Learn About The Filipino Boodle Fight

It's more fun in the Philippines as they say. Do you know that we have our very own tradition called as "Boodle fight?" It is the traditional method of eating where we use bare hands. It is a communal feast where everyone who wants to join can eat. We usually do it during gatherings, festivals, birthday celebrations and many different occasions where there are huge number of people.

During the Boodle fight, there are always a big pile of foods served on the middle of a very long table. You can grab and eat as much as you want. Remember that if you are a slow eater then maybe you'll definitely run out of food. In our Boodle fight tradition, usually food are placed on top of the banana leaves while rice is placed on the middle. Different viands are place either on top of the rice or in the side ways of the rice. When joining a Boodle fight, you are not allowed to use any utensils and that's a disrespect for killing the fun.

While eating with bare hands seems disgusting to the Western, here in the Philippines it is an accepted way of eating. In fact we grow in our childhood years eating with bare hands without utensils.

What do we have during the Boodle fight?

Lechon belly

Lechon is a roasted pig cooked over the hot charcoal until it will turn into a golden and crispy brown. In fact it has been served as a national dish of the Philippines. It is the prime star of every celebrations and occasions in the households.

Rice

We love rice so much in fact we cannot live without it. A Boodle fight will never be called Boodle fight if there's no rice on it. It must be the first thing to remember when hosting this kind of eating.

Grilled Bangus

Grilled Bangus is also called as grilled milkfish. It is one of the common food prepared in every boodle fight and everyone loves it.

Kinilaw/Kilawin

I found it funny that the word are only scrambled in Tagalog and Visayan. In Visayan it is Kinilaw while in Tagalog it is Kilawin. It is a raw seafood dish and the preparation is native here in the Philippines. You don't need to cook this because you are going to eat it raw by mixing it with vinegar, onion, salt and other spices you can add.

Shrimp, crab, squid, clams

Shrimps, crabs, squids and clams are one of the best seafood that filipinos loves to eat. It could be cooked in different ways. Filipinos are one of the great seafood lovers since we are an archipelago and we have many seas everywhere.

Watermelons and other fruits

Of course to make this Boodle fight complete, we should not forget to add fruits to make our eating balance and palatable. You can add watermelons, mangoes, bananas and many more.

Pancit

Pancit is a type of noodle dish here in Philippines. We always have it in every celebrations and events because we believe that eating pancit will make your life longer. Though pancit is not a healthy food but its lengthy strips is what makes us think that it will make our life longer. So during the Boodle fight, the pancit are spread everywhere.

You are not a Filipino if you haven't tried eating a Boodle fight once. While to others it might sound uninviting to eat bare hands with many people in one table but in reality it is very fun to do so. This is what I recommend everyone to try once they visit Philippines and make sure you are ready to throw off your spoons and fork because we won't be needing them.

The boodle fight symbolizes camaraderie and equality in the enjoyment of lots and lots of food.

Are you hungry? Let's have a Boodle fight!

April 4, 2022

_____________________

Thank you for reading my article and don't forget to share your thoughts on the comment below!