Pinoy Food is the Best

CEBU, Philippines —  “Laurence, what are you eating? Would you like to have some of these?” Roy offered his bag of potato chips.

“Thanks, but I prefer ‘saging pinaypay’ (fan-shaped fried sliced bananas).”

Roy almost couldn’t believe his ears. No one has ever said no to chips before.

Roy grew up in the United States of America. His family moved back to the Philippines when he was in the third grade. His parents taught him to share his food with his classmates. Usually, they would crowd over him to eat whatever he was eating. It was the first time that someone said no to the food he offered.

The next day, Laurence was eating “palitaw” (dessert made from rice flour, steamed and coated with grated coconut and white sugar). He offered some to Roy who claimed it was his first time to see it. Roy looked as if he would throw up when he took one small bite, but he smiled and ate some more.

“Surprisingly, it is delicious. I haven’t tasted anything like it.” Roy said.

One morning, Roy could hear “poot poot! poot poot!” from his bedroom. He was getting ready for school when he heard someone selling rice cake called, “Puto mo diha!”

He ran outside to check, and saw a person carrying what looked like big pots. When one of the neighbors said she would buy some, Roy approached them and saw what “puto” looked like. Some were brown, others were violet. They were shiny and smelt of coconut. Roy ran inside the house and asked his mom to buy enough “puto” to share with his classmates. He was very excited.

As soon as he arrived in the classroom, Roy couldn’t wait for recess time. He opened the food container and offered everyone some “puto.” He thought his classmates would love it, too. To his surprise, most of them did not show interest.

“Roy, don’t you have some fries? Or hotdogs?” Ryan asked. Roy shook his head and took one piece of “puto” to taste. It was very soft and the taste was interesting. He ate another one and another and another while his classmates stared at him.

“Roy, may I have some of those ‘puto’?” It was Laurence. He looked so happy to see the “puto” in Roy’s food keeper.

“Oh sure, help yourself. I thought I will have to eat all of these alone. Our classmates don’t seem to like them.”

“I didn’t know you eat local food like this,” Laurence commented.

“Actually, I’m beginning to like them. Burgers, fries and chips are convenient to have for snacks, but now I realized that when it comes to taste, Pinoy food is the best,” Roy proudly explained.