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The Spanish Adobo was published in a book in 1529, which closely resemble the classic Filipino adobo of just vinegar, chicken, pork, lard, garlic, and bay leaf. While the Spanish Adobo had quince and dried druit, the original Filipino Adobo had none, probably due to the lack of those ingredients in the humid archipelago. However, the current adobo in Cebu is sweetened with fruit, thus resembling the original Spanish Adobo. But the current Cebu Adobo is already an improved version after many years of influence and new ingredients.
Another evidence of the Filipino Adobo being hispanic (in origin only) is that the method of preserving and cooking food with vinegar is a European method. Also, bay leaf does not grow here in Asia but only in the Americas.
We must note though that the Filipino Adobo is neither prehispanic nor Spanish anymore. Through the years, it has evolved with influence from the ingredients we have. Before 1900s, soy sauce was expensive to make and not commonly used as we do today. Soy sauce used to take years to ferment and manually done. With the advent of factories and food technology in the 1900s, soy sauce became as common as oil and vinegar. This was the beginning of adobo having soy sauce. Also, the original adobos were simmered for mere preservation then cooked again later with garlic and onions. Through the years, it evolved to a single process of garlic and onions, browning of the pork and the chicken, glazing with vinegar and soy sauce, and slow simmer until tender. Today, some young people add sugar. Before you know it, the Filipino adobo would be mistaken to have sugar as traditional ingredient.
There are more evidences from history to be analysed. Even before the Spanish arrived, pigs were a luxury as they were raised by individual households instead of animal factories of today. Pigafetta noted that the prehispanic austronesians (indios) raised pigs but saved them as taxes for the Rajah or for trade with international merchants. Pigs were mostly eaten in the Rajah's palace during banquets. The luxury of pigs for only the nobility was also evident in medieval Europe.
Thus said, the early Adobo (whether Spanish or Filipino) had little pork just for flavour and mostly comprised of chicken.
While most people like to argue that certain dishes had origins in a single region, cuisine and food is just as global as frying, roasting, or boiling. These methods developed everywhere and were not mere influenced. For example, the European lechon is very similar the Chinese roasted pigs and did not influence each other. Noodles and pasta are similar but did not influence each other (despite the Marco Polo theory). Pasta is made from machines or slicing/kneading while noodles are pulled.
In a nutshell, Adobo comes from the word ‘Adobar’ or marinated. Adobo diversified throughout the Spanish empire based on what i gredients are popular among the colonists or what is available.
Also worthy to note that cuisine did not develop into receipes that we have today back in the 1500s. Cook books were just beginning to come about. Culinary itself only began in the 1400s or so during the Medici period in Europe.
Chances are, many Filipino dishes today only developed and became recipes during the colonial period, based on methods of cookery brought by the Spanish as well as native methods, which they eventually used.
Dishes had no names in ancient to medieval times. Just methods of cooking and were not documented.
The Spanish did not develop our cooking nor even dictated it. Rather, Filipino cooki g styles developed during the colonial period and by the Filipino colonists themselves.
