As a son of a former culinary school director and a canteen owner, I am too exposed in the cooking world. In my experiences in cooking (by the way I cook since I was about 10 years old - not to brag, I mastered cooking instant noodles), I often encounter culinary terms (actually funny phrases) from the people around me. Even if I am not the one who cooked the food, I find it funny when I hear them compliment (or not) the food on the table. Yesterday, my youngest brother cooked for my parents a veggie Filipino dish called Pinakbet (yet in the end, it turned out to be just a simple Guisado, har har!). I left the house instead.
Let me share you my list of (not so) culinary terms and praises, um, phrases.
1. Lutong Butchakaw (or butsakaw)
I don't know what the meaning of buchakaw, really. But this term originated from the mouth of my old man. I am not sure if this is a native dialect (my pops is from Aklan) or a street word or just his own. But when my father spoke of this with his unique hoarse voice, you'd really know that this is not good. Usually, he often tells the cook that the food is 'lutong butchakaw' while still in the preparation stage of the food. When he does not approve the style of slice, the method of cooking, the ingredients that were included, he'd just let the cook know that the food is 'lutong butchakaw'. And he won't eat it.
2. Chong Lai
Chong Lai is a famous Chinese bakery located in Sta. Cruz, Manila and its delicacy is its hopia, a local version of mooncake. Now it is closed. Thanks to Imbestigador, a show in GMA7, and Chong Lai's former employee who exposed the unsanitary way of baking their luscious hopia. All of us who watched the show were all shocked when there are lots of droppings and spoiled stuffings in the said bakeshop. I haven't eaten hopia for about a month because of that expose. From that moment, my ate and I are using Chong Lai as a term for dirty cooking method (like when she is just mixing cooked spaghetti noodles with her fungi infested hands).
3. Baboy Baka
Have you ever wandered the streets of Makati City's business districts? There you will see small dining spots in wheels or in small stalls. They are unofficially collectively known as Jollyjeeps. One of the Jollyjeeps my older brother went, where he risked his appetite and health, had told me one of his experiences while ordering his meal. He heard a customer and the sellers having a conversation.
(re-enactment)
Customer: Anong luto to?
Seller 1: Baboy Baka
Customer: Huh? Di po yan, ito pong gulay...
Seller 2: Baboy baka nga. BABOY pagkakaluto, BAKA kainin mo...
There you have it. (And yet, kuya, out of necessity and budget, still managed to order one.)
Kuya: Isa ngang Isda.
4. Pangat (or Pinangat)
Pangat (or Pinangat) is originally an authentic native Filipino cuisine. There is a Pinangat na Isda, na Hipon, etc. Usually, it is cooked with broth and some veggie. But time has made the term evolve. Now, in street terms, Pangat or Pinangat is a corruption of Pangatlo or Pinangatlo (Third). So if somebody told you that the food you are eating is Pangat or Pinangat, it is just simply saying that it is Pangatlong Init or Pangatlong Beses or Pangatlong Retoke. The worst, Pangatlong Araw. Yummy.
5. Pacham
Pacham sounds like a Thai culinary term. Sounds like. But like Pangat, it is just a corruption of the word Pachamba, just getting lucky. This term refers to food which is cooked by luck (because it could not have been really that good) or a food which turned out to be listed (or at least acceptable) in various culinary and recipe books. Often, pacham is experienced by first time cooks.
6. Lutong Sinagoga
Synagogue is a holy place of worship. That's why I wondered why my brother-in-law complimented my sister when he ate my sister's supposed-to-be pork stake, ow, steak I mean. Is this holy food? Do they cook in synagogues? I asked this silly questions in my mind. But upon seeing my brother-in-law's smile and my sister's smirk, I know that this is worth including in my list. As explained to me, lutong sinagoga means lutong ginago. Originally, this term is coined by my brother-in-law's immediate family in Cubao, QC. If our family has lutong butchakaw, their family has lutong sinagoga as a term.
7. Bading Meals
As a graveyard shift employee, my lunch time is often set to 12am or 3am. Everytime I went to our cafeteria, they offer various types of meal which includes the office wide famous bading meals. This term is coined by my office mates because they observed that there is no single day that our concessionaire fail to serve different types of sausages (frankfurts, longganisa, hotdog, etc.) and eggs (sunny side up, boiled, scrambled, salted red, kwek-kwek, etc.). Also vegetable meals always include talong. Collectively, they baptized this group as Bading Meals.
