Philippines vs Lebanese food & cuisine

Philippines

SEASONINGS

Filipino flavors are built in layers, then finished at the table. First, the cook builds the base in the pot, but the diner also cooperates and participates while choosing and adding sawsawans (dippings) entirely to his liking, and that transforms the whole taste and experience.

Filipino cooking is organized among the three dominant axes of sour, salty-umami, and sweet. The very core flavors are salty and sour, as sweetness appears, but rarely dominates. Heat is optional and very personal (except for Bicol region and Mindanao, where spice pastes and chilies are prominent). Filipino cooking also conspicuously skips fresh herbs as a finishing element, which Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian cuisines rely on heavily.

Salt is fundamentally important to preserve from spoilage, it comes through patis fish sauce, bagoong isda fermented fish paste, bagoong alamang fermented shrimp paste, and soy sauce. Salt as a bare mineral is the condiment of last resort.  Umami comes from those same fermented ingredients, from long-cooked meat broths, from dried and smoked fish added to stews, and from annatto-colored fat used to start dishes.

Then the saltiness is paired with sourness, which also helps preserve. The Philippines uses vinegar on a fundamentally different scale and in a structurally different way than its neighbors do. Neighboring cuisines use chili to wake up the senses, but Filipinos use vinegar, and this is the core distinction. Vinegars come from palm sap, coconuts, sugarcane, and sugarcane wine. Sourness extensively comes from fruits – tamarind (sour fruit pod), calamansi (tangy citrus), kamias (cucumber tree, acidic green fruit), guava, green mango, batuan (small green sour fruit).

Anato (achiotte) is a coloring spice. It consists of annatto seeds fried in oil, which turn dishes a bright orange-red color. Simmering ingredients in coconut milk — a technique called ginataan — appears often. Coconut milk gata absorbs and carries fat-soluble flavors, softens acidity, and adds richness.  Ginger deodorizes fish and meat, warms broths; bay leaves, a direct inheritance from Spanish cooking, feature braises — adobo, mechado, kaldereta. At the table, achara — green papaya pickled in vinegar and spices — sits apart from the sawsawan lineup to cleanse the palate.

Filipinos flavor building starts with gisa. The gisa is the base for adobo, kare-kare, mechado, afritada, monggo, pancit, many soups. From its contents, it has a lot of ties with Spanish sofrito.  Garlic goes first, browning until golden and fragrant. Onion follows, softening in the garlic-infused oil. Tomato goes last, its liquid is released to form the base liquid of the dish.

One of the most personal parts of a Filipino meal is  sawsawan, a fundamental Filipino dipping sauce, and ultimate flavor customization tool. Some common elements in the sawsawan lineup include:

Suka (vinegar) — usually cane or coconut, sometimes spiced with garlic and labuyo. Used with virtually everything fried or fatty. The vinegar cuts grease and provides the sour axis.

Toyo (soy sauce) — thinner and saltier than Japanese soy sauce, provides the salty-umami axis. Often combined with calamansi to make toyomansi, the most common everyday condiment.

Patis (fish sauce) — patis has many uses in the Filipino kitchen: as a dipping sauce, as a source of salt, and as a flavoring agent. Many Filipino cooks use it instead of salt. In sinigang, for example, there is no salt in the ingredients list; the dish is finished with patis, which adds salinity as well as its own distinctive flavor.

Calamansi — provides the bright, floral citrus note that lime and lemon cannot replicate. It is squeezed directly over anything that needs brightness.

Bagoong — Fermented fish or shrimp paste for deep, complex umami. It has specific pairings, most notably kare-kare and green mango.

Most sawsawan are assembled raw at the table. Lechon sauce is the major exception, and it is a genuinely unusual preparation as it includes water, sugar, breadcrumbs, vinegar, salt, liver, spices, and pepper. Ground roasted liver is the most important ingredient.

BANANA KETCHUP— condiment made from banana, sugar, vinegar, and spices. Its natural color is brownish-yellow, but it is often dyed red to resemble tomato ketchup. Uniquely Filipino, paired with fried chicken, hot dogs, and fast food

PALAPA —  a traditional condiment from the Maranao people of Mindanao, consisting of a spicy and aromatic blend from chopped scallion bulbs, ginger, turmeric, chilies, and often toasted coconut.

Lebanon

SEASONINGS

A Lebanese flavor profile is fragrant, fresh, and balanced – never overwhelming, always layered. Herbs are less prominent than various spices and their combinations, with the exception of mint and parsley. Lebanese cuisine welcomes not only fresh but also dried herbs, especially mint, which is generously used in beverages.

Compared to other Mediterranean cuisines, Lebanese dishes stand out for its sourness . The sour elements are yogurt, tomatoes, pomegranates, and their molasses, extensive use of lemon juice, verjuice (acidic juice made by pressing unrip grapes), plums, almonds, apricots (even not fully ripened), high-quality sumac. The name of sumac comes from the Aramaic word summaq, meaning dark red. Indeed, dark red berries, once they are fully ripe are harvested, dried, and ground to a texture of ground nuts. Widely used in Turkish, Middle Eastern, and Lebanese cooking, it adds sourness and zestiness and calls out the natural flavors in meats, salads, and dips. Many Lebanese sauces and dressings feature garlic, lemon, and tahini, a paste made from toasted and ground sesame seeds. Sesame, nigella seeds, mahlab are often sprinkled on breads and pastries.  The use of floral waters is extensive: orange blossom water and rose water have been used for centuries and are associated with luxury and refinement.

ZA’ATAR – a fundamental spice mix often used as a topping for bread, meats, and vegetables, or mixed with olive oil. Made of dried thyme, sumac, sesame seeds, salt.

Warm spices are popular: allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, cumin, cloves, and black pepper. Together, they form the BAHARAT spice blend, which is also known as the Lebanese SEVEN SPICE blend.

Though more widely associated with Egypt, variations of DUKKAH are also found in Lebanese cuisine. It blends sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin, salt, and black pepper.

KAMOUNEH  spice – used to flavor kibbeh and can be used as a meat rub. This spice mix gives a distinctive earthy flavor: cumin (key spice, hence the name), coriander, cinnamon, pepper, dried mint, allspice, sumac, and basil.

SAUCES

The classy flavor combination of garlic, lemon, and olive oil is also common to Lebanon. It unfolds in TOUM sauce (resembling Spanish allioli and French aioli), where these three ingredients, salt and water, are emulsified to a thick spread in a food processor. Although the ingredients are the same, the feel and texture of the sauce are quite distinct.

TARATOR sauce – tahini, lemon juice, garlic, water used as a dressing for falafel, shawarma, fish, or served alongside kibbeh and roasted vegetables

DIBIS W TAHINI – a traditional sauce made from a mix of tahini and dibis (date molasses).

SUMAC SAUCE – a tangy sauce made from sumac, olive oil, and sometimes mixed with onions and parsley.