Pinoy Merienda

Merienda is a Spanish word that refers to a light meal usually taken in between lunch and dinner. The Spaniards introduced this kind of repast to the Filipinos who adopted the habit later on. From then on, the Filipino merienda became an equivalent of the American coffee break or the English afternoon tea.

Although merienda appears to be a borrowed concept, eating and the fondness for food and preparing the dishes have always been considered a part of the Filipino culture. We have our own Filipino delicacies such as puto, bibingka, kutsinta, suman and many others that we usually eat in between our regular daily meals. These Pinoy favorites are usually eaten together with tea or any other beverage.

In the rural areas, the usual practice is to boil freshly harvested root crops like cassava, sweet potato (kamote) or wild yam and then eat them while sipping salabat, a tangy beverage made from boiled ginger roots. It is probably the need for additional energy for the tedious work in their farms that make the rural folks prepare energy-giving merienda and eat them in-between meals.

Today, many foreign food and influences have penetrated the everyday Pinoy gastronomic processes. The Chinese have introduced a few of our favorite merienda treats: pansit, siopao and siomai. Filipinos today are also fond of eating meals prepated from foreign recipes such as Italian pizza and spaghetti, Mexican tacos and tamales and American burgers and fries. Nonetheless, native delicacies such as bibingka, puto, kutsinta and puto bumbong, still remain, despite the abundance of foreign-influenced food and junkfoods.

In this particular guide, we will learn how to prepare a select menu of Filipino merienda favorites, such as goto arrozcaldo, pansit habhab, alpahor in coconut milk, turon, lumpia, pansit molo, bibingka, puto bumbong and smoked fish empanada.

source: tlrc.gov.ph, photo from pinoyfood.nimrodel.net