The country has a history of more than a hundred years of external influences which is the countries who colonized the Philippines. Filipinos are known in the world as a group of people who sees food as a very significant element in their everyday lives especially in their culture. Filipino food is considered as one of the Philippine culture highlights. You will also observe that the Filipinos’ favorite place in the house is the kitchen. The exotic Filipino foods are known in the whole world because they are all delicious and really look unusual dish to eat. Dishes like “bagoong” and “dinuguan” do look really exotic and unusual for many people, specially for those who don’t have Filipino blood in them. But, one thing is for sure, the looks and smell of this exotic foods will be covered up by the unique taste and blend of spices the said dishes has to offer. Once you have tasted it and captured its distinctive taste, you will surely crave for more.

Some of the reality shows have featured these exotic foods as part of their challenge in the show. One example is the “balut” which was featured in the show Fear Factor. For those who don’t know, “balut” is a fertilized egg with a nearly developed embryo inside. This egg will be boiled and eaten in shell alongside with either salt or vinegar with chili mixture to season their egg. It may not look or sound good at all, but the taste of it will surely captivate every taste buds that will try this food. Of course, many Filipinos does not find these foods as exotic and unlikely to be eaten especially “balut” which are sold every night on streets.

As one travels in the provinces of the country, one will see that the delicacies become more and more exotic. This is not a surprise since Filipino will try to eat and cook every living thing in their surroundings or backyards. We could say that Filipinos does not care that much what the physical looks or attributes of a thing as long as they could eat them. Whether it’s crunchy or slimy, Filipino delicacies are sure to be tasty and healthy. Many Filipinos will try to use every part of an animal as a source of their food. The resourcefulness of the Filipinos can be seen in this way.

It is said that a by sampling a country’s cuisine one can picture the country’s culture. This is also very true with Filipino food culture. They have their original cuisines but have also adopted and transformed foreign cuisines to their tastes such as Spanish food, Chinese food, American food, and Indian food. Filipinos also have adopted many cuisines from neighboring countries. Aside from these imported styles, different provinces and regions also have their own version of each dish to match their taste. They also have different cuisines for everyday dishes and for special occasion dishes.

If you visit Vietnam, it is very usual to find the same kind of dish that tastes slightly different than if you eat them from different regions. One can be very salty dish from one province to other provinces and the oil from ultra-hot spice from other.

The whole country is made up of 7,107 islands and is surrounded by the sea. With this vast sea around the country, seafood is very popular. Filipinos also like eating meat, poultry and vegetables. Rice is the staple diet in the Philippines but there are some regions which prefer corn over rice as their main food.

Vegetables are often mixed with seafood or meat, or arranged either on the food or around the dish to artistically beautify the dish. Filipinos also have mixed dishes like minced pork with fowl and seafood, along with different kinds of vegetables. Filipinos love using a range of distinct seasonings to flavor their food. Some of these flavorings are “bagoon” shrimp paste, crab paste, “patis” fish sauce, soy sauce and many more.

Every Filipino I know loves eating sweets and their country has many traditional sweets. Many are based on rice, corn, coconuts, roots and sugar. Tropical fruits are abundant in the Philippines and so they are often prepared as sweets. Perhaps the most popular fruit in the Philippines is the banana and they have many different dessert variations made with bananas.

From seafoods to meat, vegetables and sweets, Filipino food has a wide and delicious variety to choose from.The Philippines has the world’s most delicious and alluring cuisines. The food has its own special tastes and flavors. People are not surprised to find great variety in the cooking styles of the Filipinos. The food served here is a unique blend of western and eastern cuisines.