INTRODUCTION A) What is a food? Food is a basic necessity. It is the fuel of the human body. The breakdown of fats, proteins and carbohydrates will determine how much energy the body can derive from a given amount of food. Fats and carbohydrates are mainly used for energy, while protein is broken down into amino acids to be used in building and repairing cells and tissues. The nutrients of a food include all the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to stay healthy against sickness. B) The Philippine Cuisine and Its History Filipino cooking reflects the history of the islands. On a Malayan base, Chinese, Hindu, Spanish and American ingredients have been added through centuries of foreign influence and surprisingly, a blend with a distinctiveness of its own has emerged. Many of their dishes are remarkably close to native foods still found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and other Asian countries. As with most Asian countries, the staple food in the Philippines is rice although foreign recipes have become a regular practice in food preparation. During the pre-Hispanic era in the Philippines, the preferred Austronesian methods for food preparation were boiling, steaming and roasting. The ingredients for common dishes were obtained from locally raised livestock. In 3200 BCE, Austronesians from the southern China Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and Taiwan settled in the region that is now called the Philippines. They brought with them knowledge of rice cultivation and other