Pinoy Foodie

I was born and raised in the Philippines. Recently, I realized that many of my good memories of life in the country are about food or are food-related. I created this blog to share with you my pleasant memories as well as my random thoughts on food, cooking and eating. Hope you enjoy reading my posts. I welcome your comments.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Something "Cultural"

One really hot summer, I joined my officemates at a walkathon from Nathan Phillips Square. The walkathon ended at the same place close to Chinatown. Tired and hungry, I asked my friend and her partner to lunch at a Chinese Restaurant on Dundas Street. After being seated by our server, I immediately asked for pop (or soft drink to the Philippine-born, soda to the Americans). I was brought a can and a glass. No ice.

I summoned the waiter to bring me ice. In the sweltering heat, and after an hour-long walk, this request didn’t sound strange. And yet, to my non-Filipino friends, it was. I explained that in the Philippines we always drank pop refrigerator-cold, if not icy-cold. I went on to explain how hot the weather could be in the country and how thirsty people could become. Pop without ice simply couldn’t quench one’s thirst. The ice not only made the drink colder, it also diluted it. My guess was that diluted pop was less sweet and therefore better at quenching thirst.

I informed them that Filipinos are recognized consumers of pop (or soft drinks). The Coca-Cola Company annually releases marketing data that show which country leads in the consumption of their product. The Philippines and Mexico seesaw for the first place.

My companions were amused. And they concluded: it’s cultural.

Ambeth R. Ocampo, a young historian-researcher, relates his experience in Germany while on a Goethe-Institut grant. The Germans were always surprised whenever he asked for “water with ice’” especially in winter. He said that whenever he asked for ice for his pop, he was always given one ice cube. When he asked for more, the Germans thought he was crazy.

Filipinos do not drink tepid water. Before electricity, and with it freezers and refrigerators, came to the barrio, water was cooled in earthenware called “tapayan”.

Here is fascinating trivia about the history of ice in the Philippines, researched by Ambeth and included as a chapter in his book “Aguinaldo’s Breakfast.”

Before the ice plant at the foot of Quezon bridge was built in 1898, Manilenos made sherbet, ice cream an sorbet from ice shipped all the way from Boston. During that time, ships were a lot more slower and the trip took more than 100 days. How much of the ice melted along the way? Ocampo came across information that said that of the original 160 tons shipped to India, only 38 tons held its shape. That is a loss of about 76%, Ocampo calculated.

Also interesting is the fact that the ice came from frozen Boston lakes. This dirty ice was called “slush” and used only for cooling food. However, ice from Westham Lake was believed to be so pure that is was suitable for mixing with food or putting in a drink.

The Philippines only got the shipment of ice because it was on the route to Calcutta, the main destination.

Can you imagine how bereft our culture would have been if ice did not make it to the Philippines? We wouldn’t be asking for ice for our pop and maybe not drinking pop at all.