Have you ever tried eating together with Filipino families? Have you experienced joining their salo-salos and handaans? If you did, then you experienced a culture and tradition. Lucky you!

Before the pandemic, I remember going into our family friends’ having get-together parties with them without any reason. I remember getting excited for gatherings because some families I know will celebrate their sons’ and daughters’ graduation.

But, then pandemic happened. Gatherings weren’t allowed anymore. Filipinos, being known for their culture of having close family ties are totally affected.

That’s why when the restrictions have eased, so many Filipino families have started the tradition once again. My social media feed was filled with it.

And as a Filipino I had my fair share with family gatherings these days. Our relatives had a handaan or a feast yesterday, a small one though, and last week I went to another salo-salo with the other family friends. This week, a feast is waiting again. But, I am not complaining because free food.

Now, what do you expect in a typical Filipino Handaan?

Filipino favorite dishes

Of course, Filipino dishes are the star. And a lot of them are mostly meat dishes. Most Filipinos would eat vegetables at their homes so if you want to throw a feast then make sure you serve meat dishes since most of them don’t really eat it at home.

Usually, the one who throws a feast use a whole pig or a whole goat for it. In my hometown in Ilocos, there is this famous meat dish called igado. It’s famous because it’s always served in celebrations. People would jokingly say “paigado ka met” (Serve us some igado then!) when there’s something to celebrate.

And, lumpiang shanghai or pork spring rolls would always be present. It is a crowd favorite. Pancit would always be served and if the family has more budget then there would be spaghetti too. Some parties would have desserts in a small plastic cup to make sure everyone would have an equal share.

Take-home food

Then after the feast, when there’s still some food left, the guests would sometimes pack those food to take home. The one who threw the feast would give them plastic bags to put the leftover food. It’s typical for Filipinos to bring home food in plastic container after a feast.

It would be a waste not to give food to take home especially when there’s too many food left. And Filipinos do not like the idea of wasting food.

Karaoke

Filipinos are singers. And even those who do not really have good voices confindently sing their hearts out during celebrations. A group of mama’s and aunties would sing old songs. And the group of tipsy dads and uncles would sing party songs. Some even dance waltz and so much more.

Gossips

Sometimes, the guests naturally divide themselves in groups. There would be a group of old ladies talking about their past experiences when they were younger. They would talk about who just died, who’s going to die soon and who’s still surprisingly alive.

There’d be group of middle-aged women, mostly mothers that would talk about gossps in town. They’d talk about any issues that’s been recently circulating. Sometimes you’d notice them talk in lower volume.

Then, the men would talk about random things. I don’t really listen to them but they’d probably talk about politics.

I hope you understood what I was saying. And some things aren’t really clear to you, then experience would be the best teacher. Our country are known for its wonderful, hospitable people.

And, if you’re a Filipino too, I hope I got all these things right. We may have different traditions since every region has unique ones.

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Lead image edited in Canva