General Information about Item:
- Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, belief, superstition
- Language: Tagalog
- Country of Origin: Philippines
- Informant: R.P.
- Date Collected: November 26, 2020
Informant Data:
- R.P. was born in 1975 in the Philippines, where she grew up in a region north of the capital Manila called Pangasinan. She was raised in the Philippines all her life, and went to a private Catholic school in Manila for college. She then married and settled in Manila, where her parents also moved, and ran a small convenience store for the local neighborhood. She later immigrated to the United States with her family in 2008, staying in a Southern California suburb named Norwalk.
Contextual Data:
- Cultural Context: In the Philippines, processed foods before the mid 1980s were scarce in rural areas as most people lived in the countryside provinces. Therefore, Queso de Bola was not as accessible until the nation was more modernized. Queso de Bola nowadays is given by companies to its workers as Christmas gifts and is sold by groceries during the Christmas season. Christmas can be seen as a mega holiday for Filipinos, depending on their wealth. Because many Filipinos work in the cities, they come back only at Christmas time to their families in provinces, which is why Christmas is celebrated to not only be thankful for others, but also to look forward to the next year or the future (as they would not be able to come back for New Year’s). The dish is red and round, and in the Philippines, round things represent fortune and good luck. The red also means luck due to Chinese influence but is simultaneously significant as a Christmas color.
- Social Context: The Queso de Bola is not an entrée, but rather a snack eaten during Christmas. By giving a piece to everyone, they will then have good luck and fortune for the days to come. Christmas is a time for getting together with loved ones, so it also has significance in spreading happiness and good fortune.
Item:
- The item is a dish called Queso De Bola, which is a ball of Edam cheese, covered in red wax. It is usually bought from an outside source instead of being home made, but, during Christmas eve, it is cut into smaller pieces to be eaten either by itself or with Filipino bread rolls called pandesal.
Translation of Interview Clip:
X.D. (collector): Hi, can you introduce yourself and a backstory of your life.
R.P. (informant): Hello, my name is RP, and I am originally from Pangasinan, but I later moved to Manila. I went to college there too, in an all females Catholic school. While I had my family in Manila, my parents also ran a Sari-Sari (Filipino convenience) store, until we moved here in 2008.
X.D.: Thank you. Now can you please talk about your Filipino Christmas dish. What it is, how it’s made, what the traditions behind it are.
R.P.: The Christmas food is Queso de Bola, which is a round piece of cheese in red wax. I don’t know how to make it, but it’s usually given by a company or bought in the grocery store. I didn’t eat it growing up because it wasn’t common to get branded foods like that. But it’s on display during Christmas because it signifies good luck and fortune. You eat it will pandesal (bread) and ham, for merienda (snack time).
X.D.: Why is it eaten at Christmas when good luck is usually a New Year’s thing?
R.P.: Christmas is like a combination of New Year’s too, well for some people in the Philippines. A lot of people go back for Christmas to the provinces, but return by New Year’s, so they can’t really celebrate New Year’s with their families. So Christmas in a way also celebrates New Year’s. Round things display luck, which is why things like ham or Queso de Bola are eaten. The red also kind of signifies that, like in Chinese New Year’s, but I think they make it red for the Christmas season. Eating a piece of that ball means you will be prosperous, so that’s why you share it with family and friends.
X.D.: Thank you!
Collector’s Comments:
- Queso de Bola is always bought and never made at home. Here in the United States, it is not easy to find. It is sold by Filipino grocery stores during Christmas time, and not every town has a Filipino grocery store, which is why Filipino Americans rarely eat this.
Collector: Xenia Dela Cueva