8. Mga Pagkaing Pampabata
Many people often desire to be youthful looking or become youth again. Thanks to the roaming forwarded email (where I first encountered this term), fountain of youth seekers can now become youthful by eating this type of food. These are foods which are not healthy, thus, making you young in your headstone. Yup, die young with these oil enriched, high cholesterol cancer causing and funeral business friendly group of food.
9. BK Meals
One of my favorite fastfood and hamburger chain is BurgerKing. But when I was in college, me and my bestfriend were often short of budget for our snacks. No we're not model students that we spend a lot of our allowances for our homeworks and other educational stuff. And we're not even row 4 students who spend their allowances for waste and shit. The problem is, we really don't have that much to spend. We're just simple poor cool students whose problem is that we must not let a single cent drop off our pockets (or else we end up walking back home). So we coined a term for simple and affordable meals that we often eat - BK meals (created after the name of my favorite BurgerKing). No, BurgerKing is not really affordable for students like our type. But the real meaning of BK for us is BKry - bakery.
Flashback...
Circa 2001
Classmate: Saan kayo kakain?
Me: Sa BK
Classmate: Yaman naman, kami nga sa Ma-Anne's lang
Merto: Hah! Treat ko pa yan!
Classmate: Lupet
(After classmate leaves, we reach our pockets and munch on our Spanish Bread.)
Me: Apir pare!
10. Pang-Josie
First, I would like you to introduce to a girl named Josie. She's a young single mother of 4 angels. She has also adopted another 4 youngsters. Being a big momma to these 8 requires a lot of energy. Therefore, she eats much and rests much to stay healthy. Regardless of these, she still finds time for herself. She rarely go outside but when she's out, she'll be back home satisfied after her rummage into different goods. She's got lots of boyfriends too. Actually, she's one hell of a bitch. What's more interesting about Josie, she's potty trained! Yeah, Josie is a dog. My eldest sister often supply her dog food for her energy storage (remember, she's feeding 8 pups with her tits). But when budget is low, my sister would buy cheap sardines or save some leftover or cook fish insides. Collectively, she calls this group of food as "Pang-Josie". So if you ever drop by our house and sabotage our refrigerator, be careful of our "Pang-Josie" meals stored there neatly. Only me, my sister and her hubby knows which one of them is.
I could have almost made my list more. But at least here are my first ten, if not the top. Maybe someday I could add more or you could suggest some. Drop me a comment will yah?
Let me share you my list of (not so) culinary terms and praises, um, phrases.
1. Lutong Butchakaw (or butsakaw)
I don't know what the meaning of buchakaw, really. But this term originated from the mouth of my old man. I am not sure if this is a native dialect (my pops is from Aklan) or a street word or just his own. But when my father spoke of this with his unique hoarse voice, you'd really know that this is not good. Usually, he often tells the cook that the food is 'lutong butchakaw' while still in the preparation stage of the food. When he does not approve the style of slice, the method of cooking, the ingredients that were included, he'd just let the cook know that the food is 'lutong butchakaw'. And he won't eat it.
2. Chong Lai
Chong Lai is a famous Chinese bakery located in Sta. Cruz, Manila and its delicacy is its hopia, a local version of mooncake. Now it is closed. Thanks to Imbestigador, a show in GMA7, and Chong Lai's former employee who exposed the unsanitary way of baking their luscious hopia. All of us who watched the show were all shocked when there are lots of droppings and spoiled stuffings in the said bakeshop. I haven't eaten hopia for about a month because of that expose. From that moment, my ate and I are using Chong Lai as a term for dirty cooking method (like when she is just mixing cooked spaghetti noodles with her fungi infested hands).
3. Baboy Baka
Have you ever wandered the streets of Makati City's business districts? There you will see small dining spots in wheels or in small stalls. They are unofficially collectively known as Jollyjeeps. One of the Jollyjeeps my older brother went, where he risked his appetite and health, had told me one of his experiences while ordering his meal. He heard a customer and the sellers having a conversation.
(re-enactment)
Customer: Anong luto to?
Seller 1: Baboy Baka
Customer: Huh? Di po yan, ito pong gulay...
Seller 2: Baboy baka nga. BABOY pagkakaluto, BAKA kainin mo...
There you have it. (And yet, kuya, out of necessity and budget, still managed to order one.)
Kuya: Isa ngang Isda.
