Cebuano Food like No Other Food

            Coming a long way from Pangasinan to Study in the University of the Philippines, Cebu Campus, I am a real alien to the realm that I have entered. The idea of living in a dormitory without my family scared the hell out of me. Meeting new friends, learning Cebuano dialect and exploring the island by myself are the top three things you will see in my to-do-list which seems to eat all of my confidence and adds dreaded pressure to my adjusting Pangasinense body.

            I can still recall when I would just stay in my room and listen to music all day long or surf the net until my eyes give up to the radiant vibration that the screen of my laptop is showing off during the first days of my official Yaay-I-Am-Living-Alone-In-Cebu weeks. Being sick of this cycle in my life I decided to meet acquaintances that would teach me the Cebuano dialect for me to be able to explore the island without thinking if natives in front of me can understand tagalog. It took me all my courage and strength for me to jump off my bed, go out, say Hi and fake a smile when in fact I am trembling and shouting “What am I gonna do!?” inside my head to my dorm mates.

            Alas! I’ve learned some basic Cebuano words like lugar lang( what you should say when you want to go down in a public vehicle when riding one) and the six basic questions; unsa(what), kinsa(who), kanus-a(when), asa(where), nganu(why) and unsa-on(how). With the help of my new friends, I already explored parts of Cebu. Many things in Cebu catch my attention, but what really got me is the Cebuano cuisine. So as the days go by, I would go to malls or certain places like I.T. Park if I want to know more about the edibles of the province.

            As I continue to struggle with my studies in UPC, I am also doing my “mission intermission” and that is to taste Cebuano foods. And VIOLA! After months of wasting my money on Cebu delicacies, I can say that, I can already share and state my opinions with regards to the foods I have tasted and on how Cebuanos deal with their foods.

            Born as a Pangasinan boy and really trying hard to fit in and be a Cebu guy, I really need to do some serious twisting on the taste buds of my tongue for it to get used to the taste of the foods here since Cebuanos have different perspective when it comes to the taste of the food. Just like my body that needs to adapt to my new environment, my tongue needs to adjust to the taste of Cebu foods, whether it is spicy, salty or too sweet for me .

PUSO- a food whose ingredient is pure rice but is wrapped with weaved coconut leaves- is a delicacy in Cebu in which I am unfamiliar to. I also have a really embarrassing experience with this food. It happened during the pre-enrolment of UPCC, since I was really hungry at that time I went out to look for food. As I was searching, this wrapped food really captured my attention. At first glance I thought it is a real Cebuano native delicacy, I approach the stool and  and buy one. I was really happy at that time since I was surprised with the cheap price. When I unwrapped and started to eat it, people who are also buying in that stool is looking at me intently as if I have done something wrong. When I started eating it, it hit me, it was RICE! For pete’s sake, I can feel heat coming up to my face and I know that I turned red at that time due to embarrassment. Next thing I know is that I am already back at UP campus and eating my lunch at the canteen.

I also noticed that some macro infrastructures like SM City Cebu and different universities of Cebu like UP, CNU and USC have many micro infrastructures around it, and those micro infrastructures are the stools for street foods like siomai, barbecue, fishball and toknene. During lunch and late afternoon hours you can see people crowding the place which are full of street vendors as if those little crispy and delicious foods are celebrities that are giving free kisses. According to one of my Cebuano uncles, he wants to eat street foods since it is served fast and you can eat it while walking towards your destination. You can see this kind of behavior in New Yorkers way of behavior on food. Just like Westerners, Cebuanos like their foods to be served swiftly but deliciously.

            Since Cebu is an industrialized province, more food stalls and restaurants are present that would make your mouth drool, stomach angry and your pocket empty. Some of the restaurants like Red Kimono and Rai Rai Ken are not present in Pangasinan which makes me eager to try their foods. Red Kimono and Rai Rai Ken are both Japanese and Chinese inspired restaurants which make my stay there quite an experience. The only downside of those restaurants is the prize of their foods. One meal there would cost you your allowance for a day. One fast food chain that really caught the attention of my stomach is Yellow Cab which serves New York style pizzas. My first time to be there is during my birthday. As a meat lover, I ordered pizzas with only different kinds of meats as toppings, Surprisingly, I found it quite heavy- heavy for the stomach and much heavier on the pocket.

            If you want to taste real Cebuano foods with only a limited amount of budget, have no fear since there are food stalls in Cebu that are labeled “PANG-MASA”. Pungku-pungku and Larsian, as what Cebuanos call it, are the food stalls that are appropriate to go to with a hungry stomach and a student’s allowance.  These two stalls sell street foods with Pungku-pungku focusing on foods like siomai and siopao while Larsian focuses on barbecues. But these food stalls are really great since your rice is the PUSO and you have to eat it with your bare hands. With the two Larsian is my personal favorite. Why? Simple, because barbecue is MEAT! Plus you have the chance to feel like you are really someone very popular because the stall owners persuade you to eat at their stalls.

