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.