3 December, 2008 at 9:44 am
Welcome to our first article of our Christmas series where we feature all there is interesting about holidays and festive Filipino food recipes celebrated in the Philippines. Read our first article on our Christmas series here on www.filipino-foods.com.
Philippines is known as the “Land of Fiestas” and is especially true especially during Christmas. This Christian-dominated country has earned the trademark of having the world’s longest and merriest Christmas. As early as September, beaming holiday decorations are hung up in people’s homes and festive Christmas songs plays on the radio and in stores. It formally begins on December 16 as Filipinos usher in attendance at the first of the nine early morning masses and continues until the first Sunday of January called Feast of the Three Kings.
Christmas in the Philippines is mainly influenced by Western and native Filipino traditions blended into one. The belief of Santa Claus, the Christmas tree, singing carols and sending Christmas cards have been adapted from culture of the West. All of these beliefs is adapted to fit the unique personality of Filipinos.
The Philippines is the sole Asian country to be predominated by Christians. Majority of its people are Roman Catholic, making Christmas an important and profoundly honored holiday for most Filipinos. Christmas is a time for family, for giving and sharing and a time for abundant food, fun and friendship. Christmas Eve in the Philippines It is a night without sleep and continuous celebration where Filipino families eagerly wait for the clock to strike 12 midnight. As the dawn of December 24 sets and the last Mass of “Simbang Gabi” is attended, the joyous family feast or Noche Buena takes place after midnight. It is one of the traditions most families celebrate together.
The Noche Buena is an anticipated traditional Christmas Eve feast after the midnight mass. Family, friends, relatives and neighbors drop by to wish “Maligayang Pasko” or Merry Christmas to every family member. Family members dine on Filipino food in abundance often served in buffet style. A traditional Noche Buena fare includes queso de bola or edam cheese, tsokolate or hot native chocolate drink jamon en dulce or ham, pancit, barbeque, lechon or suckling pig, Western and native cakes, lumpia, rice and list goes on and on. There is also plenty of San Miguel beer, wine and liquor to make the celebration quite intoxicating and exciting for some Filipinos. It is no surprise to find a Filipino dining table displaying colorful and delicious gastronomic pleasures of Filipino food given the fact Filipinos love to cook.
The Christmas Eve gathering provides a chance for a reunion of immediate and distant members of a family to spend a cheerful yuletide celebration. To most Filipinos, Christmas is the most awaited fiesta of the year. Blessed with a tropical climate, bountiful harvests, lovely landscape, multitude of culinary delights and most of all hospitable and warm-hearted people with their devotion to family and faith all makes Christmas a holiday celebration honored in true Philippine fiesta tradition.
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