Thoughts of Food: NOCHE BUENA By
Emiliano Bernardo III, MD
A party isn't a party without food, and a gathering isn't a great one without great food. As we already know food is the center of any Filipino event and the mother of all events on the Filipino calendar is Christmas. Though from a purely religious-Christian perspective, Easter should be the biggest event of all, but probably due to the solemnity of the previous week or the prospect of working the following week, Easter isn't as popular among Filipinos as it might or should be. Like it or not, religiously correct or not, Christmas is the Filipino Fiesta of all Filipino Fiestas, so fasten your statins and brace your oral hypoglycemic agents, and get ready for a brief tour of the Filipino Noche Buena.
Noche Buena as defined by Wikipedia is a "Spanish word referring to the night of Christmas Eve". It further states that "In Spain, Cuba, Latin America, and the Philippines, the evening consists of a traditional dinner with family." What's interesting to note is that in the description that follows for each country where Nochebuena is a tradition, the Philippines' entry is accompanied by a long list of food items. To confirm that this is actually the case, I talked to a set of food experts (qualification being 200 pounds and up), Dr. Benalexander Pedro, Dr. Jose Luis Degrano, Dr. Ronaldo Mathias Noche, Dr. Lee Allen Cloma and Dr. Jesus Tamesis, Jr.
First things first… is Noche Buena dinner, a midnight snack or simply lots of food at midnight? All of the experts I talked to seem to agree on one thing and one thing alone. The amount food that is prepared for Noche Buena in their homes is way beyond what is reasonable to consume in one night. Thus I think it is safe to assume that to attempt to consume all the food prepared in one night is NOT SAFE nor logical. Noche Buena food usually becomes Christmas breakfast… Christmas lunch … Christmas dinner … and day after Christmas breakfast… Christmas eve Dinner and Noche Buena are separate events. Our experts' families would eat Christmas dinner at the usual time, attend Misa de Gallo and then eat some more at Noche Buena. So I guess Noche Buena would fall under the category of an after dinner thing, the actual amount of food consumed varies a lot, but it is only Dr Louie Degrano's family which considers Noche Buena as a light snack.
What is considered traditional Noche Buena fare? Based on what I've gathered from my panel of experts, the actual food varies from family to family, but none of the food items mentioned seem unusual fare to me at Noche Buena. Ham (salty Chinese ham or sweet pinoy ham), Queso de Bola (Piña or Pato brand) and fruits like apples, oranges and grapes are the mainstays of Noche Buena. Lechong manok, baboy at baka, Filipino Ketchupetti, chicken galantina, fresh and fired lumpia, soup and congee of various kinds, sweet and savory salads of different types with and without pasta, bacon, Filipino desserts like puto bungbong, kutchinta, leche flan, palitaw and ginataang bilo-bilo are all acceptable Noche Buena food. Actually, I'm at a loss of what would be weird / unacceptable to serve at Noche Buena. Even the slightly off-beat Turkey and Pumpkin Pie of Dr. Tamesis at Christmas dinner (by virtue of his Polish-American wife), is hard for me to consider unacceptable… it still actually sounds quite good to me.
Though food is and will always be the center of any Filipino celebration, the true essence of the Filipino Noche buena feast is having fun (translation, fun = eating lots of good food and drink), and celebrating the birth of Christ with our familes. This is why nothing is unacceptable for as long as we are with our loved ones at Noche Buena. What would be weird and unacceptable is all the best food in the world at Christmas eve and you're the only one around to eat it. Noche Buena isn't Noche Buena without family.
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The Beginning and the End
By Carlos G. Naval, MD
President, PAO
As we approach the end of the year, we know that a new year is about to begin. Another year of the expected, of the unforeseen, of the exciting, and of the mundane. We don't exactly know what will happen but we do know that it's not going to be the same as this year. Some events will affect us...
Thoughts of Food: NOCHE BUENA By Emiliano Bernardo III, MD
A party isn't a party without food, and a gathering isn't a great one without great food. As we already know food is the center of any Filipino event and the mother of all events on the Filipino calendar is Christmas. Though from a purely religious-Christian perspective, Easter should be the biggest event of all, but probably...
