Philippine cuisine has evolved over several centuries from its Malay roots to a cuisine of predominantly Hispanic base, due to the many dishes of Mexican and Spanish origin brought during the Spanish colonial period. It has also received influence from Arab, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and American cuisines.Filipinos traditionally eat three main meals a day - almusál (breakfast), tanghalían (lunch), and hapúnan (dinner) plus an afternoon snack called meriénda (another variant is minandál).Dishes range from a simple meal of fried fish and rice to rich paellas and cocidos. Popular dishes include lechón (whole roasted pig), longanisa (native sausage), tapa (beef jerky), torta (omelette), adobo (chicken and/or pork braised in garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar or cooked until dry), kaldereta (goat in tomato stew), mechado (beef or pork cooked in tomato sauce), pochero (beef in bananas and tomato sauce), afritada (chicken cooked in tomato sauce and vegetables), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), crispy pata (deep-fried pig's leg), hamonado (pork sweetened in pineapple sauce), sinigang (pork, fish, or shrimp in tamarind stew), pancit (stir-fried noodles), lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls) and chopsuey.

Embutido is a Filipino style meatloaf. It is one of the most favorite filipino dish. Embutido can be served as cold cuts; lightly pan a sliced pieces or fried the whole then sliced. It is also best that you dip a slice of embutido with your favorite food sauce.

Filipino Chicken Macaroni Salad a favorite Filipino food during Christmas, New Year and Birthday occasions.

Filipino food are not very popular when compared to other Asian food like Chinese or Japanese. But that shouldn't be the case. Filipino food are a delight to have and so easy to cook. Find out how.

Most Filipinos like a dessert or two with every meal, be it ripe fruits, sweets or especially prepared treats. The art of making sweets from fruits, rinds, root crops and other foods is also one way of preserving them. Generally, however, Filipinos like desserts because they have a sweet tooth.

At merienda time, usually four in the afternoon and sometimes also around ten in the morning, the average Filipino takes his traditional snack. Foods served at merienda can be almost anything. Usually, they include noodles, salads, some types of soup like arroz caldo, bachoy and pancit molo, some meat dishes, like rhenudo...