In a country where over ninety per cent of the population live below the poverty line, it helps to be both frugal and creative when it comes to food. Nothing illustrates the frugality and creativity of the Filipino better than barbecue. When I was growing up in a not-too-crowded Metro Manila, barbecue meant charcoal-grilled marinated slices of pork or chicken breast, legs or thighs in bamboo skewers. If not home-cooked, they were mostly sold in restaurants that specialized in grilled food. Aristocrat, for instance, already an institution in the Philippine restaurant scene, has been consistently serving great pork and chicken barbecue for decades. I remember Jack’s Restaurant and Blue Spot Restaurant in Caloocan, both famous for their barbecue.