Thoughts of Food: NOCHE BUENA By
Emiliano Bernardo III, MD
A party isn't a party without food, and a gathering isn't a great one without great food. As we already know food is the center of any Filipino event and the mother of all events on the Filipino calendar is Christmas. Though from a purely religious-Christian perspective, Easter should be the biggest event of all, but probably due to the solemnity of the previous week or the prospect of working the following week, Easter isn't as popular among Filipinos as it might or should be. Like it or not, religiously correct or not, Christmas is the Filipino Fiesta of all Filipino Fiestas, so fasten your statins and brace your oral hypoglycemic agents, and get ready for a brief tour of the Filipino Noche Buena.
Noche Buena as defined by Wikipedia is a "Spanish word referring to the night of Christmas Eve". It further states that "In Spain, Cuba, Latin America, and the Philippines, the evening consists of a traditional dinner with family." What's interesting to note is that in the description that follows for each country where Nochebuena is a tradition, the Philippines' entry is accompanied by a long list of food items. To confirm that this is actually the case, I talked to a set of food experts (qualification being 200 pounds and up), Dr. Benalexander Pedro, Dr. Jose Luis Degrano, Dr. Ronaldo Mathias Noche, Dr. Lee Allen Cloma and Dr. Jesus Tamesis, Jr.
First things first… is Noche Buena dinner, a midnight snack or simply lots of food at midnight? All of the experts I talked to seem to agree on one thing and one thing alone. The amount food that is prepared for Noche Buena in their homes is way beyond what is reasonable to consume in one night. Thus I think it is safe to assume that to attempt to consume all the food prepared in one night is NOT SAFE nor logical. Noche Buena food usually becomes Christmas breakfast… Christmas lunch … Christmas dinner … and day after Christmas breakfast… Christmas eve Dinner and Noche Buena are separate events. Our experts' families would eat Christmas dinner at the usual time, attend Misa de Gallo and then eat some more at Noche Buena. So I guess Noche Buena would fall under the category of an after dinner thing, the actual amount of food consumed varies a lot, but it is only Dr Louie Degrano's family which considers Noche Buena as a light snack.
What is considered traditional Noche Buena fare? Based on what I've gathered from my panel of experts, the actual food varies from family to family, but none of the food items mentioned seem unusual fare to me at Noche Buena. Ham (salty Chinese ham or sweet pinoy ham), Queso de Bola (Piña or Pato brand) and fruits like apples, oranges and grapes are the mainstays of Noche Buena. Lechong manok, baboy at baka, Filipino Ketchupetti, chicken galantina, fresh and fired lumpia, soup and congee of various kinds, sweet and savory salads of different types with and without pasta, bacon, Filipino desserts like puto bungbong, kutchinta, leche flan, palitaw and ginataang bilo-bilo are all acceptable Noche Buena food. Actually, I'm at a loss of what would be weird / unacceptable to serve at Noche Buena. Even the slightly off-beat Turkey and Pumpkin Pie of Dr. Tamesis at Christmas dinner (by virtue of his Polish-American wife), is hard for me to consider unacceptable… it still actually sounds quite good to me.
Though food is and will always be the center of any Filipino celebration, the true essence of the Filipino Noche buena feast is having fun (translation, fun = eating lots of good food and drink), and celebrating the birth of Christ with our familes. This is why nothing is unacceptable for as long as we are with our loved ones at Noche Buena. What would be weird and unacceptable is all the best food in the world at Christmas eve and you're the only one around to eat it. Noche Buena isn't Noche Buena without family.
Kindly refresh the page to view the updated article polls.
The Beginning and the End
By Carlos G. Naval, MD
President, PAO
As we approach the end of the year, we know that a new year is about to begin. Another year of the expected, of the unforeseen, of the exciting, and of the mundane. We don't exactly know what will happen but we do know that it's not going to be the same as this year. Some events will affect us...
Thoughts of Food: NOCHE BUENA By Emiliano Bernardo III, MD
A party isn't a party without food, and a gathering isn't a great one without great food. As we already know food is the center of any Filipino event and the mother of all events on the Filipino calendar is Christmas. Though from a purely religious-Christian perspective, Easter should be the biggest event of all, but probably...
