Philippine cuisine is made up of an exotic mix of Malay, Spanish, Chinese and American cuisines with bold combinations of sweet, sour and salty flavours. Dishes range from simple rice based affairs such as salted fish and rice through to highly spiced paellas and lasagnes. Some popular dishes include longganisa (Philippine sausage), lechón (whole roast sucking pig), sinigang (meat or seafood in sour soup) and noodles. An intriguing culinary style in Philippine cuisine is that of ‘counterpoint’ – this is a pairing of something sweet and something salty such as champorado (sweet cocoa rice porridge) paired with tuyo (salted, sun-dried fish) and things such as salty cheese used in sweet cakes and ice cream flavourings.
