Every year, friends and families gather around to celebrate the merry-making season, highlighting Christmas and New Year. Christmas is the day when the lord and savior Jesus Christ was born, which is why feasts are held by Catholics and Christians. For non-Catholics or non-Christian people however, this is the holiday for them to simply be in each other’s presence and enjoy themselves. People also celebrate the beginning of a new year, wishing for a better version of themselves, with the popular saying “New Year, New Me,” as well as growth and prosperity in their lives. In these occasions, families host parties, play whacky games with big rewards, and give gifts to one another; but what is the holiday season without the feast full of delicious food and dishes prepared by the family members?
Here are the top 5 Holiday foods that are perfect to share with your friends and family, available at Astoria:
5.) Spaghetti and Pancit
The most common food served at a feast is pasta or noodles. In Filipino tradition, it can come either in pancit or spaghetti form, depending on the people’s preference. It has been a staple of celebrations, and other occasions, such as birthdays. Astoria offers both types of food in our bilao meals, comprising of pancit canton with bagnet, spaghetti, fried chicken, lumpiang shanghai, and other bilao has an option of pork barbeque. If you need a culinary service in manila that can serve food to your company’s year-ender party, then Astoria Culinary Expert Services (ACES) has you covered!
4.) Lumpiang Shanghai
Lumpiang Shanghai is one of the staple food items, not only during the holiday season, but also at every party, fiesta, or any other celebration there is. It is a simple food enjoyed by kids and adults alike. It is composed of ground pork mixed with carrots and other seasonings bound together in a thin spring roll wrapper, then fried, and served usually with a sweet and spicy sauce. It can be paired with rice, spaghetti, pancit canton, fried chicken, liempo, and many more, as it really goes well with a lot of different dishes. The Astoria Group offers lumpiang shanghai together with its complimenting food, in our Pancit Canton Fiesta cake, consisting of a pancit shaped in a cake form, garnished with delicious shrimps and veggies, topped with bagnet, and surrounded by lumpiang shanghai. We also have a spaghetti version of the cake, the Spaghetti Fiesta Cake, comprising of a savory spaghetti surrounded by lumpiang shanghai. Yummy!
3.) Ham
Who craves that salty, smoky, and sweet flavor of Christmas ham? A lot of us surely will look forward to this holiday feast. This food is an icon at the center of the table, and you see it even on television shows. What better way to prepare the table than to put a sliced ham in the middle, covered in a sweet and savory glaze? You just need cured or smoked ham and to top it off with a honey glaze, and bake. Astoria offers a Gourmet Ham to make your Christmas feast special and unforgettable! Have a Hamtastic Christmas!
2.) Pinoy Kakanin
Bibingka is one of the most popular pasalubong, as well as a classic holiday food in the Philippines. It is a kind of rice cake, composed of galapong (glutinous rice), coconut milk, water, and sugar, and is cooked by baking it in an oven. This rice cake is usually eaten during the morning as breakfast or the afternoon as merienda or a snack. For the holiday season, it is paired with another kakanin, namely Puto Bumbong, together with a hot beverage, for a delicious treat after attending the Simbang Gabi. The Astoria Group offers Bibingka for takeaway, available in the Traditional flavor, as well as two additional flavors, Dulce de Leche and Ube. For the kakanin lovers, we also have the Astoria Kakanin Medley, a bilao consisting of kalamay, ube espasol, biko latik, and sapin-sapin, to level up your holiday feast!
1.) Lechon
Of course, a holiday feast is never complete without the turkey, and for Filipinos of course, the famous Lechon, or a roasted pig. Similar to Lumpiang Shanghai, lechon is usually served during celebrations as a main dish for the feast. Before big pigs were used, lechon used suckling pigs, which are piglets feeding on the mother’s milk. Roasted sucking pigs are called cochinillo, which is still famous in many places even today. Astoria offers a cochinillo dish, named “Astoria’s Prime Cochinillo,” which you can order and serve at your own feast to complete your bountiful table!
Bonus: For vegetarians or diet-conscious people who want to avoid fried food, we also have a healthy Bilao for you to enjoy during your holiday festivities! Try our Fresh Vegetable Lumpia with Soya Peanut Sauce. If you are looking for healthy food catering, ACES can provide a wide variety that suits one’s dietary needs.
There are many more staples for a typical holiday feast, and Astoria offers many meals which are perfect for your holiday celebration. You can check out our website bit.ly/AHR-Gourmet for small orders or you can reach out to our ACES team for big Christmas and New Year celebrations!
