A Philippine Christmas

We're about a month too early with this post - it's not even Thanksgiving yet! But this morning two Saveur-subscribing readers emailed to tell me that they'd just received the December issue. So I thought I'd share a story.

Ten years ago we were living in Shanghai, where Dave was managing the local branch office of his employer, a San Francisco-based trading company, and I was doing research for a dissertation on pre-Revolution rural tax protests (not as dry a topic as it sounds), commuting to Nanjing and its massive Republican-era archives during the week.

One of the meals that I remember best from those years I ate in Anhui province, in a small village where the farmers - like most in China - were dirt poor and ground down from years of excessive taxation visited upon them by rapacious and corrupt cadres (local officials). I'd come to conduct interviews with elderly farmers and to mine the local archives, and as a foreign researcher in need of access to otherwise off-limits documents I was obliged to host those cadres one night at a banquet - and afterwards, at a dank karaoke club, where they availed themselves of the services of the bar girls, on my tab. When I left the club that evening sleaze enveloped me like a wetsuit.

The next day the cadres left me and my Chinese graduate student assistant blissfully alone. After spending the better part of eight hours beating our heads against the brick wall that was the archive bureaucracy (never did get to lay eyes on those documents, by the way - but at least the cadres enjoyed their night out) we wandered through the village in search of something to ease our frustration, eventually finding it in the form of a dirt-floored one-wok eatery with a single wooden table and six short stools.

There wasn't anything particularly special on offer, just simple dishes that my Shanghai friends would have disdainfully labelled 'peasant food': boiled thick-skinned dumplings light on meat and heavy on Chinese chives, cabbage stir-fried with dried chilies, tofu cooked with a spoonful of chopped pork and a fistful of Sichuan peppercorns, translucent-thin slices of pork stir-fried with tomatoes and coins of ginger, potato and green pepper matchsticks pulled from the wok when the potato was still crisp-tender. The cook was an old man who'd somehow or other lost his land (that was never really 'his' to begin with, this being China) and oh my, was he gifted. Everything tasted so good, a hundred times better than all the dolled up, expensive dishes we'd eaten at the previous night's banquet. Honest food cooked by an honest man. This is the kind of Chinese food that I loved then and still do, and though it was getting increasingly hard to find in Shanghai and even Nanjing, it was the sort that most Chinese people still ate. It was also the sort of Chinese food that, back then, you'd never read about in most American food magazines.

At the time I subscribed to a new publication called Saveur. I'd picked up a copy on a trip back to the States and liked it immediately. It distinguished itself from other food magazines by featuring stories about and photographs of the kinds of people and foods that I recognized from China - real people  in all sorts of kitchens cooking and eating real dishes (Gourmet wasn't as 'out there' with its food/travel articles as it sometimes is now). No photographs of staged parties with slim models pretending to eat styled food. Just regular food from around the world, in all its often messy glory. I remember thinking that this Anhui cook and his stir-fried pork and tomatoes would make a great Saveur story.

Saigon, 5 years later. By then, after leaving China with a bad taste for political research in my mouth and discovering back at UC Berkeley that I really didn't care for teaching, I'd pretty much abandoned my dissertation, though I hadn't admitted it to myself yet. I finally had admitted to myself, however, that I was obsessed with food and what it means to different people in different places. I knew that I loved writing, and that the best thing about my China research was that it gave me an entree into the lives of ordinary people, an excuse and a means by which to get outside my comfort zone (I'm quite shy) and connect with, well, just about anyone willing to engage. I just didn't know yet what to do with all that.

But I was still reading Saveur. One day Dave, who's been photographing since long before we met, was perusing an issue that included an article on Thai Isaan food by now-Editor-in-Chief James Oseland. 'Hey,' he said, pointing at the piece, 'wouldn't it be great to do something like this, to photograph and write about people and places and food, together?'

---

Looooong story short, the December issue of Saveur includes our feature article on Christmas in the small town of Arayat, Pampanga, the Philippines. Talk about coming full circle, huh? Or something like that, anyway. The article includes four recipes that should change the mind of any Philippine food skeptic, including one for 'real' adobo and the famous (to some Manilans) Medina ensaimada.

While seeing the article in print will be a rush (15 months is quite a long lead time and it is our first major feature article, after all), it won't match the amazing experience we had last Christmas in Arayat, a tiny town that opened its heart to a couple of Americans who made nuisances of themselves with their cameras and their questions. And it can't match our gratitude to the Medinas, who so graciously opened their Arayat home to us, as well as to Lucia and her family (to know who Lucia is, you'll have to read the story instead of just looking at the photos), who welcomed us with open arms and fed us more deliciously than words can ever describe. I gave it the old college try in the article, though.

