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The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55, 1690-1691: Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century — John Shaqi

History

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55, 1690-1691: Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century

Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources

101. Their usual sustenance is as stated above, rice, well hulled and
cleaned, and boiled only with water, which is called morisqueta by the
Spaniards, as if to call it "food of the Moors." The meat is that of a
small fish which is lacking in no part. That is also boiled in water,
and with the broth from it, they give a flavor to the morisqueta. For
lack of rice and fish they use the herbs and many kinds of native
potatoes, and fruits, by which they are sustained well enough. At their
banquets they add venison, pork, or beef, which they like best when
it has begun to spoil, and to smell bad. Their manner of eating is,
to be seated on the ground. Their tables are small and low, round or
square, and they have no tablecloths or napkins; but the plates with
the food are placed on the same tables. They eat in companies of four
which is as many as can get around a small table. On the occasion
of a wedding or a funeral, or similar feasts, the whole house will
be filled with tables and guests. The food is placed all together on
various plates. The people do not shun all reaching out to the same
plate, or drinking from the same cup. They relish salt, and salty
and acid foods. They have no better dainty for the sick than vinegar
and green or pickled fruits. They eat sparingly but drink often; and
when they are invited to a banquet, they are asked not to eat but to
drink. They waste much time in both eating and drinking. When they
have enough and are drunk, the tables are taken away and the house is
cleared. If the banquet is the occasion of a feast, they sing, play,
and dance. They spend a day and a night in this, amid great racket
and cries, until they fall with weariness and sleep. But rarely do
they become furious or even foolish; on the contrary, after they have
taken wine they preserve due respect and discreet behavior. They only
wax more cheerful, and converse better and say some witty things;
and it is well known that no one of them when he leaves a banquet,
although it be at any hour of the night, fails to go straight to his
own house. And if he has occasion to buy or sell, and to examine and
weigh gold or silver he does it with so great steadiness that the
hand does not tremble, nor does he make any error in the weight.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

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