Monday, March 21, 2011

THE LEGEND OF PANSIT ACCORDING TO MICHAEL L. TAN

May fave writers from the Philippine Daily Inquirer are Al Mendoza, Conrad De Quiros, Frank Cimatu, and Michael L. Tan.

Al and Conrad because I love their prose. Frank because he is Frank. And Michael because I learn much from the rich historical backgrounds of his essays. Like the following history of pansit in his essay on the evolution of to-go food in the Philippines that was published in the 20 March 2011 issue of the Sunday Inquirer Magazine:


... that the first recorded take-out food was illustrated in 1847-era prints attributed to a Honorato Lozano titled "Carinderia" and "Pancitero".

... that the term pancit did not originally refer to noodles but from the Hookkien Chinese pien sit which meant ready-made food.

... that the Chinese vendors then monopolized the herbal drugs and pancitero businesses.

... that pancit eventually evolved to mean a particular type of noodle including mami which means noodles with meat (although I prefer the version of meaning Ma's noodle or mami for which Ma Mon Luk became famous).

So that's Pansit 101 for us.

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