Spanish, Portuguese, Mexicans, Americans and other European and Mediterranean people introduced their cuisine to the locals and just like they did to the Chinese, they embraced it. While the Spanish occupied the Philippines, connections of the Mexicans and the Aztecs with the Filipinos started in the Manila-Acapulco trade, the people introduced to each other their native cuisine. American influence came during the American colonization.
Arroz Caldo - Rice porridge, topped with egg, chicken liver and grind chicharon.
Arroz de Valenciana - Paella; Filipino style.
Biscocho - Sweet biscuit.
Caldereta - Pork or Beef tomato soup with sausages and vegetables.
Champorado - Introduced by the Mexicans but eventually in years the recipe changed by adding rice, sweet chocolate rice porridge. It is kind of like hot chocolate but with rice on it.
Empanada - Stuffed pastry.
Ensaymada - Sweet bread topped with cheese and butter.
Leche Flan - Creme brulee (Custard Pudding).
Menudo - Pork Stew.
Spaghetti - Possibly brought to the Philippines by the American-Italians during the American colonization, this is a must try for pasta lovers not because they love it, but because it is so different from the Italian spaghetti. Unlike the Italian version, Filipino spaghetti is sweet, its ingredients include sugar and condensed milk. The Filipinos are meat lovers who obsessively add meat to their spaghetti, including hotdog, Spam (this is what ham is called in the Philippines as Spam is so popular) and corned beef/pork or minced beef/pork.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Philippines
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Philippines Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