Update: Here's a pdf of the article. "Days of Feasting", Saveur December 2008

Comments

[Mila]

Thank you both for promoting our Xmas foods and traditions, I will scour all the magazine vendors for a copy of Saveur! Plus I do know some friends in the US who will enjoy knowing about the article.
Robyn, I didn't realize you were a Sinologist, good friends of mine were likewise beating their heads against Chinese bureaucracy for years, and I enjoyed getting the inside scoop on Chinese politics from them while I was studying putonghua.

[Heidih]

Thanks for sharing your history and path to food writing. Oh course my subscription to Saveur ended with the November issue- I will head to the newstand!

[renato]

Congratulations on the Saveur article. I'll make sure and grab a copy ASAP.

[a]

Great story. Your description of simple yet delicious Chinese fare strikes a chord. Thanks for sharing.

[Janaki]

That's you guys? Awesome! I'd found and started reading your blog ages ago, and I am a Saveur subscriber as well. And I really enjoyed both that article and the photography! I have to say, though, you didn't have to convert me---I already liked Filipino food all on my own. ;)

[Pia]

I haven't received my copy of Saveur yet (it is the only food magazine to which I still subscribe), but as a Filipino who has carried Medina enseimadas across the Pacific, and whose grandmother hailed from Arayat, I am waiting with baited breath! (And I bless my lucky stars that I will be in Manila for Christmas:-))

Thank you very much for your beautiful photos and articles, which never fail to entertain and educate. You capture the spirit of each place and every morsel so accurately that I always leave your blog with an intense desire to return to SE Asia--immediately!

[juls]

hi robyn & dave,

looking forward to your article... i sent emails to my sisters in L.A. so as to secure a copy of Saveur for themselves and for me.

btw, everytime a friend goes to KL, i suggest to them your wonderful site. it's so much more like a KL foodie lonely planet!

btw, how come no sate babe in jakarta? only sate ayam and sate kambing? don't the non-muslim chinese serve them?

[bayi]

Robyn

Your choice of career path in food and people has been our boon. That's from my heart and...stomach! :)

[Olan]

I really like Saveur but I LOVE your website. It is really my favourite "place" to visit for food.

Liked your story and I look forward to the real adobo recipe!

[Olan]

P.S. I'll wait for and look forward to your future book!!

[chinachix]

hi robyn, just wanted to say what a great article about Filipino cuisine in Saveur. I am a Filipino based in Toronto, and and I came across this particular issue by chance. I got so excited I blogged about it. Because of that story, I am now enjoying your blog as well.

[joey]

Oh wow! I am buying that issue as soon as I see it! Thank you so much for the wonderful way you have treated our cuisine, one that is often misunderstood. I get a warm spot in my heart every time I read one of your "Filipino" posts :) I am so thrilled that your article was published in Saveur...a magazine I also like and respect! I can't wait to read it!

[Jay]

Dear Robyn and David,
Mayap a aldo kekayu ("A good day to you" - Kapampangan)I was pleasantly shocked to read this entry. I was born and grew up in Arayat, in a small farming village near the foot of the mountain before I moved to Manila to pursue a goverment scholarship at 13 years old. I am now 33 year old engineer raising a family here in a suburb halfway between Akron and Cleveland Ohio where I work for a famous food company.
Your blog hass been one of my most wonderful discovery to feed my nostalgia and occasional homeland pangs, and to discover Philippines' neighboring countries. Because of my work I have been fortunate to have worked and lived in several countries (UK, Canada, Brazil, Czech Republic, Turkey, Germany, Italy, France) before being assigned here in the US, but somehow I have never visited the rest of Southeast Asia except for the airport layover in Changi and Bangkok on the way home.
Well, I will look forward to the Saveur issue, and continue to keep up with your blog. God bless you both and keep you safe in your journeys!
Mimingat kayu at sana akit and namnaman yu ing manyaman a biye - (Take care and I hope you always find and enjoy the delicious in life).

Jay

[Life 2.0]

Robyn and Dave,

Thanks for the post about Saveur, I have never heard of this publication and I am heading out to the bookstore to find a copy and get an subscription for myself and my uncle.

Also, many thanks for the BT article. I have read it three times so far and am so excited about KL and it's surrounding suburbs. We are looking Petaling Jaya(PJ) for our base. If there is another suburbs you would suggest, I am all ears.

