Time was when be the term 'Filipinos' meant those Spaniards born in the Philippines.
Well, guess what? a century and half later, the word has mutated so today, it means someone who's a citizen of the Philippines or, depending who you talk too, could mean anything from a 'house servant' (for the Greeks) or in this case, a cookie in the Iberian Peninsula.
I stil remember the ruckus these wickedly-sweet, chocolate-covered biscuits caused a few years ago when some politicians(?) raised the diplomatic alarm and threatened to flush out our three-century link with our old boss- Spain.
And all because of a cookie.
Today, these things are everywhere and not just in Spain but neighoring Portugal as well.
Spain's greatest culinary legacy?
Not quite. But I couldnt resist this photo of me and my (cookie) compatriot.
May 26, 2006 at 9:46 am
He,he… I heard about it but never saw one.
How is the taste! What is the price?
Soon, Filipinos will mean nurse or call center agent
May 26, 2006 at 9:54 am
Oh! Thank you for the link !
May 26, 2006 at 1:42 pm
man, i had to google you to find this!! now i know where i could follow your travels and tales.
you’ve been doing a great job. when i come visit, i hope i’ll be able to join one of your tours.
May 27, 2006 at 12:31 am
Sidney,
I originally found it a bit too sweet for my taste…it actually comes in 3 flavors: dark chocolate, white choclate and caramel.
I wonder if they have it in Belgium..hehe
Dellwyn,
Of course of course, as my guest of honnor! ;o)
May 29, 2006 at 5:06 pm
Two years ago, I bought 50 euros worth of Filipinos as “pasalubong” from Madrid, but had to leave them behind when my check-in luggage was 20 kilos overweight..harhar. Was such a heartbreaker..
I think the controversy was with the white chocolate flavor (blue wrapper)– white on the outside, brown on the inside, which is supposedly how we Filipinos are.
On the side, when I introduced myself as Filipino to a roomful of 8-15 year-old Spanish kids, I got smirks from a couple of them, and had to explain that Filipino was more than a cookie. Booooo.
May 30, 2006 at 7:51 am
Ouch! As for me, I prepared a medium sized athlete’s bag and took it out at the end of my trip. Filled them all up with Filipino cookies (among others) and handcarried it all the way to Manila.
a labor or love really….;op
June 1, 2006 at 8:06 pm
That photo of yours cracks me up, Ivan!
June 4, 2006 at 9:13 pm
HAHAHHAHAHA!! This is soo funny!! Even funnier because I have the SAME THING featured in my current blog entry. Your blog is a good read. Definitely will bookmark. cheers
June 8, 2006 at 8:22 am
got hold of that and its so good.
no wonder why its called filipinos.
=)
July 15, 2006 at 8:06 pm
power chair walker holder…
Well … again a nice post ….
October 11, 2006 at 8:39 am
great blog…
I’m a Filipino too… i hope we can chat somtime. I’m a Filipino jazz singer in Hong Kong. That’s a nice post you’ve got there..both witty and entertaining…
January 8, 2007 at 1:49 am
I recently visited Spain and tasted some of these delicious cookies. I did not bring any home (I live in the US) and now am wishing I had. Does anyone know where I can buy some???
May 6, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I bought some at the airport before leaving Barcelona to go back to L.A. I like the mini-Filipinos. At first I thought it was degrading to see Filipino as a cookie, especially mini-Filipino, but I learned to accept it.
July 6, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Ok, so like I’m over a year behind regarding this post, but I LOVE the Filipinos cookies. I’m part filipino-blooded myself, and just don’t see what all the hoopla over a damn cookie. Anyhoo…the funniest thing that happened in my instance is that I had bought some in Portugal, then flew directly to Madrid. The taxi driver starts smiling at me and calling me filipina! filipina! And I’m like, “Is he making fun of me or something?” So I break out my filipinos that I had in my bag and he just CRACKED UP!
Needless to say, he thought that little act was so darn funny that he cut my cab fare to Madrid by like 5 euros. And then he warned me to always watch out for my bags…
P.S. I bought filipino bigsticks and go-packs in Madrid too. You can check the image here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62998620@N00/637765848/
September 5, 2007 at 12:07 am
I’d like to see some white cookies branded “Putang Ina Mo Biscuits” someday.
February 14, 2008 at 2:14 pm
its ok
February 14, 2008 at 2:17 pm
La kabayo la ambak ,la bukdak, lagobo. no abla spanol. I can be reached at lolongtomaquin@yahoo.com. I am from Surigao del Sur. I am teaching in a state College.
June 29, 2008 at 5:48 pm
I was in Madrid, Spain last 1980 ad am looking for a friend. I hope you can give assistance in contacting them even through e-mail only or best if you can have their telephone nos. My friend’s name is Joe unfortunately I don’t have his family name. His sister is Sonia who is the wife of the owner of Chino Restorante in Madird near Callao st. I hope through this info you can locate them through words of mouth, alam mo naman halos lanat kami diyan before magkakilala. Thanks kung matulungan mo ako. Am now living in CAlifornia.
October 9, 2008 at 9:19 pm
[...] #%#%! So I’ve googled the term filipinos and got a blastful of blogs doing as I am now. Like Ivan Man Dy’s Street Walker Tales- Manila and Beyond and Market Manila. What’s interesting are the responses to the posts. Some are clearly [...]
January 10, 2009 at 9:11 am
Hey . . .that’s funny our whole national identity printed on a
tiny biscuit wrapper.
Here in Los Angeles years back at my work,
one homeboy from Paco, apparently ignorant in Spanish except
for words cuchara,plato. . . this moron is clueless about what he’s talking about or talking to. .
One day he brought some MAMON to work from Goldilocks and started offering a group of Hispanics on a break . . .and says hey man want some MAMON?!! one of them was suprised told him . . what are you PUTO??
Homeboy says. . ah PUTO thats delicious . .I’ll bring some tomorrow. . whole place burst in laughter like crazy and homeboy
was standing wondering and clueless . . .
FYI:
MAMON (PINOY-cake)
(SPANISH-blowjob,cake)
PUTO (PINOY-rice cake)
(SPANISH-male prostitute or homosexual)
April 19, 2009 at 2:59 pm
why oh why did they name it filipinos????
May 21, 2009 at 11:09 am
i like the chocolate, maybe because im filipino or its about the taste…
marco
madrid,spain