Bicol Express
There appears to be a rather interesting story behind this omnipresent dish in Filipino restaurants today. What many people assume to be a dish native to Bicol due to its name and the abundance of sili na mahaba (long green chillies) is in fact a Manila invention. According to my source, The Philippine Cookbook by Virginia Roces de Guzman and Nina Daza Puyat, Bicol Express was invented by Cely Kalaw, the owner of the famous Grove Restaurant on M.H. del Pilar of the 1960’s. Apparently, the restaurant’s patrons at the time complained that the Laing (Gabi or Taro leaves in coconut milk with chillies) was too spicy for their palates so the restaurant decided to tone down the chillies, but invented Bicol Express for people who wanted to add it to the Laing in order to notch up the heat quotient. In other words, Bicol Express was meant to augment the Laing. And the name, well, according to the book, after the restaurant invented the dish, they heard a train from the nearby Paco station and they said it was the “Bicol Express”.
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