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Quasi-Filipino fast food

I took my first date to the movies and to dinner in Jollibee almost 15 years ago (Manila, Philippines). Funny part is i remember that we had Spaghetti and some Chicken Joy but for the life of me i can not remember the movie. Not that its important. Besides i was too busy trying to figure out how to copp-a-feel without getting slapped. By the time i mustered up enough courage to put my arms around her the curtains were being drawn lol. Anyhow she became my first kiss.

Jollibee is hands down the best Filipino fast food you can find. But if you ask me "Filipino fast food" is an oxymoron of sorts because there's no such thing. For the sake of semantics lets debate... Fast-food means cheeseburgers and fries, plus the term fast-food in itself is American as, well, America. Hence; cheeseburgers and such. Applying the term to a Filipino food place in theory is unempirical. Moreover there literally is no such thing as Filipino fast food. Everything that we eat is with rice, whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner and there's certainly nothing fast about that if were speaking strictly fast-food. It just doesn't qualify as so. This Filipino fast food joint Jollibee, like many things Filipino, is a product of the Filipinos unique yet un-original creativity. Sadly a well known Filipino trait. In fact until McDonalds came to town the closest thing to a cheeseburger one could find was a Siopao (Beef, pork or chicken wrapped in a bun... that's the best way i can describe it anyway). The Filipino pop-culture is soo infamous when it comes to imitation-- i swear. Perhaps the best example of that is our most popular food-- the Egg Roll. Cuisine-wise that's not even indigenous to the Philippines... its freakin Chinese... Our most popular food as far as Americans are concerned is Chinese. How ridiculous is that?? Mexicans have the Taco and the Italians Pizza-- we have the Egg Roll.

I blame the Spaniard and American influence on our ancestors for our uncreativeness. The Philippnes, although sovereign for quite some time now, has been Ruled by so many that its become eclectic and has lost all creativity. It's like the ability to think for itself has been taken away by the Goverments whose taken a bite out of its born Culture... Perhaps we would've been better off under the Japanese Imperial rule after all. At least the Japanese are trend setters and maybe, just maybe, if they had stayed that they would have been able to instill the capacity to act or think independently. Additionally if Ferdinand Magellan never voyaged the South Eastern Seas of Asia maybe our islands would have been discovered by the Brits instead. John Smith or somebody... See the Brits are snotty bastards, if they had colonized the Philippines 200 years ago, i believe to this day they'd still be around and perhaps been able to implant a bustling economy like Hong Kong's. Can you honestly say the Spaniard rule, aside maybe from the Paella and our hospitality, had any real apparent influence to our lives now? At least the Americans mandated the English language in the Filipino Curriculum which consequently became the saving grace of the current Philippine economy. Because without the millions of maids and nurses etc working abroad the economy would considerably be crippled.

Economics aside, a Jollibe store just opened around the corner from my house which i am ecstatic about. I no longer have to drive 45 miles away to get a taste of Jollibees version of the Spaghetti, which in the quasi-Filipino-fast-food community, is hailed an all time classic. The Filipino spaghetti is a sweetened version with hotdog to gross out the rest of the world of the real Italian one which is very cheesy in taste. Now i'm no food expert but i believe they put banana sauce in it which is a common ingredient in Filipino Spaghetti anyway. F'ckin sounds gross i know but its a Filipino thing. Its like the French with their Snail dishes...

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Monday, August 07, 2006