ISLANDS Contributing Editor Aaron Gulley

Philippine cuisine isn’t well known, but it soon will be. So claims ISLANDS contributing editor Aaron Gulley, having just returned from Luzon. What makes this region’s food so special? For starters, Spanish influence. Surprised? Read on.

Nothing changes a day’s plans like a good monsoon. I arrived in Vigan, a historic town on the northwest coast of Luzon, at midday, eager to get out and explore. From the late 1600s, Spanish colonialists amassed vast wealth from this small port on the Apra River. Unlike Manila, which was decimated at the end of World War II, Vigan was spared major fighting, so many of the cobbled streets, Mediterranean storefronts, and leafy haciendas remain today. My plan had been to spend the afternoon poking around the historic district. Then it started raining.

So I ducked into Café Leona. Two lessons were learned during the ensuing feast. Most importantly, I am ardent fan of the Spanish contributions to Filipino cooking. Of course there’s adobo, which I had already tasted several times on this trip. This dish of stewed meat, adopted during the colonial trade with Mexico, has been adapted to suit the Pinoy penchant for sour foods by substituting vinegar for chilies as the main marinating agent.

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