Food historian Felice Prudente Sta.Maria: Filipino food meant to be shared, way of spreading joy, comfort

Food historian Felice Prudente Sta.Maria: Filipino food meant to be shared, way of spreading joy, comfort

FELICE PRUDENTE STA. MARIA

By Lea Luciano
The Philippine Reporter

The UP Alumni Association of Toronto hosted its second lecture on August 26, 2021, as part of their Culture and History Lecture Series titled A View to Pre-Colonial Philippines: History, Arts, and Culture.

Food Historian and Philippine cultural heritage advocate Felice Prudente Sta. Maria took us on a historical journey of Filipino cuisine from the pre-colonial era to the present day with her lecture, “The Food in Identity: A Shortened Story of Philippine Branding.”

“Food shapes what we and others think about being Filipino,” says Sta. Maria. Food is a reflection of our past, and over time, how our ancestors interact with the changes in their natural surroundings, cultural institutions, and flavour expectations, and designs our identity.

Before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, our ancestors already had their system of living. There were independent datu-ships and rajah-nates that existed around the islands. Our ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and eventually, they learned how to grow their food. From a nomadic lifestyle, they became agriculturists settled in villages during and after the Austronesian era.

Pura Villanueva in 1908 as Queen of the Orient, the first Manila Carnival Queen. Ten years later as Mrs. Teodoro Kalaw, she wrote a cookbook that recognized provincial diversity of Philippine cuisine.

The DNA of Philippine cuisine relies on what ingredients are available geographically and how they are used in a dish. The Philippine National Museum found proof that 4,000 years ago, there was evidence that our ancestors learned the art of preserving food using salt, and cooking using earthen pots, a practice that we continue today.

In her presentation, research into Spanish colonial dictionaries reveals much about Filipino food: what was eaten, when, and how. Filipinos are known for their hospitality, and one of the ways they show it is through food. In the 1851 Bisayan-Spanish dictionary by Fr. Felix Encarnacion, Filipinos were practicing nayanaya, a word synonymous with being hospitable. Nayanaya has two meanings, to entertain and to serve guests and to be a happy person. The word perfectly embodies the caring and nurturing side of Filipinos through food.

“When one practices nayanaya, one becomes nayanayaon – meaning, one achieves a feeling or state of kindness, benignness, and harmony. By feeding others one brings not only happiness to them and one’s self, but puts the giver of food into a state of peace with the world for having practiced goodness,” said Sta. Maria.

When Ferdinand Magellan’s crew arrive on the shores of Visayas, they were greeted by our ancestral leader, who offered them food as his men looked famished after their journey. This set an identity for our ancestors as people who fed the hungry and offered hospitality to those in need. Onboard Magellan’s ship was Antonio Pigafetta who wrote and published the first description of Philippine food.

According to Pigafetta’s recollection, our ancestors served food in large porcelain plates and bowls. He recorded that the first Philippine foods were pork, turtle and tabon eggs, pork cooked in its broth accompanied by rice, fish with broth, roasted fish, wine of coconut, nipa and rice.

The Spanish influence was evident in Filipino cooking after being colonized by them for 333 years. The Spaniards brought wheat and cows to the Philippines, both staples for Spanish cuisine. They also brought corn from Mexico, and cacao was introduced to our diet. The richness of Filipino cuisine and characteristics of a Filipino meal were salty and sour foods.

Today, Filipino food and beverage continue to define and promote the Philippines and Filipinos. Filipino cuisine is steadily gaining popularity with staple dishes like adobo, lumpia, and pancit.

“People who get exposed to some of these lectures see that our food is significant beyond what our grandmother cooked,” said Sta. Maria.

“It’s beyond what we eat. I think the role that food has is very important to knowing who we are.”

When it comes to standardization of iconic Filipino dishes such as adobo, Sta. Maria said that “food is dynamic. It’s always changing, it is inherent.” It’s impossible to have one way of cooking a dish unless you make commercial large quantities.

“In terms of what we make at home, what restaurants make, there we find food becomes an art form. It becomes an innovation. We encourage innovation because the way a dish is cooked for instance in Baguio may not be the way that the dish will become popular let say in New Zealand. The taste will be slightly different already, so food will have to adapt.”

Looking back at the rich history of Philippine cuisine shows that the secret ingredient to good Filipino food is its communal factor. Food is meant to be shared with others, and it is our way of spreading joy and comfort.

Sta. Maria is an award-winning culinary historian for over four decades, and one of her many achievements includes winning at the 2013 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Paris. Her book, “The Foods of Jose Rizal” was selected as the Country Winner and Finalist in the Food History Category.

The front of the menu card looks like a flag. Open the flaps to see the foods for lunch. Another menu card was made for dinner. The only known extant menu card is for the dinner; at Museo de Oro, Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro.

In 1937 the Commonwealth Adult Education Office targeted illiteracy as a support force building an educated voter population in readiness for the incoming Philippine Republic. It partnered it with what today is called lifelong extension learning. Modernising the bahay kubo included creating a well ventilated kitchen, pantry, bedrooms, dining and living rooms. The traditional bahay one-room with the cooking done at a corner.
(Captions provided by Felice Prudente Sta.Maria)