A look at Filipino food artistry
In celebration of Filipino Food Month this April, the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art looks at the richness of Philippine cuisine in this article on Food Art.
WITH its diverse and rich flavors rooted in indigenous cultures and influences, Filipino cuisine reflects the country’s history and culture and tells the story of local ingredients and family traditions. But beyond its taste, the preparation and presentation of every dish add visual depth and storytelling. It shows that Filipinos do not just cook food but they do it to show care and express their hospitality.
Filipino food goes far beyond simple nourishment. It reflects a deep sense of creativity and artistry that appears at every stage of the culinary experience: from preparation to plating. Serving styles, like communal meals on banana leaves, emphasize culture and connection. The presentation is vibrant and carefully arranged, making dishes visually appealing as well as delicious.
FRUITS AND RELISHES
Relishes and desserts are the preferred mediums for food art since they can be prepared in advance, offering more time for creating designs. A good example is achara, a pickle relish made of grated unripe papaya and other vegetables like cucumber and bell pepper. Its textures and colors are ideal for carving shapes, figures, and even small scenes, which are then arranged in glass jars to create decorative displays.
Mayumo, the Pampango word for “sweet,” is from San Miguel de Mayumo in Bulacan. There they preserve different kinds of fruits, mainly suha (pomelo), dayap (lime), and kundol (wax gourd), among others, which are carved with decorative patterns before being put in jars for display.
In some provinces, like Laguna, creativity is shown differently, such as stuffing limes with coconut jelly, adding both visual and textural contrast to the dessert.
KAKANIN
The arrangements and packaging of kakanin (sweet sticky rice-based delicacies) is another medium for food art. One of the most popular ways of arranging kakanin in colorful patterns in a bilao (a flat round basket). Puto and kutsinta, for instance, are steamed in bamboo tubes or molds, made in different sizes and colors, and arranged in a bilao when served.
Other kakanin like suman, ibus, tupig, tamales, and puso are creatively wrapped in materials such as coconut fronds, banana leaves, and nipa leaves. For example, suman sa ibus is most often wrapped in pale young coconut fronds, while in Obando, Bulacan, darker fronds are woven into small triangular baskets containing the suman.
Tupig from Ilocos is both decorative and practical, commonly enjoyed during holidays or at cockpits. In Cebu and Cagayan de Oro, they have puso also known as “hanging rice” come in portable pouches of woven coconut leaves, with various regional names like balisungsong, lambay, patupat, and tamu.
PASTILLAS
The famous pastillas de leche — sweets made from carabao milk and sugar from San Miguel de Mayumo — is known for its pabalat (wrappings) made of thin multicolored papel de japon. The “tails” of the wrappings feature cut-out patterns of stars, leaves, flowers, palm leaves and branches, letters and other designs.
Pabalat artist Luz Mendoza Ocampo uses patterns she personally designed, such as the so-called Maria Clara motif, and images of the tinikling dance, pounding rice grains, nipa huts, birds, and various flowers. She traces the pattern onto layers of papel de japon using a pencil, and then carefully cuts the paper using a cuticle scissor.
Other pabalat artists prefer the freestyle method without using any patterns or drawings, cutting the folded paper freehand. The pabalat tradition in Bulacan is usually practiced by women. Well-known pabalat artists include Amparo Pengson, Rosa David, Nene Pineda, Luz Reyes, and Teresita Ramos.
COOKIES AND BREADS
In Pampanga, during the feast day of San Nicolas, arrowroot cookies stamped in intricate designs of the saint using century-old wooden molds, are sold outside churches.
Over in Bago City, Negros Occidental, alfajor cookies are popular amongst migrant families from Panay who settled there in the 1920s. The cookies are made of rice flour and sugar which is pressed into wooden molds showcasing a variety of designs including USAFFE and Boy Scouts insignias and flowers. They are typically sun-dried.
Bread also serves as a medium for creative food art. In Silay, Negros Occidental, empanadas (stuffed pastries) are meticulously fluted in a milles feuilles style, while in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, panaras are crafted with pinched edges and distinctive patterns. The shaping of tortas reales and castillos, sweets influenced by Spanish heritage, continues alongside more modern cake decorations inspired by American traditions. In Antipolo, Rizal, one bakery is popular for making bread into playful shapes, including lobsters, pigs, turtles, and crocodiles, showcasing a unique form of food artistry.
The CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art features research by over 500 scholars and experts from the country’s top universities and research institutions. Its latest edition has over 5,000 articles in its 12 volumes, while its digital edition (CCP EPAD) holds more than 6,000 articles and hundreds of video excerpts from dances and musical performances from the CCP archives. Subscriptions to the CCP EPAD can be coursed through its official website epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/encylopedia, for P75 per month to P675 per year. Interested parties can also e-mail epa@culturalcenter.gov.ph to purchase a copy of the CCP EPA print edition and/or USB.
