Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueHair
What region did you serve in? I was in Bicol and I liked the spices they used. Did you ever try tocino? I'm not sure if that's how it's spelled, but it was delicious.
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Served on the Island of Leyte the whole time - mostly in the jungle. Part of my bias against Filipino food is that you don't get much variety or spice in the jungle and Leyte isn't exactly a melting pot of cultures and cuisines. Everything was bland, bland, bland.
Comp1: "What should we have with our rice today? Fish or chicken?"
Comp2: "Hmm, we had chicken the last three nights - let's go with fish tonight. You know what would be great? It would be great if we could buy a tomato or a potato or some type of vegetable at the market."
Comp1: " Man, that would be great - I can't remember the last time I had a tomato. I hate the fact that the only thing at the market are purple yams (ube), bananas, and sweet potatos."
Comp2: "You know what else would be great? Real ketchup - that 'banana ketchup' just doesn't cut it."
Never ate beef. Occasionally had some carabao (water buffalo) but that was usually tougher than tough.
Never heard of tocino. One problem with Filipino food is that, like the language, the culinary makeup of the country is so fractured. Thus, if you go to a Pinoy restaurant in the states you usually get the usual suspects that I mentioned above (adobo, lumpia, etc.) that are more well-known. The jazzier/interesting regional and sub-regional specialities are never on the menu.
Don't get me wrong - I liked the things that were good (Lechon manok is one of my favorite all time things to eat) the problem is there just weren't enough of them.
In response to your original message: Unfortunately, I don't know any good Pinoy recipes.