For the 22nd year of the Doreen Gamboa Fernandez (DGF) Food Video Award the subject is "Minatamis: Philippine Desserts and Sweet Merienda Staples”.

In "Salty and Sour, Bitter and Sweet: Philippine Flavorings" (Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture, Anvil Publishing, 1994), DGF had written that "Although desserts, cake and sweets are not as high on the consciousness as they might be in other countries, therefore, a sweet --postre, panghimagas -- after a meal is within tradition."

A Filipino meal isn't complete without a sweet ending. And many of our sweets, according to Fernandez, "are predominantly Spanish: leche flan (creme caramel), tocino del cielo (sweet egg custards), canonigo (meringue in butter sauce), ensaimada (sugared rolls), etc."

We have also appropriated a very French dessert--sans rival--largely forgotten by the French. But according to Nora V. Daza in her book, "A Culinary Life" (Anvil Publishing, 1992), it was  in a cookbook published by the Ecole de Cordon Bleu in 1895.

Yet Fernandez mentions native desserts that "lean towards fruit (the sweets of the landscape) preserved in syrup: macapuno (coconut), and guava shells, pomelo, lime and santol rinds, kondol -- most of them bordado (embroidered -- carved and incised in floral and other patterns."

A Filipino merienda tends to include sweets as well-- pastries, cookies, and iced concoctions.

When shaved ice reached the Philippines, one simple joy was the "mano" according to Luning Bonifacio Ira (The Culinary Culture of the Philippines, Vera Perez, Inc., 1976). This was melted caramelo, solid sugar squares in iced water, squeezed with dayap, an aromatic local lime, with a hint of evaporated milk sometimes added.

We are in love with our sweets, so let’s talk about them proudly!