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Name: Maria Idhonna Gay G. Abihay Date: December 5, 2011

Section: BSN II-B Score:

The Different Ethnic Diet

y NORTHERN LUZON the region around the northern tip of Luzon Island peopled mainly byllocanos, Pangasinans and several minority groups like Ifugaos, Bontocs, Ibanags and Kalingas.

Cooking in this region is very simple relying mainly on native vegetables, fish, poultry and meat. A

preference for native vegetables particularly saluyot (a leafy green that looks like spinach but turns

slippery like okra when cooked) and the widespread use of bagoong (shrimp paste) give Northern

Luzon cooking a definite identity. The llocanos usually like their vegetables steamed or plain boiled

and dipped in bagoong. For additional flavor, they may boil their vegetables with pork or broiled fish

as \npinakbet, dinengdeng or inabraw. The Pangasinans are justifiably famous for the quality of their

bangus (milkfish) which are artificially reared in ponds through an ancient system of aqua-culture.

Generally, Northern Luzon cooking uses locally grown ingredients, involves simple procedures and

may even be called sparse fare. Life in this coastal and mountainous region is hard and the peopletend to be thrifty and live simply. These traits are well reflected in their dishes.

y CENTRAL PLAINSinhabited in large numbers by Tagalogs and Pam-pangos and occupying therice growing central part of Luzon Island and the area around the capital region of Manila. Central

Plains cooking is the most sophisticated in the country. This is most evident in Manila and

surrounding areas where foreign cuisines have left the people with a taste for rich sauces and fancy

desserts. The people have a passion for meat especially pork and poultry. Their cooking is marked by

clever combinations of many different ingredients in a single dish, long and elaborate preparations

and festive looks. They are fond of stuffed main dishes and are well admired for their^llenong manok

or bangus (stuffed, boned whole chicken or fish), morcon (stuffed rolled beef) and embutido (stuffed

pork sausage) all wtth rich, spicy sauces.They usually like their vegetables sauteed in garlic,

onions and tomatoes with pork and shrimps.

y SOUTHERN TAGALOG homogeneously Tagalog speaking area south of Manila and thecountry's major source of coconuts as well as rice and fruits. Their cooking and eating habits are

strongly influenced by their products and the availability of certain foodstuffs in the region. For

instance, they have a strong preference for fresh water fish which abound in streams and rivers and

which are usually sold swimming in buckets of water in the market. Their cooking tends to be sour

with their constant use of vinegar and sour fruits like kamias,tamarind and over-ripe guavas.Vinegar

seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper, is used as a marinade for fish before frying or as a dip.

Tamarind and other sour fruits are used to s6ur the broth of sinigang, a favorite way of cooking fresh

water fish. But the southern Tagalogs are well known for their native cakes and delicacies such as

espasol, suman, hinalo, sinukmani and bibingka, the main ingredients of which are glutinous rice andcoconuts.

y BICOL another ethnically homogeneous region on the southern tip of Luzon Island whereinhabitants speak the Bicol dialect. Its cooking is notable for the general use of coconut and hot

chilies. The combination results in many rich, spicy dishes the most nationally known of which is

laing, a chili hot mixture of meat or shrimps and vegetables seasoned with bagoong, wrapped in gabi

(taro) leaves and boiled in cdconut milk until the milk is reduced to a thick sauce.

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y VISAYAS the region that includes islands that occupy the middle part of the Philippinearchipelago and parts of Mindanao island inhabited by Christian Filipinos: The two main dialects

spoken in the region are Hiligaynon and Cebuano. The people thrive on salt water fish abundant in

the Sibuyan, Visayan, Sulu and Mindanao seas surrounding them, not to mention the China Sea and

Pacific Ocean. Fish and seafoods not immediately consumed are preserved in salt and dried in the

sun. The region is noted for these various types of dried salted seafoods such as daing, tuyo, pus it,hipon and kalkag. Visayan cooking tends to be salty not only because of its dried salted foods but

also because of its liberal use of guinamos, a type of bagoong that is different from that used in

Northern Luzon. Bagoong in Northern Luzon is made of shrimp or fish fermented in a salty sauce.

Guinamos is made of fermented shrimp or fish and salt pounded to a paste and has no sauce. It has a

much stronger flavor and odor than the other type. Visayan cooking is simple. The people like their

fish broiled over live coals or boiled in well seasoned vinegar as in pinamarhan which is similar to

the Tagalog's paksiw na isda but cooked until it is almost dry. Some even eat their fish raw as in

kinilaw, a dish of sliced raw fish marinated in seasoned vinegar with onion, tomatoes and slices of

unripe mango. Like the Northern Luzon people, they also like their vegetables simply boiled or

steamed but dipped in guinamos with a squeeze of lemon. Being the country's main producer of

sugar, the region is well known for its native snacks such aspinasugbu, turrones, banana chips, utap,

and the traditional cookies and biscuits of Panaderia de Molo (Bakery of Molo, a town in llorlo).

Native sweets such as biko and baybaye are made of coconut and glutinous rice.

y MINDANAOthat part of Mindanao Island inhabited by ethnic groups having Islam as a commonreligious bond. There are several groups in this region: the Maranao that inhabit the shores of Lake

Lanao, the Maguindanao which occupy the province of Cotabato, the Tausugs, Badjaos and other

maritime groups that live in the Sulu Sea area, etc. Ethnically, however, because of the strong

religious affinity among them, these groups can be seen as one. Mindanao cooking is marked by

simplicity and the, non-use of pork which is universally used in the rest of the country. It is closely

similar to Indonesian and Malaysian native fares in the use of hot chilies and strongly flavored spices

such as curry. The more popular dishes are tiola sapi (spicy boiled beef)/piarun (fish with chilies),and lapua (blanched vegetables seasoned with salt and vinegar or guinamos).