When we visited the Philippines in 2004, I really took to the whole notion of merienda. A mid-afternoon snack (or, I suppose if you're more hungry, a meal), the merienda bridges the gap between lunch and dinner, and can consist of just about anything.
The Scent of Green Bananas' Santos shared her own love of merienda in a post last October:
Much like siesta is considered an integral part of Spanish culture, merienda--a mid-day snack--is integral to filipino culture.
How I heart a land where food is so important that 3 meals are not enough. Traditionally, merienda is taken as a mid-afternoon repast, but a mid-morning snack is equally as acceptable. Merienda can be anything from a small item to a full-fledged meal; there is nothing unacceptable as a merienda item, although some foods are traditionally considered so, like freshly baked bibingka or a hot pandesal bun--literally "bread of salt," (but really, much, much more than that)--straight from a pugon, a wood-fired clay oven, along with a cup of hot coffee or tsokolate.
Also, to some people, if there isn't a pile of steamed rice involved, then it's just not a meal, it's merienda. On this last jaunt, i definitely had my share of merienda, which ranged from the traditional to the not-quite-so, the snack-sized to um, a full fourth meal. Shhhh.
Then there's halo-halo, the ice cream/shave ice/bean dessert that is a guilty merienda pleasure.
Just right around the corner at the Eagle Rock Plaza, you'll sometimes catch me or Maria with Blogger Toddler on a random afternoon, digging into a bowl of halo-halo (pic above) from either fast food outposts Jollibee or Chowking. Jollibee's halo-halo is slightly cheaper, but both contain the essential ube ice cream and leche flan. It may be a little too cold outside right now to indulge in the icy joy halo-halo (trust me, it's never too cold for us), but just wait until summer.
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