4. Pangat (or Pinangat)
Pangat (or Pinangat) is originally an authentic native Filipino cuisine. There is a Pinangat na Isda, na Hipon, etc. Usually, it is cooked with broth and some veggie. But time has made the term evolve. Now, in street terms, Pangat or Pinangat is a corruption of Pangatlo or Pinangatlo (Third). So if somebody told you that the food you are eating is Pangat or Pinangat, it is just simply saying that it is Pangatlong Init or Pangatlong Beses or Pangatlong Retoke. The worst, Pangatlong Araw. Yummy.
5. Pacham
Pacham sounds like a Thai culinary term. Sounds like. But like Pangat, it is just a corruption of the word Pachamba, just getting lucky. This term refers to food which is cooked by luck (because it could not have been really that good) or a food which turned out to be listed (or at least acceptable) in various culinary and recipe books. Often, pacham is experienced by first time cooks.
6. Lutong Sinagoga
Synagogue is a holy place of worship. That's why I wondered why my brother-in-law complimented my sister when he ate my sister's supposed-to-be pork stake, ow, steak I mean. Is this holy food? Do they cook in synagogues? I asked this silly questions in my mind. But upon seeing my brother-in-law's smile and my sister's smirk, I know that this is worth including in my list. As explained to me, lutong sinagoga means lutong ginago. Originally, this term is coined by my brother-in-law's immediate family in Cubao, QC. If our family has lutong butchakaw, their family has lutong sinagoga as a term.
7. Bading Meals
As a graveyard shift employee, my lunch time is often set to 12am or 3am. Everytime I went to our cafeteria, they offer various types of meal which includes the office wide famous bading meals. This term is coined by my office mates because they observed that there is no single day that our concessionaire fail to serve different types of sausages (frankfurts, longganisa, hotdog, etc.) and eggs (sunny side up, boiled, scrambled, salted red, kwek-kwek, etc.). Also vegetable meals always include talong. Collectively, they baptized this group as Bading Meals.
8. Mga Pagkaing Pampabata
Many people often desire to be youthful looking or become youth again. Thanks to the roaming forwarded email (where I first encountered this term), fountain of youth seekers can now become youthful by eating this type of food. These are foods which are not healthy, thus, making you young in your headstone. Yup, die young with these oil enriched, high cholesterol cancer causing and funeral business friendly group of food.
9. BK Meals
One of my favorite fastfood and hamburger chain is BurgerKing. But when I was in college, me and my bestfriend were often short of budget for our snacks. No we're not model students that we spend a lot of our allowances for our homeworks and other educational stuff. And we're not even row 4 students who spend their allowances for waste and shit. The problem is, we really don't have that much to spend. We're just simple poor cool students whose problem is that we must not let a single cent drop off our pockets (or else we end up walking back home). So we coined a term for simple and affordable meals that we often eat - BK meals (created after the name of my favorite BurgerKing). No, BurgerKing is not really affordable for students like our type. But the real meaning of BK for us is BKry - bakery.
Flashback...
Circa 2001
Classmate: Saan kayo kakain?
Me: Sa BK
Classmate: Yaman naman, kami nga sa Ma-Anne's lang
Merto: Hah! Treat ko pa yan!
Classmate: Lupet
(After classmate leaves, we reach our pockets and munch on our Spanish Bread.)
Me: Apir pare!
10. Pang-Josie
First, I would like you to introduce to a girl named Josie. She's a young single mother of 4 angels. She has also adopted another 4 youngsters. Being a big momma to these 8 requires a lot of energy. Therefore, she eats much and rests much to stay healthy. Regardless of these, she still finds time for herself. She rarely go outside but when she's out, she'll be back home satisfied after her rummage into different goods. She's got lots of boyfriends too. Actually, she's one hell of a bitch. What's more interesting about Josie, she's potty trained! Yeah, Josie is a dog. My eldest sister often supply her dog food for her energy storage (remember, she's feeding 8 pups with her tits). But when budget is low, my sister would buy cheap sardines or save some leftover or cook fish insides. Collectively, she calls this group of food as "Pang-Josie". So if you ever drop by our house and sabotage our refrigerator, be careful of our "Pang-Josie" meals stored there neatly. Only me, my sister and her hubby knows which one of them is.
I could have almost made my list more. But at least here are my first ten, if not the top. Maybe someday I could add more or you could suggest some. Drop me a comment will yah?
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