            But just like any part of the country, Cebu is world filled with Filipinos even though I must say that lots of foreigners are present here. Filipinos that seemed enjoy eating full-packed. Filipinos that would devour foods on a buffet as if it is a 50% off shopping barrage. With these observations, I can say that Cebuanos are genuinely Filipinos. They still know the Filipino culture by heart that foods are becoming undeniably delicious and unresistable if added with the spices of Filipino conversations. This way of life of Filipinos is very obvious during drinking hours of bystanders with the food they chew called as “PULUTAN”.

            Last conclusion that I can say to Cebuano cuisine is that it is cooked to please the eaters. You can see and say that the foods they prepare and serve to you is rugged but somewhat classy. Can be eaten by the whole people but somewhat sassy. And looks ordinary but has a heavenly taste that can tame even the wildest lion.

            However, Cebuano it may be or Pangasinense cuisine, Filipino cuisines is what defines Philippines. Foods can reflect our personality. If foods are spicy you can say that people there are feisty and brave. If it is sweet, people living in that are mostly loving. But since Filipino foods are delicious, these may be the reason why Filipinos have mixed personality making us attractive. Foods are also one of the bases why foreigners labeled us, Filipinos, as naturally good-natured.  

            If there is one thing that I’ve learned in this little quest of mine, it is that Cebuano foods are not called Cebuano foods because it is found in Cebu. It is called that because it is one of the agents that define Cebuanos. Food+Cebuanos= CULTURE OF CEBU.

References:

Annaliza Cainglet

Kyllie Capacio

Experiences

google Image for some pics

combining sentences.

1.
Mark Twain is the author of Huckleberry Finn.
Huckleberry Finn is a classic American novel.
Mark Twain's real name was Samuel L. Clemens.
He lived in Hartford for several years.


---------Mark Twain, whose real name is Samuel L. Clemens is the author of the classic American novel 'Huckleberry Finn' and lived in Hartford for several years.


2.
Mark Twain's house was very elaborate and elegant.
It was on Farmington Avenue.
It was in an area called Nook Farm.
He was a neighbor of Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.


-------------Mark Twain's house, located on an area called Nook Farm on Farmington Avenue,  is not only very elaborate and elegant but he also have Harriet Beecher Stowe-the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin- as his neighbor.


3.
Mark Twain's home has a large side porch.
Windows and a balcony overlook the porch.
Today, people say the windows and balcony remind them of a steamboat.
In his youth, Twain piloted steamboats on the Mississippi.

-----------Mark Twain's home has windows and a balcony overlooking the large side porch which would remind people today of a steamboat in which Twain had tried piloting during his youth on the Mississippi.


4.
Mark Twain was one of the first three people in Hartford to own a telephone.
The telephone was first used commercially in nearby New Haven.
There was practically no one to talk to.
Mark Twain never really liked this newfangled gadget.


---------The telephone was first used commercially in nearby New Haven and Mark Twain was one of the first three people in Hartford to own one of it but he never really liked this newfangled gadget for the fact that there is really no one to talk to.


5.
Mark Twain loved industrial inventions.
He lost a fortune investing in them.
One of these inventions was the elaborate Paige typesetter.
Unfortunately for Twain, this machine was developed at the same time as the Linotype.
The Linotype machine was much simpler and less expensive.

--------Mark Twain loved industrial inventions and one of these inventions was the elaborate Paige typesetter ,but unfortunately, he lost a fortune investing in this item because this machine was developed at the same time as the Linotype, which is a machine too and not only is it much simpler but also less expensive.


6.
Mark Twain's beloved daughter, Susy, died in the Hartford home.
She died of spinal meningitis.
Twain never felt the same about the house again.
He soon left the house and Hartford.
He returned only once.
He came back for the funeral of his friend, Charles Dudley Warner.


--------When Mark Twain's beloved daughter, Susy, died of spinal meningitis, he never felt the same about their house again and soon left it and Hartford and he returned only once for the funeral of his friend, Charles Dudley Warner.

Comm 1 /2nd assignment

As I’ve read the two readings I can definitely say that the authors are good writers since specification is greatly used than vague abstractions. Here are some insights and outputs on how specification and concreteness are used in the two articles.

Calories in Filipino Foods

                Concreteness is used in our daily speaking and writing. In fact, all matters in the universe are concrete nouns because they are tangible and can be perceived by our five senses. But what catches my attention in this reading is the fact that specification and concreteness are combined to make this article easy to read. Some concrete and general nouns used are fruits, vegetables, physical activities, sweets, meat, menu dishes, carbs and alcoholic drinks. All of these are concrete but in a general term, the author specified the stated words above for the readers to know what kind of fruit can give you the most calories, and what kind of physical activities can make you lose more calories in the body. For example is the fruit which is specified to be dalanghita, durian, duhat, etc., vegetables: Baguio beans, patola, okra and others, there are also some specified activities like sleeping, house works and many more. Sweets are specified as sugar, yema, etc., meats as tender lion, pork chops and some more, menu dishes such as adobo and dinuguan, carbs like cakes and breads and alcoholic drinks like beer and gin. The readers already know the kinds of foods that can give them calories, but the question now is “by how much?” Does adobo give more calories than dinuguan or is sleeping a better way to lose calories than doing house works? This question may have gotten in the mind of the author, so to answer this, he specified how many calories are in a certain food. For the reader to have an idea on just one reading on how many calories are in a certain food and to do no more further research since people now are more health conscious than ever, the author gave the exact amount of how much calories are in a certain food. Some examples are in fruits, like eating half of an apple can give you 40 calories or eating 7 mangosteens can give you same amount. Or in main course where ½ cup of adobo can give you 320 calories and same amount is given by 1 cup of dinuguan. Same thing is done with the other general terms stated above. This is a good thing done by the reader because no critical thinking is required and no curiosity will arouse, because all general terms are concrete and specified.

