Leyte (Lay tay) island in the Philippines has a lot of history, it is located in the Eastern Visayas region. Look at the map of the Philippines, and it is majestic, surrounded by islands, islands, and more islands. Tacloban City is its capital, taking control of 3/4 of the northern portion of Leyte Island.
During WW2, the Japanese occupied Leyte Island, and the Philippine army was re-established from 1942 to 1946, to battle the Japanese. With the help of American forces led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Philippines regained the rights to Leyte Island.
The economy thrives on Rice Farming in the flatter regions, and Coconut production for the oil, and fishing in the coastal regions. Tacloban City is the big city of Leyte Province, also one of the largest geothermal plants are in Leyte, making this island resource rich.
What fascinates me about Leyte, is the history, how the Japanese occupied it, also, how the Spanish set up shop there. Imagine, an island in the Pacific occupied by people from far away. Spain isn't next door, the Spaniards sailed thousands of miles to discover something, they saw this island, it was rich with resources.
How Vietnam's battles with the North Communist, and the South, for rice, for a resource, wars are about resources plain and simple. Today Leyte strives. Recently I met a local Filipino family, they got some gifts from the Philippines, it was boxes of dried fish, and Kakanin or rice desserts usually made with coconut milk.
"We have relatives they give us gifts, lots of dried fish, ono, you take one." What was in the box was plastic bags sealed tight with lots of dried fish, looked like mackerel, seasoned, smoked, and ready to eat. And there were these white looking desserts made from rice flour and again... coconut.
If Leyte is home to the production of rice and coconut, it is a natural fit to make lots of desserts made up of rice and coconuts. I love that kind of sweets. One of them is the Bibinka, a dessert made up of rice flour, and cooked in banana leaves over an open fire, but can be done in a traditional oven.
Leyte's history is just deep, and to get a broader knowledge of what happened one needs to study it, read about it, and even talk to people from there. But food from that region is still made, you can find it in Hawaii, to California, to Canada, and parts of the world you'd never expect Filipino foods to be. But Leyte has the rich resources, it does the production like I was saying, the rice farming, the coconut growing and production of the oil. And of course the fish, Leyte is surrounded by ocean. Yeah one day I'll go there, visit and tour. It's that war history, and the food. What a name, it sounds exotic, Leyte. That would sound like a great restaurant name, serving excellent Filipino foods. Leyte Restaurant. Just an idea, but that name is historic.
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Pasalubong Or gifts are common in the Filipino culture, it can be gifts of a myriad of things, and food is one of those gifts given to people. Kakanin, Puto, Bibinka, and other rice and coconut concotions are all wonderful gifts.
On another post, I'll do some recipes, but the history of Leyte is intriguing to me. And the foods.
During WW2, the Japanese occupied Leyte Island, and the Philippine army was re-established from 1942 to 1946, to battle the Japanese. With the help of American forces led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Philippines regained the rights to Leyte Island.
The economy thrives on Rice Farming in the flatter regions, and Coconut production for the oil, and fishing in the coastal regions. Tacloban City is the big city of Leyte Province, also one of the largest geothermal plants are in Leyte, making this island resource rich.
What fascinates me about Leyte, is the history, how the Japanese occupied it, also, how the Spanish set up shop there. Imagine, an island in the Pacific occupied by people from far away. Spain isn't next door, the Spaniards sailed thousands of miles to discover something, they saw this island, it was rich with resources.
How Vietnam's battles with the North Communist, and the South, for rice, for a resource, wars are about resources plain and simple. Today Leyte strives. Recently I met a local Filipino family, they got some gifts from the Philippines, it was boxes of dried fish, and Kakanin or rice desserts usually made with coconut milk.
"We have relatives they give us gifts, lots of dried fish, ono, you take one." What was in the box was plastic bags sealed tight with lots of dried fish, looked like mackerel, seasoned, smoked, and ready to eat. And there were these white looking desserts made from rice flour and again... coconut.
If Leyte is home to the production of rice and coconut, it is a natural fit to make lots of desserts made up of rice and coconuts. I love that kind of sweets. One of them is the Bibinka, a dessert made up of rice flour, and cooked in banana leaves over an open fire, but can be done in a traditional oven.
Leyte's history is just deep, and to get a broader knowledge of what happened one needs to study it, read about it, and even talk to people from there. But food from that region is still made, you can find it in Hawaii, to California, to Canada, and parts of the world you'd never expect Filipino foods to be. But Leyte has the rich resources, it does the production like I was saying, the rice farming, the coconut growing and production of the oil. And of course the fish, Leyte is surrounded by ocean. Yeah one day I'll go there, visit and tour. It's that war history, and the food. What a name, it sounds exotic, Leyte. That would sound like a great restaurant name, serving excellent Filipino foods. Leyte Restaurant. Just an idea, but that name is historic.
.JPG)
On another post, I'll do some recipes, but the history of Leyte is intriguing to me. And the foods.
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