Globalization of Flavors

The capital, Manila, was known as "the Pearl of the Orient." Located at the end of the bay, with the river Pasig and its estuaries running alongside, it had a solid city wall and several defensive forts.

Inland, churches and convents were built, as well as the seats of the governor, the local council, and the "Audiencia" (high court). The city was transformed as its businesses grew, while outside the city, several suburbs sprung up. These suburbs housed indigenous people and some foreign communities.

The journey from Manila to Acapulco took five or six months. Once past the Mariana Islands, the ships veered north in search of favorable winds. Then they sailed on, not touching dry land until they reached the shores of the Americas.

In Acapulco, the galleon's arrival was eagerly anticipated, and marked with a great celebration and trade fair. This is captured in this drawing, which shows the city, defended by Fort San Diego, and ships anchored in the bay. They were waiting for the Manila galleon.

The galleons carried all types of products. The ship Nuestra Señora de Begoña (Our Lady of Begoña) set sail from Acapulco with blocks of chocolate and two types of cocoa: cocoa "from Maracaibo" and cocoa "from the coast." It was also carrying Spanish oil, olives, and wine.

It had plenty of European aromatic plants such as rosemary, oregano, and anise, also used in cooking. Of particular note was annatto, a very popular food coloring, and vanilla, essential for making chocolate.

It also had cheese, flour, and chilli. Peppers became a highly sought-after ingredient across the whole of Southeast Asia. Here, it seems that paprika, or dried chilli pepper, is distinguished from peppers preserved in vinegar.

The ship Nuestra Señora de Covadonga (Our Lady of Covadonga) was en route from Acapulco to Manila when it was captured by the English. The schooner San Antonio de Padua (Saint Anthony of Padua), chartered by Chinese merchants in Manila, came to its rescue. Its records are an excellent illustration of the type of food that was usually available on ships of this type.

The food on board included salt pork, salt beef, some Spanish oil and wine, rice, and mung beans (a local pulse).

Asian fish, such as dalag and bakoko, were dried or smoked using traditional Chinese or European methods. Shark fins were also recorded (these were eaten by Manila's Chinese community), as well as salt, and coconut wine and coconut vinegar (known as "tuba").

The Spanish authorities' interest inincreasing their profits through the trade of particular productsled them to incentivize the production of certain crops.

This applied to cocoa trees, coconut trees, bonga trees, and pepper plants, whose cultivation was encouraged by the Spanish authorities in the Philippines, as seen in this announcement from 1755.

The city of Manila was a destination for Chinese, Malaysian, and Indonesian merchants, all of whom were in contact with far-flung trading centers.

Silks and Chinese porcelain, spices, textiles, Indian ivory, and mother of pearl all reached Cavite City and Manila, along with ingredients and culinary traditions that the growing foreign community demanded.

The logs of the ships that sailed around the Philippines attest to the variety of foods carried in their stores, as well as demonstrating the tastes and habits of a cosmopolitan society. The provisions list of a brigantine that set sail from Manila to Jolo Island is a good illustration of this.

The list of supplies includes salted eggs (both duck and chicken), ham and salted or marinated pork, Filipino longanisa sausages, broa (a type of corn and rye bread), and some rice rolls that were mixed with European cake.

Some sweets, liquor, garlic, onions, and oil sat alongside examples of local products such as mung beans. Their supplies of salted fish included lawlaw and gibe (prawns). There were also foods imported into the Filipino diet from the Americas: peanuts and chocolate.