Popular Filipino Noche Buena Foods

Noche Buena is a traditional Christmas Eve dinner that is served after members of the Family have attended the evening mass called Misa de Gallo. It is an occasion where family members and friends gather at home to celebrate Christmas with sumptuous foods.  Following are pictures of some of the foods that are commonly displayed on the table during the Noche Buena by many Filipino families especially the Roman Catholics. 

Lechon is a popular pork dish for many Filipinos. The body cavity of suckling pig is stuffed with spices and seasonings. The whole pig is skewered and roasted over burning charcoal in a rotisserie action. Filipinos prefer to serve foods buffet style during special occasion. With that setting the whole lechon is put on the table, and family members or guests take their piece of it by slicing the meat all by themselves.

One of my favorite dishes is kare-kare which is served during special occasions including Noche Buena and Media Noche. The stew is cooked in a thick savory peanut sauce and thickened with roasted ground rice. The commonly used meat ingredients are oxtail and beef tripes. Added vegetable ingredients include pichay, banana blossom, string beans, and eggplant. Kare-kare is served on the table with sauteed shrimp paste (bagoong) as a side dish.

Lengua estofado or lengua is a popular favorite holiday dish with oxtongue as the main ingredient. The tongue is braised in sweet sauce and added with potatoes and mushrooms.

Noodle dishes are popular during the holiday season. Pancit is a dish that is appropriate for the Holidays such as the Noche Buena and Media Noche since in Chinese tradition the flour stick noodles symbolize long life. It is cooked in a broth with pork, sausage, shrimp, carrots, cabbage, onion, and garlic as ingredients. When done, it is embellished with parsley as an option and served with sliced calamansi to add citrusy flavor. Another popular noodle dish is sotanghon which is made from rice noodles cooked in broth, and added with shredded tender chicken meat, shrimp, garlic, bulb onion, leafy green onion, carrots, and cabbage.

Vegetables cooked in Chop Suey style put variety to the meat-based dishes on the table.

Ham is made from the processed hind leg of a swine.  It is also a popular dish during the Holiday season. Some people prefer the commercial ready-made ham while others like it home or custom made.

Spaghetti noodles are cooked and added with tomato sauce. Other ingredients include garlic, onions, hot dogs, luncheon meat, and cheese as toppings.

Torta resembles a large cup cake. It is also served during occasions such as fiesta, birthday, Christmas and New Year. Commercially made torta is available, but the home and custom made one tastes much better because of the ingredients that are used in baking it.

Suman is also one of the favorite treats for many occasions. It is made from glutinous rice that is boiled with coconut milk. It is then steamed wrapped with banana or coconut leaves. Eaten as a snack or a dessert, it is usually sprinkled with sugar. Suman goes with hot coffee or chocolate.

Queso de bola or cheese ball is associated with the Christmas season by Filipinos. It is for this reason that this cheese abound in the supermarket shelves during the Christmas season and is scarce in any other season of the year. The cheese is usually eaten as filling of bread.

Apples, grapes and oranges and local fruits- although apples, grapes and oranges are not indigenous to the country, Filipinos love it as their fruits during the Christmas season. These fruits used to be mostly imported from the US or Japan, but the liberalization of trade with China has made them become cheaper and widely available. Most of these fruits in the markets now come from China. Local fruits such as melon, mango and pineapple are also the most preferred fruits.

Cake is western in origin, the cake has become one of the popular baked foods for the Filipinos for their snack and dessert. The cake is one of the treats on the table on such occasion as fiesta, birthdays, Christmas and New Year.

Fried chicken- although less popular than a lechon, the deep fried chicken is also a favorite during the Noche Buena or Media Noche. Maybe the reason is that that it is easier to cook and prepare than a ham or a lechon. A chicken meat would also give diversity to the primarily pork based main course dishes that already include lechon and ham.

Ice cream and fruit salads- Filipinos also love sweet foods. On top of their lists are ice cream and fruit salads. Women and children love them. And so do adult men. The tropical climate of the country makes these desserts an ideal all-season treat for most Filipinos.

Drinks go with the holiday foods. Among the favorites are red wine, imported wines, beer and soft drinks.

Kagay-an Festival 2012 (Cagayan de Oro Fiesta)

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In honor of Saint Augustine, Cagayan de Oro City celebrates its Kagay-an Festival 2012 or its fiesta on August 28, 2012. Unlike last year when the activities were administered by the City government in partnership with Promote CDO Foundation Inc., a private organization, this year’s activities are being undertaken solely by the city government. The pattern of celebration is very much similar to the fiestas that were held in the past. It involves the holding of different core events that culminates in the day of the festivity on August 28.  

The celebration of the fiesta is a manifestation that the city has gotten over the devastation caused by the ravages of Typhoon Sendong which claimed thousands of lives and resulted to the loss of millions of pesos in properties in December last year.

                                     
                                        

                                          

Miss Kagay-an 2012

This year’s Kagay-an Festival started with a marathon on the morning of August 19, 2012 from the Rodelsa Circle to the streets of the City. On August 25, the P.E. Rhythmic Festival was held at the Pelaez Sports Center Complex (PSCC). It was participated by students of the city’s schools. On August 26, 2011 there was the Cultural Street Dancing competition on which different representative groups started at the Rodelsa Circle and moved along the city’s thoroughfares. The colorful native costumes worn by the participants added liveliness to their show as they entertained people as they marched and danced in the streets. One of the most interesting events of the festival was the Miss Kagay-an 2012 Coronation Night which was held at Lim Ket Kai Atrium on the evening of August 26, 2012. The program was led by no other than Vicente Emano, the mayor. He was assisted by the different committees led by local city officials as well as private groups or persons who are sponsors of that particular event. Greanne Trisha T. Mendoza was crowned as the Miss Kagay-an 2012. On August 27, 2011 there was the Civic-Military and Float Parade in the main streets of the city. Participants of the parade included NGOs, military and police units and industrial and commercial entities. On the same day in the evening there was a Pyro Festival where participating groups display their fireworks in view of many people outside the Shoe Mart Mall.

