Italian Chef Reacts to Filipino Chef Cooking Spaghetti 3 Different Ways 

Thanks again for the review, my friend! I wish you roasted me more - I’ll take this as a challenge 😈 You are always welcome to visit the Philippines, I’ll prepare the hotdogs, banana ketchup, and the cream in carbonara hahahaha Kidding aside, Filipinos having a different take on the traditional spaghetti is a matter of localizing the dish according to the palate, accessibility and affordability. Pecorino for example can only be found in few delicatessens in the urban area and could cost more (around Php 400-800 for a single use) than an average Filipino’s daily wage (Php 500-600). Fish sauce, we use because it adds both saltiness and umami. In my opinion, it’s just important now to be aware and properly label the recipe. As long as we don’t call the sweet one “authentic”, we can still be friends 😂

That’s why Vincenzo is loved by many, he is brutally honest and won’t be surprised if he does the same to his wife. To share my 2 cents here, as the economy in the Philippines grows, many Filipinos in the last 20-30 years are expanding their food selection from Italian, French and Greek and other western cuisines. As a retired hotel food & beverage employee in Vancouver for 30 years, I find Italian cooking the hardest to emulate for many reasons. “There are very few cultures that achieve the level of culinary excellence with the simplicity in their recipes like the Italians have. Many of their most iconic dishes have 5 ingredients or less. Making these dishes taste good require exceptional quality of ingredients and a lot of dedicated practice as a cook. This translates to some of the strongest farming and food production (e.g. cheese and pasta) traditions in the world. It’s not difficult to find delicious food anywhere in the world, but the sheer simplicity with which the Italians achieve it deserve our attention and respect.” - This is a quote from an expert.

Points you can take from the Filipino perspective: 1. Fish sauce is probably the same as what you Italians call colatura de alici or garum. It imparts a great salty and umami flavor from the salted and fermented fish (there are good quality fish sauce that doesn't have that strong fishy flavor and odor) and is often used as a liquid alternative to salt. Cooks use it if they want to not only impart saltiness to the dish, but also the savory umami from the fish. 2. Filipino style spaghetti sauce is tomato sauce which is pre-seasoned and with might be a sacrilegious amount of sugar in it. As you have already knew, Filipinos like their sweet flavor and are not used to the acidic flavor of just pure tomato sauce. 3. Banana ketchup, from what I remember from the top of my head (someone fact check me if ever) originated during the American Occupation. Tomato Ketchup was introduced in the Filipino palate but due to the war and shortages, Filipinos developed an alternative ketchup by using bananas, which are abundant in the country, instead of tomatoes. They have concocted the banana puree I guess with a usual seasonings of a tomato ketchup i.e. vinegar, spices, etc. Because of the sweetness of the bananas, it became a household favorite condiment in the country, and like how it is with tomato sauce, Filipinos like it better than the tangy taste of tomato ketchup. 4. You definitely hit the spot on Filipino spaghetti being a child's meal. But some adults do still eat it especially during birthday parties. It reminds them of what they were used to in their youth, although I see most adults would rather opt for the local noodle dishes and sometimes the sacrilegious cream carbonara pasta that are more savoury than sweet nowadays. I really hope this helps in gaining insight.

The Filipino palate is more on the "extreme" side if I might say. Meaning we like our food salty,sweet,sour and far from being bland. So if ever you do visit the Philippines,please keep an open mind to various tastes and not the typical flavors you might be used to. As to the ingredients.more often than not we use products which are readily available in the market, because sometimes what may seem as simple ingredients in your area maybe quite expensive or cannot be easily found in the Philippines,hence we adapt or substitute with whatever ingredient is available.😊

It's not just the Philippines, all of Asia is basically is into the sweeter version of tomato sauce, I lived in Japan for 7 years, my wife is Japanese and its the same thing. For whatever reason, Asians like European pasta to be sweet, but their own ramen or whatever noodles are as savory as ever. It's really a mystery where this dichotomy erupted.

Okay, my friend. The fish sauce mystery is something that I researched as an Italian person, because I saw someone making Bolognese and using fish sauce. I was a bit confused when I saw it. The explanation was, is that it doesn't affect the taste of your sauce, but it triggers certain taste receptors in your body to cause you to taste the sauce more deeply. So, being as curious as I have always been, I gave it a go, and he was correct, it didn't make the sauce taste extra salty or fishy in any way... However, unlike the first recipe in this video, I don't think adding fish sauce when served might be a great idea, maybe I'll give it a go at sometime too, just to see.

I am a Filipino but we've never put condensed milk in our spaghetti. But lately, I realized adding sugar is good, not only in Spaghetti but also in other salty dishes. But at the same time I also love the sour-taste of the Italian style.

Sadly, it is very difficult to find Pecorino Romano in the Philippines. We got the short end of the stick when it comes to dairy products. The average grocer would not have heavy cream, half and half, buttermilk. Most stores would only have full cream milk, condensed, evaporated, and fresh milk, and nestlé cream. For cheeses, we mostly have blocks of processed cheese that imitate cheddar. Though there are some farms that manufacture artisanal cheeses, they have very small yields and are often cornered by restaurant suppliers. We have no choice but to buy from specialty stores that import dairy products at inflated prices.

As a south european that spent most his life frowning upon "exotic" ingredients like fish sauce, I must advise you: go for it. There's so many delicious flavor profiles you'll miss out on if you only try nona's ingredients! That is not to say you should change traditional recipes to accomodate all those ingredients! Just want to say, try new/different stuff!

Okay, just a disclaimer. Fish sauce is mainly used in the northern part of the Philippines. We from the south rarely use fish sauce. We use salt in our dishes. It's going to be an acquired taste to get used to fish sauce. What I noticed is that dishes from the north of the country always have fish sauce in it.

