Food is Love and Patriotism


Who wants to go errand running with me?

A new Filipino fast food joint* opened down the street from the Target on DeSoto (the 818). The sinigang was salty, the meat was a little tougher than Mommy makes, and I spent the lunch watching the Filipino equivalent of Sabado Gigante and listening to 'act now' Filipino TV commercials that involved an awful lot of Karaoke**. Despite all that, I swelled not only with a full belly but a random sense of patriotism brought on I must assume by my 50% Filipino gut.

Every time I eat Filipino food and I'm not at my house, I get this crazy sense of Pinoi pride and joy. Even if I'm in a restaurant where half the dishes are made of 'weird parts of the animal'. Even though I haven't been to the Philippines since I was 11. Even though I'm only half Filipino and can only say "Time to eat" and "Handsome" in Tagalog.


* I was eating conservative at this Filipino joint. No dep fried tripe chicharron, no blood stew, nothin' crazy. Just chicken and beef dishes like Mom and Auntie made. "Filipino Fast Food" ain't no Jack in the Box. It's more of a serving line like Panda Express, only all the food is like homemade, stewy, and full of someone's Mom's special touch I wager. Oh, and they all, like cater cuz so much of the food takes such a long time to simmer or stinks up your house (fried fish) when it's cooked. . .

** Those commercials show you why Pinoi Idol doesn't get shown in the states. . . it's cuz we Filips are so damn musical we'd use Chris Doughtry as a dishrag. If he stepped foot in Manilla, he'd know his talen't ain't enough to scrub a kitchen floor with a coconut husk. Can't wait to see him as the curtain jerker on a Carnival Cruise Liner. . . .