One kind of food that defines the Philippines is lechon. Lechon is a roasted pig or piglet that is cooked over charcoal or wood. The word “Lechon” is a Spanish term which means a suckling pig that is roasted. Filipinos usually called lechon as “litsong baboy”.
This pork dish has been part of the long Filipino history. You can see lechons in almost every special events. It is very popular in Catering Services. In the province of Balayan Batangas, they celebrate the parade of lechon every 24th of June.
In every feast or special occasion like birthday party, weddings, graduation and Christmas parties, the lechon is the highlight of the event. Traditionally, the lechon was decorated with an apple in its mouth. The pork dish lechon is also popular in other countries such as Spain, Puerto Rico and even in Cuba.
In the Caribbean country like Cuba, the roasted pig or lechon is usually eaten with black beans and rice. The left over lechon can be recycled, it can be cooked into another dish like litsong paksiw or be part of the main ingredients of pansit. Other people of some provinces in the Philippines used to brush lechon with oil while cooking to make the skin crunchy.
They used banana leaves that are tied to a long wooden stick as a brush. Even if lechon is quite costly, many people always prefer to have this in special event. Here in the Philippines, preparing lechon in every special event is already part of our culture and tradition.
But like other food, too much lechon is not good to someone’s health especially for those who have heart ailments. We have to remember that we should be responsible in taking care of ourselves. Food was created for us to enjoy it, but we need to put in our mind that we have to establish self discipline.
