Christmas Eve is undoubtedly the highlight of Christmas celebration in the Philippines, and one of the most awaited parts of the evening is Noche Buena ( another is the opening of gifts).
Practically a whole-night affair that ushers in Christmas day itself, the celebration starts with family members attending Misa de Gallo or Simbang Gabi.
From the church, Filipino families get together for Noche Buena, practically a feast that takes place at midnight. To some, Noche Buena is a family affair since every home is supposed to have one, but to others, it is open to relatives and friends.
Food is in abundance and often served in buffet, some prepare as many as 20 different kinds of food—from appetizers, main course to desserts.
Among the most popular Noche Buena fares include hamon and quezo or cheese, kilawen for appetizer; lechon (roast pig), chicken (relleno, fried or grilled), paella, roast beef, barbecue, pancit or pasta, soup, lumpia, mechado and steamed whole fish for the main course, and bibingka and puto bumbong, leche flan, macapuno, halayang ube, garbanzos, fruits, cakes and ice cream for dessert. For drinks, the more traditional families prepare native chocolate drink or binatirol na tsokolate and salabat. Others make available juices, soft drinks, beer and alcoholic drinks.
Of course, some households prepare simpler Noche Buenas which may be composed of pancit or spaghetti, fried chicken, macaroni soup and bread.
The more practical ones simply order their Noche Buena treat from restaurants and fast food chains. For chicken, one may just go to Andoks or Baliwag for lechon manok or Max’s or KFC for fried chicken.
Advance orders can be arranged with some restaurants for pick up in the afternoon or early evening of the 24th.
Even some groceries and supermarkets offer Noche Buena packages on the go. Shopwise and
Rustan’s fresh, for instance, have sushi platter (P650 ), cold cuts platter (P1,100), seafood platter (P1,300); cheese platter (P1,790), and assorted cocktail platter (P1,200) all for starters. For the main course, they have chicken galatina (P1,020 per roll) also on a platter with gravy and some vegetables; roast beef (P1,100 per kilo) served on a platter with potatoes, asparagus, carrots; crown roast (P600 per kilo) served on a platter with vegetables, and Christmas turkey (P1,500 per kilo) in a basket with gravy, potatoes and different vegetables. For dessert, they have espresso cream cheese brownies, assorted brownies, blueberry butterscotch bars, truffle bars, fruitcakes and different types of cookies.
On Christmas day itself, some families serve what are left of their Noche Buenas or they prepare a fresh set of food, desserts and drinks for visiting godchildren, relatives and friends.

Tags: christmas

This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 6:20 am and is filed under On The Spot. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.