Epril wants me to find a kano husband
for her friend on the right. Anybody?I had a good time there. Food was served and it was yummy as always. There was hamonada, caldareta, afritada, humba, adobo, and pancit.
Filipino food is good, in my personal opinion... the recipes are great. However, there are some major drawbacks to Filipino cooking: It isn't the recipes themselves that are to blame, but instead is the ingredient selection and meal planning where things go wrong.
Look at the table set up:
Here are a bunch of fantastic dishes set out, ready to be eaten. However, first what you can't see: Most of the cuts of meat being served are either 75% or higher bone content, or 75% or higher fat content. That's on purpose. Many of the recipes are designed to use poor meat: The hamonada uses joints and spines braised in a sauce; the humba uses skin and fat. If these dishes were just prepared with some higher quality cuts, they would be fantastic dishes.Here is what you probably did notice: No vegetables. The average Filipinos simply do not eat vegetables or fruits at any level that would be considered a "balanced" diet. And they almost never take in milk or cheese. Filipinos eat almost exclusively starches and meat. None of those dishes on the table contains anything green in it. Only the afritada has a few carrot slices in it, and the caldareta had a few dried peas.
I'm going to talk with Ednel and see if we can put together some "balanced" and "gourmet" Filipino dishes... to see if we can make something healthier.
About milk. 98% of Southeastasians have a lactose intolerance.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance
Luc,
ReplyDeleteThat's not quite true. What you have to understand is the difference between people who are lactose intolerant due to a permanent lack of ability to process lactose, and those people whose bodies are merely out of practice. If a baby was ever able to drink milk, then the grown person can return to drinking milk whenever he or she wishes it.
I'm a good example of an Asian with lactose intolerance based on the data that you quote in Wikipedia. Due to the fact that I have been getting no milk in my diet lately (I eat the same things as everyone around me), if I drink a glass of milk or eat a bowl of ice cream, I pay the price after about 2 hours. And I'm a person who used to be able to drink 2 or 3 big glasses of milk just a decade ago. Now, due to no milk in my diet lately, I've temporarily become lactose intolerant... just like the other 98% of Filipinos who don't get enough milk in their diet.
However, I -- just like most Filipinos -- can be rehabituated to milk quite easily, just by taking in 2 or 3 small servings of dairy per day.
A more accurate accounting of lactose intolerance in The Philippines can be found here (a number just over 10%). These are people who, no matter how much they try, they will never be able to process lactose in their bodies.
As an aside, the wikipedia article you linked to posts a bit of information that is very interesting: Proof of human evolution. Thousands of years ago, all humans used to be lactose intolerance after weaning, but as one by one, human settlements began to domesticate animals and consume the milk of those animals, lactose tolerance began to evolve in humans. The earliest areas on earth to have animal domestication are also the areas of earth to have the lowest incidence of lactose intolerance (northern Europe), while the last places on earth to do so (Asia and Afria) have the highest incidence of lactose intolerance.
Hey Jill, OK we have the eternal question:
ReplyDeleteWho's right? :-)
Or should I say Hooze rite?
Whose right?
(re - orientation of the pic of Epril and her two friends, which "right hand side" is being specified, the viewer's right or Epril's right?)
(English - the language designed to prevent clear verbal and written communication. )
:-)
I would love to get some of the recipes to try. I have been cooking more and more asian dishes. My family loves it as do I. I do though make sure I include veggies. I did notice with Tai for there really is no veggies only to season.So you make them and post the recipes and I will let you know how it works for me.
ReplyDeleteSarah
Jeff: The girl in the white tank top.
ReplyDeleteCharish: I'll make sure to put up any recipes I make.
Jil: What's her name? How old is she?
ReplyDeleteHer name is Disabel and she is 19.
ReplyDeleteInteresting name. Any meaning?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, too young for me; I;m pushing 50....LOL
jil, i gained 10 lbs in 45 days in the phils, and that was on a 150 lb body. i love almost everything about the phils including the great people there, but jesus the food is terrible. you literally can't eat well there. i don't even care about the dairy issue. i am lactose tolerant but don't want the excess fat unless it's high quality cheese or ice cream as an indulgence. but fruits and vegetables? wow i don't know how filipinos aren't all 250 lbs. eating white rice (poison) and very fatty cuts of meats. god pork is a decent meat if you eat the right cuts.
ReplyDeletewe make up for our wide selection in great food choices here in the states with our over consumption. i still chuckle when i think what the average filipino would think if you could plop them into the middle of a costco or walmart super center. 3 lb bags of chips and 36 packs of soda. (dirt cheap) he average filipino couldn't even carry them home.
and for the record, coca cola is one of my indulgences. i love the 1 liter (glass) bottles in the phils. but to tell you the truth i liked virgin cola much better. i think it's the old rc cola recipe here. brought back memories of my childhood. someday i hope to visit again and solve the world's problems on your rooftop garden over some bacardi and virgin cola. :)
Who's the girl in the purple or lavendar blouse next to Epril?
ReplyDeleteI like Disabel.....email me
ReplyDelete