Musings on being GF in the Philippines

Though rice is the main staple of the Filipino diet, wheat still has a strong presence in Manila particularly with the westernization and seemingly unstoppable growth in the city. Subway's, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks hold their own alongside local food establishments like Milky Way, Cafe Adriatico and Jollibee.
Bakeries' are abundantly thriving with little to no options for the GF. Rice desserts though are common and indigenous to the culture. Boiled in coconut milk and sugar till dry they are pressed into cakes to make "bibingka". Glutinous rice flour and water are boiled in water for a few seconds till the patties float and then rolled in coconut flakes and sugar to make "palitaw". Steamed rice flour with coconut milk is steamed to make "puto", a native staple with each region boasting their superior recipes.





Filipinos do love their rice. A heaping mound or two of white rice with a meat dish or "ulam" are the norm. As a result, gluten free eating is quite easy especially when sticking with local specialties. In recent year's, traditional foods have been become designer food products. Take a Sunday trip to the Legazpi market in Makati, Manila and you can feast on anything from fried pigeon, fresh from the shell coconut juice, water buffalo cheese and ice cream. One designer food shop "Bud-Bud Kabog" run by Maribel and Carl Van Hoven offer a local specialty called "suman", sweet rice with coconut milk wrapped tightly and steamed in banana leaves, with a creative spin. They stuff them with a myriad of fillings from chocolate to mango to langka (a native jackfruit with a pungent odor but a mild delicate, milky taste). They even make a version out of millet which is fantastic.

At this market you will find the local water buffalo milk or carabao milk made into cheese or ice cream as shown in the photo on the right on top of a banana leaf. Sort of ironic when you consider these massive grey horned creatures in the rice fields can produce such delicate cheese.

While in Manila, I was fortunate to have dinner at a friend's house where their chef, Josh, had prepared my portion of the meal - gluten and dairy free. I was grateful, somewhat embarassed, strangely honored, at the accomodation they had to make for my allergies. Josh was up to the challenge though and prepared a meal from soup to dessert, all offerings worthy of being served at a finest GF restaurant. His dessert creation was a handrolled rice paper filled with a banana and jackfruit filling on a delicate fruit sauce- simply heavenly.

Being gluten free for locals does create a challenge when you venture away from rice. I spoke to a friend whose husband, an American from Virginia living part time in the Philippines, was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity a few years ago and yearns for palatable bread. She explained to me how celiac disease tests did not exist in the Philippines, the majority of people have little to no awareness of gluten allergies. Other friends who live there, with autistic children have to spend a small fortune on a small pack of Bob's Red Mill flours. A very big frustration and am sensing becoming a larger problem. The farming of ancient grains like teff, quinoa or amaranth which are easy to grow and proliferate wildly in South America are not available domestically. With the tropical climate I imagine these grains would grow in abundance.

Without these options, your staple remains rice. A call to creative chefs out there to meet the demand of alternative grains for the ever increasing GF population.