Gateway Philippines 2014: Food continued

While in Maya area one day, we stopped at a street side vendor for lunch. She had an array of: broth--beef?, and 3 pork dishes including fried intestines, along with rice and one could have soda or service water. We generally carried bottled water, not trusting the service water in small places. The fork and spoon had obviously had boiling water poured over them, for they were hot when we picked them up to use! We had a small table to sit at.

Some street vendors served: skewered and barbecued whole chicken; a banana or plantain skewered on a stick, rolled in brown sugar and fried; sweet potato fries and meat (often pork) kebabs among many items. We didn't eat often from street vendors. In Bogo City we ate as a team often at Pizza Parlor to accommodate a team member's dietary need for gluten free. At the SM mall in Mandaue City we were free to go to any vendor and order what we enjoyed or wanted to try. I saw many fish dishes and pork dishes--always with rice! Or varying kinds of pancit as well as hot and sizzling dishes. In the malls one could also find McDonalds--but who wanted to eat there? We wanted to try various Filipino dishes! Often we'd each order different things and then share around with each other, so we could taste many different things. So we saw imported fast food places as well as local versions (Jolli bee's) of fast food places. There were numerous desserts. I mentioned eating a mango crepe. We talked about buying a half gallon of mango ice cream or any such fruit/vegetable (ube--yam) ice cream and devouring it as a team. Instead we went for halo-halo one night: beans, sago, banana, yam, and gelatin in crushed ice and milk.

Brent and Chris were good at taking us to a few places that were nicer than fast food and introducing us to various dishes. We ate delicious dory (fish fried) and lapu-lapu (steamed fish garnished with mayo, relish, peas, corn, parsley, and shredded carrots), and chop suey (vegetable mix).

where we ate our last night with Brent & Chris

picking out the fresh food to have cooked

top row--cold pickled vegetables

dory (fish)

lapu-lapu (steamed fish)

pancit

chop suey (with lime)

sweet/sour pork

I missed fruit. It isn't really served at meals and I didn't often have or make time to dash to a fruit cart to buy fresh fruit--also lacked utensils for peeling or eating most fruit. Of course, Philippine fruit is mostly tropical: watermelon, papaya, avocado, soursop, jackfruit, mango, pineapple, guava, banana. Some fruit is seasonal and some is regional. I learned that fruit tends to be expensive and is generally considered a dessert. There is medicinal value--for example, banana is a source of fiber, and papaya is a cure for constipation. There were plants that the leaves were used in cooking for medicinal and good health purposes.

Health issues in regards to diet: diabetes and heart conditions are a reality due to the sweet tooth of the Filipinos and lots of pork fat dishes!! Tooth decay is undoubtedly an issue especially if a family can't afford toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental care.