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| Turo-Turo: Fastfood’s Predecessor in Pinoy Culinary History |
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In my recollection, fastfood officially became part of the Philippine experience in the mid-70s. SM Department Store in Makati converted its basement level into a Fast Food Plaza. Back then, the word fastfood meant a cluster of different food stores and restaurants competing with each other in a huge venue.
Your preference is usually based either on familiarity or your willingness to experiment. I remember clearly when my colleagues and I went to Fast Food Plaza and tried our first taste of fastfood -- Kimchi, served with a very spicy beef rib stew that cost about seven pesos a bowl.
The Italian Village Pizza Restaurant, in suburban Quezon City and Makati, served 16-inch pizzas for about fifteen pesos, an amount that was considered already upscale during that time. Around 1975, Shakey’s Pizza was brought in by the giant food conglomerate, San Miguel Corporation. Wendy’s was the first American hamburger restaurant to have a franchise in Manila in the mid-80s, pre-dating McDonald’s franchises by about ten years. Before the mid-70s, however, the word fastfood was not a part of the Filipino gastronomic vocabulary.
Tiendas
In the Philippines, the concept may have been invented years before it was labeled as fastfood. We called them tiendas, a Spanish word for stalls or stands. As a child, I’ve seen them everywhere, especially in the province of Bulacan where I grew up. Tiendas were very popular during the summer months. Several of them would sprout along the narrow main drag of our barrio. These tiendas sold the most popular summer refreshment -- the mighty halo-halo.
Tiendas reappear during the advent of Simbang Gabi, the traditional Catholic dawn Masses that begin nine days before Christmas. You find yourself trying to stay awake, thinking that at the end of this morning sacrifice is an array of rewarding goodies that could be had at the tiendas--puto bumbong, kutsinta, suman (in several varieties), and the steaming cup of local tea to facilitate the smooth ingress of the goodies down the gullet and to ward the early chill away. Looking back, I may have been devoted to Simbang Gabi not to cull favor from God. I think my devotion may have been motivated more by the native delicacies that awaited us.
Manila’s Central Market
In Manila, the most popular “fastfood” center, before it became a by-word, is probably the Central Market along Quezon Boulevard in Manila. If you came here in the 50s, you were probably assaulted by a cacophony of endearments to try these and that. “Dito na kayo kumain; masarap ang pancit namin.” Or “halo-halo, halo-halo; dito na po kayo.”
Eventually, I would surrender to their endearments. With a pleading mien I would look up to my mother, hoping that she was in the mood to grant me a reward for carrying the shopping basket and beg if she could buy me a glass of halo-halo. Getting my reward constituted my highest achievement for the day.
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