Other activities that were held included the Agro Fair in which different agricultural products from the barangays of the city are displayed near City hall. On August 24 was the start of the Rodeo show near SM mall.

August 28 is the fiesta. The day is started with a mass at the Saint Augustine Cathedral. In the morning there is also a fluvial parade in the Cagayan de Oro River.                                        

The banquet in the homes of the Kagay-anons is an integral and the most important part of their celebration. The fiesta is the day where hosts treat their friends, relative and even strangers with sumptuous foods they can serve on the table. Guests are also served drinks such as wine and beer. The serving of foods and drinks is not complete without a lechon or a young roasted pig on the table.  

Most people hold their banquet at lunch. Others do it in the evening. Still others, especially those who have the means start the celebration on the eve of the fiesta and continue feasting the following day which is the occasion.  

Majority of them being Roman Catholics, Kagay-anons always celebrate the fiesta because the practice has embedded in their culture and traditions. Through it they are able to show their hospitality, friendliness and generosity to other people from other places. Those are some of the traits that have helped make Cagayan de Oro a prosperous City. The city fiesta also known as the Kagay-an festival is also a means to advertise the city to the rest of the country and the world that it is a good tourism and investment destination in the Philippines.

Related posts:

Kagay-an Festival (Cagayan de Oro Fiesta) 2011
Fiesta Celebrations in the Philippines

The Delectable Lechon

The River of Cagayan de Oro and the Typhoon Sendong

Fiesta Celebration in the Philippines

The Philippines was colonized by Spain for more than 300 years, and the Spaniards introduced Christianity and Roman Catholicism in the country. Despite the entry of other Christian sects, the Philippines is still overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. About more than 80% of its population adheres to the faith. The colonization of the country is one of the factors that shaped its present social and cultural characters. Aside from their religious belief, the Filipinos have adopted some traditions that show traces of colonial influence. These include the celebration of their most cherished occasions such as Christmas and fiesta.  

Fiesta is a Spanish word which means feast, festival or party. It is a date for the celebration of the feast day of a city’s, town’s or village’s patron saint. In the Philippines, fiesta is next only to Christmas in terms of the popularity and grandiosity of its celebration. Unlike Christmas which is celebrated by the whole country on the same date, the fiesta is celebrated in different dates in many places depending on the feast day of the place’s patron saint. 

Some Filipinos think that fiesta is a negative tradition that should be done away with. Indeed, some people need to save money for months or even a year in order to have something to spend for it when the day comes. Worse, others have to borrow money if what they have is not sufficient to spend for the occasion. But Filipinos are traditionally generous as far as spending money on occasions that they consider important or especial such as wedding, birthday, Christmas and of course the fiesta.

On the other hand, the fiesta is a time when Filipinos can show the positive side of their culture such as their hospitality and their close knit family and friendly relationships. Fiesta is the time when family members wherever they maybe get back to their hometowns or place of origin to have a reunion with other family members, relatives and friends. It is also the time when a person treats other people with the most sumptuous foods and especial drinks that he could offer to them. And he even extends his generosity to a complete stranger who happens to come to him during the fiesta.

Although originally a religious occasion for the Catholics, the fiesta over the years has been infused with cultural traditions that are indigenous to people of a particular place where it is celebrated. Indeed, the manner of celebrating the fiesta in the Philippines has taken its own Filipino character. During the fiesta local people show their native dances, plays, cuisines, costumes and other things that are peculiar to their place. Fiesta is the time of the year when the locals can showcase to people from other places what is distinctively their own traditions and culture and being proud of them. Fiesta celebration is also a way to promote the economic and cultural development of a place and to promote its tourism activities.   

In the past the fiesta celebration lasts only for several days. But nowadays, it lasts for a week and even more. In the province of Bohol most of the dates of the fiestas fall on May so that it seems that the people there are celebrating the occasion all month long. Some major festivals such as the “Sinulog” in Cebu are celebrated to coincide with the date of the fiesta. And this make the occasion merrier and more entertaining.  

At the start of the fiesta period people begin to decorate the town by hanging banners in the street. In some towns the period is started by a novena or a nine-day mass that culminates on the date of the fiesta. Other fiesta related activities include carnival shows, sport competitions, beauty pageant, folkloric and street dances, fluvial parade and street parade participated by military, students, civic and other groups. The street parade also displays floats of business, government, and other sectors of the community. One of the main attractions during the parade is the winner of the beauty pageant who along with the other contestants is on her float as people watch her pass on the streets.    

The eve of the fiesta is highlighted with fireworks displays in prominent places in the city or town. For some people especially for those who have the means, the serving of foods and drinks to the guests starts on the eve of the fiesta. The merriment in the evening includes singing and dancing in selected venues that are either private or public. On the day of the fiesta a mass is held for the faithful, and virtually the whole day is celebrated with the serving of drinks and sumptuous foods on the table for all of the guests to partake. The foods on the table are not complete without a lechon or a roasted young pig on it.

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