I tried to be a vegetarian for 4 months. Well, more of a pescetarian who included a little chicken, too, from time to time. I avoided meat, had a little chicken and ate lots of vegetables instead. I say 'avoid' because I would cheat and put sauce of adobo and get a pinch of meat whenever I would miss it. But then reunions came, gatherings with friends, and the killer of them all--fiestas. I admire my uncle, my mother's brother, and his whole family for choosing to be vegetarians and sticking to it, especially my Uncle and Aunt who were meat eaters when they were in their 20s.
Just like my Uncle and Aunt and their family, my perception of life, come year 2000, began to lean towards the yoga belief. Many who practice yoga meditation, at least most of those I have met and became friends with, are vegetarians, but not me. I know I should not blame anyone for this, especially our country, but somehow it feels difficult to leave pork and beef when you live in the Philippines. A friend of mine who is a Buddhist believer explained it quite well: "Ang sarap kasi ng lechon eh (Lechon is so delicious)!" She told me when she went back to eating meat again. I love food. And having Kapampangan blood in my veins, I believe it makes me love food even more. So there I was, 4 months of no meat, until one day...bulalo was served. That was the end of my vegetarian journey.
Many vegetarians I have spoken to would tell me that they find it a little difficult to find meals in menus of Filipino restaurants. Usually they eat in Indian or Italian restaurants instead. Sometimes I feel sorry for them when they go to buffets in hotels, events with catered food, or parties in homes, food with no meat is seldom served. I hope they would be considered more next time, maybe at least no meat in the chopsuey.
Many Filipinos seem to love meat. I know I do, living in the rural area once and having more fish than meat there made me actually feel sad. I was so sad about it and missed meat so much that I wanted to have a customized shirt made with 'I Love Pigs' printed in front. My sister did not like my idea, though. I think I know why she did not like it. My sister is no vegetarian, but she prefers fish and vegetables to pork and beef. And I think she likes farm animals, too. When my sister was younger, she managed my Grandmother's farm and beach in Iloilo. And while she was there, she gave names to the animals: a mother pig was Porky, two cows were Becky and Bambi, and the carabao for the field was Phoebe. I thought everyone there did the same thing. So one day I saw a farmer and greeted him with a question, "Ikaw, anong pangalan ng kalabaw mo (How about you, what's the name of your carabao)?" The farmer looked at me with eyes that wondered and said, "...kalabaw(carabao)..." That was when I realized that it was only my sister who called the animals by their first name. She was also thinking of putting a big red ribbon on Phoebe the Carabao's horn. I think Phoebe was happy when my sister decided not to put the ribbon anymore.
When I went to Benguet to attend a Kanyaw ritual my Lola Carmen, who is pure Kankanaey Igorot, was having, the celebration included 10 cows and around 20 pigs. The tradition is that these cows and pigs will be released and the members of each family will try to at least catch one. None from my immediate and first degree family has ever chased a running cow or pig before, so my Igorot relative caught a pig for us.We had steamed pig in soup. It was good. Then when I would go to family parties of relatives who are Spanish or Spanish in orientation, or friends who are Spanish or Spanish in orientation, the tapas and jamons are usually present for appetizers, and just like Filipino gatherings, many delicious meat dishes are also served. Maybe our love for meat comes from both Spanish and tribal origins. As a result, small karinderias serve mostly meat dishes: menudo, adobo, dinuguan, bopis and the like. And this seems also true with food courts and fancier Filipino restaurants. I am not sure about our Chinese brothers and sisters, though, I think my vegetarian relatives and friends find more meals to choose from in a Chinese restaurant.
Many of the Filipino dishes have meat in it. Or it is just me who keeps on looking for it in dishes. I wish I were more vegetarian, though. But wishes need to be worked on.
Nowadays, I noticed that the trend is to be more health conscious. Thus, many do work outs, go to gyms, play badminton; and there are also a lot who do 100 kilometer runs, go biking from Manila to Laguna (sometimes even farther, I suppose), and a few more could do the hard core 'Ironman' in CamSur. Fitness programs and athletic activities have become a big success in the country. Although I am not sure, I think one reason may be because we would rather burn fat than remove fat in certain meals (saying no to liempo or the burnt fat in barbecue--that is difficult). I think we would rather run several miles than give up pork in our kare-kare. I think we would rather bike to the farthest ends of the island than remove tapa or tosino in our breakfast. Although fish is good and we love our salads and monggo, too, a strict diet of lean meat or a deprivation of comfort foods we have grown up with may be a little too drastic a change for us. We grew up with adobo as a favorite meal our parents would send us with since it was easy to cook and does not easily spoil. We drink beer with friends and usually have sisig as pulutan. We have tapsilog and tosilog as two of our favorite breakfast meals. And I do not think we are fully ready to let go of hamburgers. Maybe meat does not just taste good for many of us Pinoys who continue to eat it, but maybe the reason why we can't let go and become full vegetarians just yet is because meat was part of our youth, our bonding with friends, our gathering with families. And just like Anton Ego in the movie 'Ratatouille', as he takes a bite of the dish that gives him perspective, the lechon we had might remind us of a happy moment, the hamburger we just ate might remind us of our childhood, and the kaldereta we feasted on might remind us of a joyous fiesta. Maybe meat is not just food we eat, maybe meat brings us back home.
But still, I wish I were more vegetarian.
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