The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th century; they were ceded to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War which then led to the Philippine-American War with the result that the Philippines then became a US colony.
In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth in preparation for full independence. Manuel Quezon was elected president and was tasked with preparing the country for independence after a 10-year transition period.
However, this was interrupted when in 1942 the islands fell under Japanese invasion during World War II.
On 4 July 1946 the Republic of the Philippines attained its independence.
These were not the only foreign influences on Philippine cuisine, prior to the Spanish invasion and colonization, Arab traders had paid visits to the islands bringing both trade and Islam as well as their food culture.
All in all, the Philippines has evolved a mish-mash of cooking which does not have a single distinctive feature. The foreign influences are added to by the fact that the country is an archipeligo with even separate cuisine in different parts of the two main islands of Luzon and Mindanao.
This then gives the Philippines a special type of cuisine, with many different methods of cooking as well as ingredients.
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