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Philippines

Colorful Costume

Manila Sunrise

Toast Around the World:

Tagalog: Tagay (tah-gai)

English Translation: Toast, or Shot

 

There is no direct translation for “Cheers” in Tagalog, so if you are raising a toast in the Philippines, you would simply say the English word, “Cheers”. This is because of the drinking tradition of Tagayan, where a single glass is shared and passed around a group lead by a “tanggero”, or the person leading the group and pouring the drinks. After each person does a shot, or “tagay”, the whole group cheers.

 

One of the main ingredients in the Manila Sunrise is calamansi juice. Calamansi is a citrus fruit native to the Philippines, also known as calamondin or “Philippine lime”. With a flavor that is a very tart combination of lemon, lime, and orange, calamansi has been a staple of Filipino cooking for ages. Calamansi are green when immature and turn a greenish orange, and then finally fully orange when ripe. Since it can take up to a year for calamansi to ripen, they are mostly used in their unripe state.

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