Favorite Foods for a Filipino Christmas

Memories of Christmas in the Philippines always involve food, in great abundance, variety and scrumptiousness. There is almost always a specific food associated with our activities at this time of the year.

In our family, simbang-gabi (midnight church services) didn’t seem to be complete without puto-bumbong and bibingka (above), sold outside the churches. The family feasts (both lunches and dinners) must have queso de bola, ham, and spaghetti. Then come the delicious cups of hot chocolate, made the traditional way from tablea (disks of cocoa).

These days, some of these foods still make an appearance on our Christmas table. I miss the puto bumbong and bibingka the most. It may be possible to get these occasionally, but nothing beats the hot street food delicacies that are the perfect comfort food after several hours out in the cool night of December. I even miss the burnt surfaces of the bibingka cakes. Maybe it’s the way they’re made out in the street carts. Whatever it is, these are the foods that I associate the most with traditional Christmas celebrations in the Philippines. If you get a chance, have a bite of bibingka sometime and wish me some, won’t you?

What are your favorite foods this season?