It’s interesting, of all cuisines in Asia, I think the cuisine of my peeps, Filipino, might be one of the more unknown. It’s definitely not publicized much. I mean, you don’t see many Filipino chefs with cookbooks in the United States, do you? Maybe not so much in Chicago. (Yet another possibility to go public with my family cookbook idea. But that’s for another time.) There aren’t Filipino dishes featured on Food Network. No Iron Chef Filipino.

Some people immerse themselves in their heritage by studying artwork, architecture (which I love), cultural history. I’m enamored with this idea of researching the history of Filipino FOOD. I only know that there is a lot of Chinese and Spanish influence in the dishes. I’m curious, too, being a foodie, why are the dishes cooked the way that they are (more technique of cooking like braising when I might roast), use of spices (or lack of), but that’s going pretty deep into food theory, I think. I’m not sure I could name five quintessential Filipino dishes. There are so many islands, local flavors… but then, I wonder, why it isn’t as defined as oh, the Chinese? There’s Szechuan, Hunan, Fujian, Cantonese, Mandarin… they are very defined. So what is Filipino cuisine? I’m on an adventure to find out…

Here are some websites I’ve found in the last few days. I’ll be reading more I’m sure. When? In between diaper changes and preparing meals.

http://www.filipino-food-lovers.com

http://www.filipinofoodrecipes.net

http://overseaspinoycooking.blogspot.com

http://www.pinoylifestyles.com

Update: pics of my chicken afritada… the kids ate it up.