As we partake
During weekends and vacation breaks, time is so slow. Mornings would be just simple cup of coffee and a slice of bread. Or just finding time to go to nearby fastfood stores is a nippy option. This is also the time that we could catch up the taho vendor who usually comes mid-morning when we could not catch him on regular days. This is practically what happens especially when we want to start the day with something in our stomachs.
But there are just occasions that are already ingrained in our culture and tradition whenever we have celebrations. Celebrations like Noche Buena and Media Noche where we expect to have more food than the usual. As if we need to have bounty to end and start the year with plentiful supply. Of course, this is not unusual because even a poor Filipino family would like to have a semblance of bounty, at least during Christmas day.
One of the best ways to enjoy life and the people you care about is through food. And we imbibe this truth especially during the Christmas holidays. Food attracts people to come together and share what’s on the table. Like dinner, the spirit that it brings to the members of the family cannot be equalled by any undertakings for as if it seemingly culminates the whole day’s hardwork and the time to share valuable thoughts and feelings with the rest of the family.
As we don’t want to end and start a year that we have nothing or less; it must be something that at least we expect we could have for the rest of the year. And for others, Christmas celebration would never be complete without the much-associated foods like ham, fruit cake, pasta, among many others.
The organizing of even a simple gathering despite financial difficulties reflects the paramount importance in Filipino culture of familial unity. This focus on the family is common to all Filipino socio-economic classes and ethnic groups that observe Christmas in that most – if not all – members from branch or extended families in a clan are expected to partake of the Noche Buena.
Although times have changed, what can be seen on a Filipino table during Noche Buena has practically remained the same. After hearing the Mass and completing the Simbang Gabi for some, the entire family gathers around the table. While dining customs in the Philippines do not usually adhere to the appetizer-entrée-dessert format of the West, Filipino Christmas dining experience is generally on the basis of what you like to eat first and so on.
Just like in some countries, Filipino Christmas Eve dinner is the most important celebration of the year. Most of the dishes served are cooked specifically on this special day – and only once a year! Although this meal is reserved for the closest family, it is customary to set an extra plate and seat for an unexpected guest or to our least fortunate brothers and sisters. This is a fitting time to include in our thought and actions those that suffer, the hungry, the destitute.
For some families would rather go out and have their meals in restaurants. But of course, nothing compares to the memories created when the eating is done at home. Even if it takes time to prepare the food but the quality of bonding it can create is incomparable. At least this is one occasion that we partake the fruit of one’s labor and love. That no matter how simple the food we prepared, we eat it with the family. And this is the essence of Christmas.
As we nourish our body, we need also to strengthen our soul. And strengthening it means transcending such gastronomic experience into something that fortifies our relationship with others and with our Creator.
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