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We Filipinos really love to celebrate, in fact, I would say we are always looking for one excuse or another to celebrate. If we were given the chance, we would celebrate all the days of our lives! “Pinoy Style” which involves having a lot of food with enough people to get fed. And most importantly the ultimate to drink so alcoholic beverages to get everyone tipsy and high, especially your crazy neighbors and mga tropa who always make every event unforgettable. Don't forget the videoke! My favorite part of the show. Everyone who has a good voice wants to show it off, so some begin to do major concerts and don't want to pass the mic! But things take a different toll by time tipsyness and highness takes over, you begin to see everyone's true color, at the end of the day many lose their voices.
There are some occasions that must be celebrated like; Christmas, New Year, Debuts etc. We all tend to celebrate these occasions in a huge way, we also celebrate big for; Child Christening, Marriages, Send-off parties etc. In all of our celebrations, food plays a huge role and the party wouldn't be complete if there were no food, some beverages, like red horse, San mig light, Emperador, Alfonso, mixed drinks etc! Mostly beer because we Filipinos love to drink beer!
Today I would like to place some emphasis on the top 5 Filipino foods served during special occasions!
Spaghetti
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This is long pasta served with some rich and creamy spaghetti sauce, and topped with cheese, and goes perfectly with some fried chicken or pork barbeque. kids really love spaghetti, and always look forward to eating it on special occasions. We Filipinos believe that eating spaghetti will bring about long life because of the length of the pasta. Spaghetti during special occasions like birthday parties, New Years celebration, fiesta, Christmas etc.
Lechon
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Practically every home would love to have some delicious lechon baboy resting on their dining tables for New Year celebration. Lechon is very popular throughout the Philippines and it is prepared by slow-cooking young pork over charcoal, the pork is stuffed with onions garlic, and other condiments that would add flavor to the meat, and cooked on a bamboo. The end product of this is a deliciously crispy on the outside and tender juicy on the inside that you won't get tired of eating! Lechon is served during big birthday parties, Christmas and New year. It is believed that having lechon will bring about growth and riches throughout the year and this is mainly because of the foot or the pork facing forward and the roundness or the pork. It makes you forget you diet and just want to dig-in for some crispy bites!
Pancit
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There are different types of Pancit, there is Pancit canton. Pancit malabon, Pancit bihon etc. Having pancit during special okay means long life as well, just like spaghetti. It is often prepares with pork and lots of vegetables. This dish is served on many occasions; birthdays, Christmas,New Year etc.
Round-shaped Fruits
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Round-shaped fruits such as orange, grapes, watermelon, tangerines, pomelo, etc. It is believed that having 12 different kind of round shaped fruits during the New Year symbolises bounty. We should eat these during the New Year to ensure that the entire year will be fruitful with bounty! Do this at the stroke of midnight!
Biko
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Biko is also known as rice cake, it is made with sticky rice, brown sugar, coconut milk, pandan juice and condensed milk. This is perfect for dessert as it is sweet and quite sticky! We Filipinos believe that the sticky rice represents tightness in family bonds and relationships, so all family can stick together happily forever!