New Items for Old Recipes, Old Items for New Recipes
Food advertisements capitalized on public school lessons by invoking hygiene, nutrition, and sanitation. Ads asserted that American goods were symbols of sophistication and worldliness available to Filipino consumers halfway around the world and that they were better than Filipino items sim- ply because they were American. In addition, they were easily adaptable to Filipino daily life and conveniently bridged differences between Filipino and American culture.
Many ads contended that American goods were superior because they met government inspection standards. For example, an advertisement for Her- shey’s Chocolate in 1938 announced, “Every tin of Hershey’s ‘Breakfast’ Cocoa must conform to U.S. Government and Bureau of Health standards for fat content and fineness of powder.”12 Another advertisement in 1931 for Libby’s boasted that its cold storerooms met high sanitation and hygiene standards.13
Ads expanded on the theme of American superiority by invoking nutrition. Condensed milk ads repeatedly stressed their products were more nutritious than native carabao (buffalo) or coconut milk and connected them to the country’s future by stating that milk was essential to the individual success of Filipino children. A 1927 Horlick’s ad stated that malted milk gave “the glow of health to pale cheeks,” “a sparkle in the eye,” and a chance for a Filipino boy “to head his class.”14 Carnation connected its evaporated milk to the nation’s future, stating, “Happy, healthy babies bring joy to your home. They represent the country’s future wealth.”15 These appeals made milk into a product larger than food; they became essential to the country’s future.
Other ads combined American and Filipino images to suggest the min- gling of Western power and taste in Philippine settings. The National Biscuit Company, the predecessor of today’s Nabisco, printed images of George Wash- ington, the U.S. Capitol dome, and the Stars and Stripes on its biscuit tins.16
Filipino Food, 1898–1946
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Jacob’s Milk Crackers announced that its crackers could be consumed “at meal time, between meals, for hungry boys and girls, afternoon tea or merienda.”17 It underscored this adaptability with an image of a Filipina mother dressed in the traditional clothing alongside her son dressed in Western attire. Del Monte provided the most literal depiction of Philippine-American imagery in a 1926 ad for Queen Anne cherries. The ad illustrated the journey from cen- tral California to a bahay kubo, or nipa hut, in the Philippine province. It fur- ther appealed to Filipino readers by presenting a mother and son in everyday clothing walking home from the market with canned goods. These ads told Filipino consumers that Filipinos could easily welcome these products into their homes, regardless of class or location.18
Ads for Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce blended traditional Filipino dishes and recipes with American products. A 1926 Heinz ad offered ketchup with lechon, or spit-roasted pig, traditionally served as a fiesta dish. The typical lechon sauce combined brown sugar, lem- ongrass, and minced pork offal, so pairing it with ketchup was very different. Heinz romanticized this departure by depicting tomato ketchup next to Fil- ipino items such as a parol (decorative star), a bahay kubo (nipa hut), and a clay palayok (pot).19 A 1929 ad for Lea & Perrins offered a recipe for adobo, the Philippine national dish, that included Worcestershire sauce. Lea & Perrins made its case for adding this Western condiment to a familiar recipe by saying, “Great cooks in the most outstanding hotels and clubs in the world are using the famous sauce.” The recipe called for three pounds of pork, one and a half cups of vinegar, one tablespoon of salt, eight cloves of garlic, and a half cup of water. After marinating, browning, and braising the pork, the cook added one tablespoon of Lea & Perrins to finish the sauce.20 In this way, any Filipino could easily incorporate American condiments into favorite dishes.
Recipes also inspired this essay’s third subject: cookbooks, which gave Fil- ipinos instructions for making new dishes, especially the ones from Europe and the United States. They were an extension of lessons from the classroom and enabled home kitchens in the Philippines to become familiar with other traditions and cuisines.