Filipino History and Culture

The Philippines have 7,000 islands, but only 2,000 of those islands are inhabited by people. The original language of the Philippines is Tagalog, but now is a mixture of Tagalog and English, which is referred to as Taglish. Filipino people are mainly Roman Catholic. The food of the land is seafood or a protein based meal with rice and noodles. These are just a few of the fascinating things about the Filipino history and culture, and I hope you enjoy learning about their history and culture as much as I did!

Short Stories

Filipino families are either rich or poor and there is no in between. Families who are poorer typically rely on the roots of their culture more than others. The roots of their culture provide entertainment. There are short stories passed down, songs, and traditions. Short stories are used to bring ideas to life, and to create something from the imagination.

Day in the Sun

Anna woke up thinking today was going to be any ordinary day. What Anna did not know was that today was going to be the day that her Tita Teresa let her help cook two important Filipino dishes with her. Anna has always loved lumpia, and pancit but was always told she needed to be a little older to cook them. Anna asked her Tita Teresa if when she turned 10 if she could learn how to cook them. Tita Teresa agreed, and today was that day. Anna came home from school, and had a wonderful day. Her friend Trisha and her talked and imagined what it would be like to be the first female fishermen in their village. Since fishing was typically a man's job, they wanted to break that. Anna was so excited to tell Tita Teresa that and hearing that she was going to learn to cook lumpia and pancit made today, so much better!

Tita Teresa and Anna started cooking right away. Anna told Tita Teresa all about her day and her dreams with her friend Trisha. Anna talked a mile a minute telling her Tita that she was going to break the mold. Anna was determined to sail the seas and bring in the biggest fish to give back to her village, and to support herself and her future family. When it was time to eat Tita Teresa and Anna ate like they had never ate before. Anna went to bed that night so excited to tell her classmates about cooking with her Tita the night before. It made Anna realize how excited she was to have a family some day and surprise her children and teach them to cook their favorite dishes, it surely made her day. Anna fell asleep with a smile on her face and a feeling of empowerment and accomplishment, excited for the days to come.

Tita: Tagalog for Aunt

Songs

In going back to the roots of the Filipino culture, the culture has many aspects to provide entertainment. Short stories, dances, traditional activities, and songs. Songs provide an entertainment to involve themselves with music and express themselves freely. Songs give people the ability to express their culture and make music and or sing about it.

Today is the Day

Today is the day, today is the day, today is the day.

I will row and row and row.

I will cast my line and reel in my fish.

*hum*

Today is the day, today is the day, today is the day.

I will run and run and run.

I will go back to shore to my village for them to see what I have done.

*hum*

Today is the day, today is the day, today is the day.

I will show them what I have done, oh, I will show them what I have done.

This is the day that I show them, what I can do.

To cast a fish, and reel it in, and bring it for all to see.

*hum*

Today is the day, today is the day, today is the day.

Their mouths had dropped, yes they did.

For now they have seen for what I can do.

*hum*

I wish to be the best fisher in the village.

Today is finally the day.

Recipes

Food in the Filipino culture is extremely important to them. The Filipino people do not use dishes but nature as them, and use their fingers as utensils to eat their food. Almost all of their food is served with rice on the side, and with being surrounded by oceans, fish is always a popular food to eat. The culture values food so much, the Philippines even has a national dish, Adobo!

Ingredients:

1 c camaro cleaned

½ cooking oil

50 g garlic crushed

150 g onion sliced

5 pc tomato sliced

¼ c vinegar

¼ tsp whole black pepper ground

1 tsp salt

Instructions

Clean camaro

Remove wings, feet and head, set aside.

Peel and crush garlic, peel and slice onions.

Wash and slice tomatoes set aside in a clean container.

Combine clean camaro, vinegar, ground black pepper, salt and 25 g garlic, set aside.

Saute 25 g garlic until golden brown.

Add onions and cook until wilted.

Add sliced tomatoes and cook until mushy, stir.

Add marinated camaro.

Simmer for 30 seconds, reduce fire, stir.

Continue simmering until sauce dries up.

Serve.

Adabong Camaro Recipe