sf wrote:

> Filipino food court type food isn't too plain - it's too greasy. In
> fact, it's just plain awful! Good Filipino food is home cooking and
> although they often cook for a crowd at home, it just doesn't
> translate well to food for the masses (held in a chafing dish at a
> food court). Ugh.
>
> I have many fond memories of a Filipino friend in HS whose home I was
> always welcome to. We headed to her home after school and there was
> always be something yummy simmering on the stove for us to eat.

Back in my Navy days, I had some senior enlisted Filipinos working for me
who were *very* enthusiastic about their own cooking. I always praised it
(because good working relationships require that kind of sacrifice), but I
found it plain. For example, Filipino fried rice was leftover white rice
heated in oil with garlic. Period. Pancit was okay, but I liked Thai,
Chinese, and Vietnamese noodle dishes much more. Lumpia were okay, but I
liked spring rolls and summer rolls better. Filipino pork adobo was simply
pork cooked in vinegar with bay leaf and pepper. Again, it was okay, but I
liked carnitas better. (I was living in San Diego at the time.) I tried
patronizing a Filipino restaurant in my neighborhood, trying some kind of
goat cocido and the oxtail soup which makes so many Filipinos misty-eyed,
but still found nothing which interested me culinarily. After leaving the
Navy, I found myself working in Kuwait, and sharing an apartment with one of
my coworkers and his Filipina wife, who volunteered to cook for all of us.
It was not OFFENSIVE in any way, but quite plain, e.g., boiled beef chunks
with potatoes and soy sauce.

When I say the food is plain, I don't mean it's BAD. It's just not as
interesting to me as the food of other cuisines.

Bob