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| Lechon! |
Back in the summer of 2007 I had an incredible opportunity to visit my Mom while she was living in the Philippines. She was teaching at
Foundation University in
Dumaguete City, Province of
Negros Oriental,
Philippines. You might not think of the Philippines as a culinary destination, but the culture certainly has its share of treasures. Probably the most celebrated dish would be Lechon, which is a whole roasted pig. I was lucky enough to be served Lechon on three occasions during my five week visit. Lechon is usually made for very special occasions. Judging by what part of the pig goes first it is prized for its crispy skin. I am a particularly big fan of the ribs since they are so close to the herbs the pig is stuffed with. Almost as popular and much more ubiquitous is Pork Adobo. Pork is quite a popular meat, in fact there is pork in almost every dish, even Chicken Adobo and often sauteed vegetables. One of my friends from Dumaguete told me that it is easier to tell your parents that you are gay than to tell them you are a vegetarian!
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| Siquijor, Philippines (2007) |
I was recently contacted, through this blog, by one of my mom's dear friends in the Philippines. This got me thinking about the food again. I remember being served so many amazing foods during my stay and they made such an impression on me (really the whole country did). I started to search for some of these recipes and found a few foodie bloggers from the Philippines. I've found several great blogs, my favorite is
Pinoy Recipe; it totally reminds me of how English is spoken there. Also worth mentioning are
Panlasang Pinoy and
Filipino Recipes.
One dish that made an especially big impression on me was Crispy Pata. I remember going out to dinner with the Pal family during my first week in the Philippines. Sir Pal asked me if I liked Crispy Pata. I told him I didn't even know what it was and asked about it. He explained it as it really is: A deep fried pork leg. That was all the description I needed, so we ordered the Crispy Pata as an appetizer! Ever since then I've been wanting to make it for my friends (I have more planned so stay tuned).
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| Crispy Pata! |
Last week I went to my favorite butcher shop,
Star Meats, I've known the owners and several of the employees for years now. Joe, the owner, brought me to the walk-in cooler to show me his whole pig. It was meant to be, I put my order in right then and there. "Joe, how much for all four of those pork legs?" It was a steal!
Recipe for Crispy Pata Follows
