Author: Filipeanut

Filipino Food Zodiac

Updates
This Filipino Food Zodiac is a result of a fun collaboration with Joanne Boston.

What do the stars tell you about your favorite Filipino food?

A series of art posts highlighting Filipino food and Zodiac signs were created by Joanne Boston of @jbkollaborations and myself back in 2020. Each sign of the Zodiac, from Aries to Virgo, was assigned a Filipino dish. 

Lechon, with its crispy golden skin, was chosen for the Leo’s (Jul 23 – Aug 22), whose element is fire and spirit color is gold, according to Horoscope.com.

Lechon, with its crispy golden skin, was chosen for the Leo's.

Libras (Sep 23 – Oct 22) who love Pancit are in luck, as the dish associated with long life by Filipinos was assigned the Libra zodiac.

Libras (Sep 23 - Oct 22) who love Pancit got lucky and were assigned Pancit!

The connections were based on a short survey Jo conducted for fun with her Instagram following. She then sent the results to me to create artwork using cute Filipino food characters, and together we finished this Filipino Food Zodiac.

There are many memes and social media posts of Zodiac signs assigned to different dishes from sandwiches to pizza. The zodiac itself is a set of characters assigned to the stars.

The Chinese Zodiac is connected to various animals like the Rooster or Goat, and was based on the Chinese lunar calendar over 2,000 years ago! The reason why Filipinos view pansit as a symbol of long life is because of a Chinese tradition: the consumption of noodles every Chinese new year, which is based on the lunar calendar.

The western Zodiac we know today has roots with the Babylonians. According to NASA, the Babylonians looked up at the stars and assigned names to the constellations which were passed by the sun every year. This tradition lived on, and eventually the Greek word zôion meaning “animal” gave way to the word we use today, Zodiac (and “zoo”!)

The next time you celebrate your birthday (or look up your horoscope for the week), be sure to find your own inner Filipino dish. Don’t forget to share.

May your stars be aligned, and be forever in your flavor.

Get your Filipino Food Zodiac sign

Coloring Book of Filipino Food in FSL and Baybayin!

Coloring sheets

FSL or Filipino Sign Language is the official sign language of the Philippines. In this little coloring book you’ll find FSL words for Pancit, Ampalaya or bitter melon, and Mangga or mango!

The Filipino Deaf community has been constantly overlooked and marginalized, as hearing people have perceived deafness as a disability. Why not learn sign language like one would learn French or Spanish? Especially our very own Filipino Sign Language?

DOWNLOAD THE COLORING BOOK HERE FREE

Learning a language is a great way to know about the culture of its speakers. Filipino deaf aren’t just people who are hard of hearing or cannot hear. They have their own culture and contributions!

Another way to introduce yourself to Filipino Sign Language is to download free Filipino Sign Language apps below, developed by the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Filipino Sign Language Learning Program (DLS-CSB FSLLP).

Enjoy learning a new Filipino language, and please like or follow the Dls-Csb School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies on Facebook here. Support Deaf organizations in the Philippines, here’s a list.

DOWNLOAD THE FILIPINO SIGN LANGUAGE APP – ANDROID

DOWNLOAD THE FSL BUDDY APP – iOS

How tablea is made

Infographics

Tablea are small molds of dried, ground, raw cacao. They’re then stored and used for everything chocolate, from tsokolate or sikwate, champorado, chocolate suman or moron, and more.

But how is tablea made? For a general look at how tablea is made, look at the illustrations below, made with the ancient Filipino script Baybayin.

How to make tablea

How to make tablea or tableya or raw chocolate molds

Step 1: Grow and harvest your cacao

Step 1 - grow and harvest cacao or chocolate fruit

Step 2: Remove the beans or seeds from the cacao

Step 2 - remove cacao beans

Step 3: Ferment the cacao beans.

Step 3 - ferment the cacao beans

Step 4: Dry the cacao beans.

Step 4 - dry the beans

Step 5: Roast the cacao beans.

Step 5 - roast the cacao beans

Step 6: Grind the cacao beans.

Step 6 - grind the beans

Step 7: Mold the ground cacao beans into tablets or tablea.

Step 7 - mold the tablea

Step 8 (last step): Make different Filipino dishes such as chocolate drinks or tsokolate (sikwate in Bisaya), champorado, suman, and more!

Last step - Use the tablea to make different Filipino dishes like suman, chocolate drinks, or champoradolet's eat!

The complete lo-res infographic

Buy the infographic art print!

Get the art print on Society6.

More links

  • Learn more about cacao in general, and see more art, here!
  • Baybayin fonts used in the graphics were made by Lloyd Zapanta. Download his fonts and donate money for his work at his Behance portfolio: behance.net/lloydzapanta.