                                                                                                                                              

                Indian food

                We can see and say that the title alone is in its general term, right? There are many parts of India, and we know that these parts have certain norms and culture they follow that is different to other parts. To make the reading an “easy to comprehend” reading, the author enumerated all the parts of India which are North, West, East and South India. These specified parts of India have different kinds of cookings.  Now that specification is used, where is the concreteness? I can say that concrete nouns are used throughout the article. But its main purpose really is to describe the food in each part of India better. Like Indian foods are known because of its “SPICINESS” (and spiciness is a concrete noun) but questions that would arise in our minds is that “are the food in India the same?” or “if they are all spicy, what aredifferences of a food from South India from other Indian parts or are there any differences at all?” For readers to know the answer to their questions, the writer specified the food in various parts of India and differentiated those using concrete nouns. Like North Indian foods are those foods affected by Central Asian influences and foods partnered with rice like the country of Kashmir. And some countries in North India like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have bread or foods made in flour as their staple food instead rice. While Western Indian foods are known because of its unique taste and varieties of foods esp. in deserts. Some states like Gujarat use dals and achars (pickles/preserves) as a substitute to fresh vegetables. And some states combined north and south cooking like Maharashtra while Portuguese influences can be seen in the country of Goa. Second to the last is the East Indian Cooking, where Bengali and Assamese styles of cooking are noticeable. Eastern Indians even have a special way to wrap the delicacy known as ‘hilsa’ by using pumpkin leaf as the wrapper. Last is the South Indian cuisine which uses more of a coastal style by using ingredients such as fish, coconuts and some spices. You can also eat great Keralan dishes at South India. To sum it all up, it is an easy reading again because classification first is done then the description follows. But if no classification is done and all are in a single paragraph, it will be a difficult reading even if concrete nouns are used. That is the importance of specification.

Specified nouns described by concrete nouns are used by readers to make their story the "best-seller" because readers like us can comprehend much and would definitely enjoy your work. A question to all of us "Can you enjoy reading something if it involves critical thinking?"

Comm 1 assignment

        As I've read the two readings, I can say that ,even if they have different topics, they are in contrast with each other. The works of Cherches, "Nostalgia for Kerala", tackles the beauty of a food in different areas, on how one food can have so many varieties depending on the place. While Anderson Digby's "Turn out the lite" gives definition on how a single word(lite) can make a great change, that just by putting a word "lite" on a food people would still see that as a same food where in fact its ingredients has been changed which greatly affects its taste.

       Both of the readings main concern is food. But Pete Cherches' is more of a feature. He featured the food Kerala, where you can find,  the taste and of course, is varieties. Digby's work was more of an editorial, where he said it in  DIRECT way that the word "lite" doesn't mean that it is out of the unwanted ingredients 

but it is only lessen.

        In simple words, we can say that Chereches's article is to attract and Digby's is to persuade.

         However, they stated something in common, basically. They are not persuaded by others to eat the food that they love. Cheches is willing to walk for a mile just to have a taste of that food kerala while Digby do not care if his food is not light, if it is heavy and  unhealthy, she just put the ingredients in his cooking that he know would make his masterpiece a work of the art.

         
          Last is that, Digby stated that lite is food of the children, that only cowards eta that, but we know that it is still in the person. "You can't please everyone" as the saying goes so live life the way you wanted it as long as you know your limitations. and in Cherches work he stated that it is good to travel for the sake of adventure, of food. but in the end there still no palce that is like HOME.




some negative about the work of Anderson


The mildest thing one would want to say about this horrid dry pink innovation, which sweated under the grill and fell to bits under the knife, was that it was less than a sausage.--Which is precisely what has been happening to food and much else on a grand or rather a pathetic scale.-- Lite is insipid, weak, denatured, flat, diluted, and easy: food for cowards and children.--He is ignorant, timid, squeamish, and childish.--Our religion is insipid and undemanding.




Positive are: which can be found in the book of cheches Nostalgia


There are beautiful beaches and backwaters, places of great historical interest, reflecting the region's varied colonial past, and an overall sense of contentment and well-being among the people.--- Jewtown is a fascinating place.
---The dancers have perfect control of all face and body muscles, and the make-up isstriking and elaborate.--
I took the LIRR out on a beautiful late summer day for lunch, and the walk was ratherpleasant.