoming year.

A Delectable Feast

Whether passing an exam, graduating, or receiving a promotion, every achievement of our loved ones is celebrated with joyous gatherings packed with richly flavored food. Adobo and menudo from freshly cut pork and beef brisket are present in the course along with other Filipino foods such as bopis, longganisa, embutido, and barbeques. We even follow other countries’ famous viands like jokbal from braised pig trotters, pork and beef samgyeopsal, pork tonkatsu, and other foreign food dishes.

Every Filipino family celebrates holidays and achievements with bountiful and delicious food. Sourcing good quality and fresh meat is important as it is the heart and highlight of every feast and celebration.

This article can also be read at <thegoodmeat.ph>

References:

11 Best Festivals to Join in the Philippines. 2022, July 5. Guide to the Philippines. Retrieved August 31, 2022 from 11 Best Festivals to Join in the Philippines | Guide to t… (guidetothephilippines.ph)

Traditional Filipino Christmas Foods for the Holidays. December 7, 2021. Instacart. Retrieved August 31, 2022 from Traditional Filipino Christmas Foods for the Holidays – Instacart

8 Culinary Traditions on the Philippine New Year’s Eve. December 29, 2021. Camella. Retrieved August 31, 2022 from 8 Culinary Traditions on the Philippine New Year’s Eve – Camella Homes