Eat, drink and be merry
In keeping with the season we bend some of our cherished principles such as “eating healthy” and yield to mouthy joys courtesy of that 13th month bonus which buys us more food. Without a bonus, there are credit cards and gift cheques so we can rack up debt for that one-time, ultimate midnight pig out!
Christmas bingeing (or spending) is a true test of character we all willingly fail.
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Pinoys love to eat. I think Filipinos munch on anything as long as they’re awake because “eat is in our culture”.
On ordinary days, we already take full breakfast, morning snack, big lunch, afternoon merienda, heavy dinner and midnight snack. This minimum Pinoy nutritional requirement is more than enough to feed Africa.
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On weekends or holidays we make even more tummy room for beer, sisig, or chicharon bulaklak… or pack after pack of junk food during marathon DVD viewing.
Non-working holidays are really costly. Think about it—Coke 1.5 litre alone to go with lunch is another 40 pesos you wouldn’t have spent if it were a working day.
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During the holidays we devour more than the recommended daily allowance of animal fat, sweets and starch for all of mankind.
How Pinoys live longer eating like this still escapes me. Western Joes subsisting on mere burgers, French fries and apple have succumbed to heart attacks more than the average, pork-loving Juan.
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I have given in to the lure of overeating during Christmas. No can do. The spirit is as willing as the body for this oily yuletide food tournament. And it’s not that I never tried to control. I have actively participated in kitchen activities to douse my appetite.
Thanks to a friend who recommended that I cook to be able to eat less. It turns out that I just eat more... ingesting bits and pieces of this-and-that while cooking, before gulping down even more during eating proper.
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Noche buena on the 24th and the 31st only culminate the feasting that began weeks before. There are mandatory (?) Christmas parties at work, school, clubs and neighborhood. Some villages even have parties exclusively for those who live on the same street.
And then there are batch parties and barkada nights out where we catch more eats, watered down with even more drinks.
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Most Filipino Christmas parties offer food from the deadliest nutritional groups—- cholesterol, carbohydrates and sugar. There’s always pork in roast or ham form. What’s Christmas without the star of the noche buena feast?
And who could resist the seduction of the crispy lechon? That apple stuck in its mouth says it all: bite me!
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Another mainstay in the Pinoy Christmas banquet are pancit and pasta. Pancit bihon or canton (or a combination of both) is not only palatable but economical when treating the entire barangay.
Same with spaghetti which Filipinos prepare by the kilo. Spaghetti is always sold out in parties even if it really tastes like the kitchen nsink. Never mind that the sauce is pure catsup, as long as it has hotdogs, kids will eat them without fear or flavor.
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Pinoys are fond of salads— fruit, chicken, macaroni or a strange combination of all three coated with an equally bizarre mixture of condensed milk, mayonnaise and cream.
In this country “salad” translates to “toss-anything-you-like-on–cream-and-mayo-even-if-it-does-not-make-sense”.
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Native favorites bibingka, ibos, puto bumbong, biko and hot (tablea) chocolate also abound near churches to lure simbang gabi zombies to a sumptuously warm appetizer for that full breakfast to come very shortly.
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Of course all these are chomped down with overflowing soft drinks, beer, wine, juice, or iced tea which people think is healthier until they realize it’s still all sugar, water and tea flavor.
Christmas is indeed a lethal feast of culinary excesses in the Philippines but what’s Christmas without the food we’ve come to love (and expect) this time of the year?
I yet have to see a Christmas party that serves fish, vegetables and water. That would be one invitation I’d most likely decline.