[marc medina]

hey robyn!

you mean the december issues are out already? better head to the bookstore tomorrow. didn't know you had so many arayat-born and -bred reading your blog. bet when they see dave's pictures they'll get nostalgic (which was the point, right?).

it's fiesta on tuesday and neither you nor i will be there. bummer. i can taste lucia's cooking already. and i can't even find bagoong here in oxford....

i'll wait for the savuer and just use my imagination while i'm having fish and chips (yuk).

marc

[Robyn]

Mila - don't thank me, we'd like to thanks Filipinos for having such rich culinary traditions. There's so much there yet to mine. We can't wait to return.
Sinology is behind me, though I do get the oppty to use Mandarin in Malaysia and Dave and I would love to return to China doing the kind of work we do now. Food, I think, would be a bit less sensitive to research there than rural tax protests!

Heidi and a - you're welcome. Heidi, I suppose it is a 'path' of some sort, though certainly not a straight one...

renato, Janaki - thank you.

Jay, Pia - who knew we had Arayat-native (or related by birth) readers? We just hope we got it right.

marc - no kidding. I've been craving that ulang sa gata all weekend, not to mention a nice bowl of balo-balo with mustard leaves to accompany! Fiesta next year then? You know we're dying to go....

Olan - thanks. We'll hold you to the book comment. Shall we put you down for 50 copies. ;-)

chinachix - thanks! And for the blog post too.

joey - I think it's time for another Philippines post, don't you think? ;-)

Life 2.0 - I'd recommend just about any KL suburb. There are many PJs, Kota Damansar, Mt Kiara, Sri Hartamas, Damansara and Damansara Heights are all good as well. Depends on the type of home you're looking for. Despite the complaints of KL residents traffic here is not SO bad, certainly not like Bangkok, Jakarta, or Manila. One thing is for certain ... no matter where you live you will always be within reach of really delicious food!

Hey bayi - that's a great compliment, coming from you. Thanks!

[renato]

Just bought the issue! Great article and photos. So happens I was planning to cook adobo this week-end so I decided to do this version. While I still like the "saucier" adobo -- this is a great variation. Thanks again.

[Franz]

Robyn and Dave,

What a pleasant surpise to see your article about Philippine cuisine in Saveur. I could imagine and sense the taste, scents and sounds you experinced as I read your article. Bravo! Being Filipino in the US, I've been waiting for an article like this. Phillipine cuisine has always been under the radar and as you say is "the regions comfort food". Your article made me miss X'mas in the Phillipines and now I am inspired to plan on a trip back home next year with my family. I know your article will help Americans discover the tastes of the Phillipines and not limited to the Lumpia and Pancit as well as get a glimpse of our culture revolving around faith, friends, food and of course family. I would love to see you write another article on other Philippine regional cuisine. Thank you very much for this article.

[Robyn]

Hey Renato - we like the 'meat and nothing but meat'-iness of that adobo recipe. I'm not sure if it was included in the article but we eat it with a sawsawan of crushed fresh tomato and patis.

Thanks Franz! We intend to continue to cover the Philippines. Our few visits have only made us hungry for more.

[marc medina]

or crushed tomatoes and bagoong better....we eat it sometimes with a banana just for fun.

[Reyna]

Hi Robyn and Dave,

I love your blog and have been reading it for a year now (like truly delicious food, I gobbled up the entries in your archives, so I have been consciously pacing myself since lest I run out of entries to read). I enjoy what you do. Robyn you have a gift for nailing down food complexities (or simplicity)on paper. Dave's pictures are spot-on luscious too. Love, love, love your blog!

[Robyn]

Marc - right, bagoong. And a sili. :-) There's another dish we ate bananas with in Arayat, isn't there?

Reyna, thanks so much for the compliments. Means a lot to us. And thanks for reading.

[marc medina]

hey robyn,

did you know cendrillon is moving to brooklyn? just got word from amy....

yes, that's binagoongang baboy, pork loin in bagoong and tomatoes. we eat that with fresh bananas.

i'll get the recipe from mom. she does it well.

[Lyndsay]

Hello,

I read all about Philippines, that's cool. I miss Filipino Food as well as Pinoy Christmas Celebration! Geez! but it's good, I'm gonna have my first Christmas in Da Lat, Vietnam...Cold Christmas like Baguio!

Please visit my blog sometime at:
http://www.lyndsaycabildo.com

[Chocolatesa]

Wow, reading this makes me so envious of your life, I love taking pictures of food too (and trying foods from all over the world) but I'm nowhere near a professional so unfortunately wouldn't be able to make a living of it, but I live vicariously through all your posts! Thank you so much for these beautiful blog posts and pictures :D I decided to search for Filipino foods on your blog today since I have a Filipino boyfriend, and now I'm dreaming of visiting the Philippines one day! In the meantime I'll start cooking food from there instead :D

Is there somewhere I can find the article you wrote in the archives of the website? I tried looking for it but I don't know which issue # it is.