Filipino wedding food: lechon!
Easily one of the most popular food in Filipino weddings is lechon, or roasted suckling pig. We normally serve it on big occasions like fiestas, birthdays, anniversaries, parties and of course, weddings. The lechon might be roasted pig (baboy) or roasted calf (baka). The latter is more expensive, but any which way, they’re gooood!
It’s no surprise then that a Filipino wedding won’t be complete without lechon. Usually the server or waiter cuts it up into pieces and piles the pieces up unto the guests’ plate, on demand. The meat may be served with lechon sauce, but in the case of the increasingly popular Cebu lechon, no sauce is needed.
Lechon, of course, is not exclusive to the Philippines. You’d also find roasted suckling pig in Spain and other Latin American countries. Locally, the pig or the calf is roasted on a pit for hours with herbs and other garnishing inserted in the animal’s cavity. Gourmands judge the goodness of a lechon by the crispiness of the skin and the tenderness of the meat.
The history of the lechon or suckling pig as it is often called goes back a long way. There are examples of ancient recipes for it going all the way back to Roman and Chinese cuisine. This is mainly due to the fact that pigs were one of the first animals that were domesticated by us humans for slaughter, so they are easily obtainable. It’s also probably because they are so tasty!
In the Philippines we normally serve it with vinegar, the special lechon sauce, made with chicken livers or a liver pate which mixed with vinegar, garlic and pepper. If you are attending a wedding in China the lechon is normally only eaten in small quantities and if you were at a wedding in the UK in a hotel, then you would eat a hog roast which is the English equivalent to this. And in Germany they have Spanferkel, which is also served at celebrations. However they are cooked you can see that a lechon is really popular all over the world and the perfect thing for any party.
It’s best to scout for the best lechon suppliers. There’s actually a lot! Tell me your favorites and I’ll post the list here soon.
November 2nd, 2010 at 5:30 am
Thoughtful and interesting, thank you. I grew up in the philipines but moved to australia at such a young age I barely remember anything apart from the delicious food. I finally found some authentic Filipino recipes if you want to take a look, I thought I’d share it with you!