😂 Italian chefs freaking out about their pasta is always somewhat epic. I wish they somehow appreciate the evolution of Pasta so as how the Chinese Lamian evolved to Japanese Ramen and Korean Ramyun. As there is not enough italian tomatoes to accomodate the world’s demand, definitely adaptation/variations will happen. 🤟🏼

My grandfather was Dutch-Indonesian and he used to put Ketjap Manis (sweet soy sauce) and Sambal Badjak (shrimp / chili paste) in his spaghetti sauce.

it’s true that sweet or Filipino style spaghetti were made usually for kids during children’s party here in the Philippines.. But, children before are grown ups now, and sometimes (specially those who lives abroad for a long time) has this nostalgic feeling or cravings of sweet spaghetti when they visit the Philippines again, and it’s in Jollibee where they can find it easily.. That’s why most Filipinos coming back here has Jollibee their first destination before going home.

Hello Vincenzo. The banana ketchup became a substitute to the original tomato ketchup during the World War II. Until it became famous here in the Philippines. It is actually good.

19:25 what she meant is that most Filipinos are very fond of strong flavors which is why she thinks many Filipinos wouldn't like the very light and delicate taste of your version. Hope this helps 😊❤

as a Filipino growing up in Europe, I grew up eating both sweet and italian style spaghetti. Honestly I love both, Filipino style is nostalgia for me and I think its cool to have best of both worlds. I get a sweet style spaghetti when I want a sweet version and an Italian one when I'm not in the mood for the sweet one. I recommend giving our Filipino spaghetti a go, just have an open mind and understand our flavor profile :) Though I also understand if its too weird, for me the sweet spaghetti is memory of childhood so its great for children's palette.

Vincenzo is adorable to watch, great personality without overacting, which is very important. Besides, he’s great as a chef.

Thank you very much sir for being respectful and understanding of the Filipino style spaghetti. 🙏 I also appreciate how you keep an open mind watching how it's made since coming from an Italian palate, it really would be unusual and weird. 🙏

Hi. We're from the Philippines. We love your videos. Can't wait to see you make and try Filipino style spaghetti. 😁❤❤❤

I'm Filipino and I really laughed out loud at your reactions. I wonder what your reaction will be if you saw someone adding soy sauce to their spaghetti recipe. 🤣

Same for me, I still do love our Filipino spaghetti with all my heart, but now that I am older I prefer the simple Italian spaghetti. Also, since you are in Australia and there are a lot of Filipinos there as well you may not need to travel very far, you just need to have yourself invited to a Filipino birthday party (you'll even get a bonus lumpia for it). For the banana ketchup and Filipino style spaghetti sauce, just ask a Filo for the nearest Filipino shop.

Sweet Filipino Spaghetti for me is comfort food. I know it's not the best tasting, but you really just can't beat the nostalgia. It's definitely filled with processed ingredients (because they're what's readily available in all groceries), but I grew up eating that during most parties.

Yes, it's true that Filipino style spaghetti is on the sweeter side. However, it's not common to add condensed milk and fish sauce in it. I am Filipino, but to be honest, I also find it weird when she added these ingredients. Banana ketchup is already sweet so the addition of condensed milk would made the sauce more sweet. The Filipino taste bud is accustomed to sweet savory and strong flavors using our local ingredients such as fish sauce, soy sauce and local herbs and spices. This is evident in our local dishes. The "authentic" Italian spaghetti may be simple to prepare, however, the ingredients such as cherry tomatoes, basil and pecorino cheese are difficult to get for most Filipinos because these ingredients are imported and expensive. So it's not that we don't appreciate the authentic version. The right ingredients are not accessible to most of us which is why we substitute using our local ingredients.

Loves your reaction...kill me😅😉 Am Filipino your honesty impress me dear We Filipino i must say creative when its comes to foods

Chef Vincenzo, there was a time after World War II when tomatoes were so expensive. Since bananas were/have always been abundant in our land and way cheaper/affordable, the Filipinos found a way to create ketchup using the available resources. Banana ketchup is just ketchup made of bananas instead of tomatoes. Somehow, the taste of banana ketchup became a massive hit to the local masses, and so banana ketchup became a staple among Filipino household. Filipinos love anything sweet, sour, and salty. So it's no wonder we love sweet spaghetti. It's a Filipino thing. No offense to Italians, but true Italian spaghetti is a little too sour for our palate. You have to develop a taste for it. Also, many Filipinos have not been exposed to Italian cuisine. As for me, I eat both Italian and Filipino spaghetti. I have no problem switching from one plate to another. I live in Canada and I have easy access to Italian dishes.

I discovered Vincenzo’s videos because I want to cook a very good BOLOGNESE pasta. And honestly as I’m on the process of cooking it I added “Fish Sauce” and “soy sauce” 🤭✌🏻 trying to make it suit my Filipino Taste Buds 😜 The result is still good 😊 Thank you for reviewing our Filipino Chefs, maybe you can collaborate with them if you will Visit Philippines soon. Additionally, I’m excited to try more of your Italian cooking.😊

as a filipino, we usually use condensed milk to sweeten the spaghetti, its good, and the banana ketchup is optional, but it make different taste

Too much complaining, Vincenzo. Honestly, it gets tiresome. Different cultures have different taste preferences. Plus, she isn't trying to duplicate an Italian Bolognese. She is making Filipino recipes. I am not Filipino, but I can understand, appreciate, and accept different cultures and their takes on their recipes.

I love the meaty and saucy filipino spagetti when i was young that inspired me to learn how to make my own version with light sweetness and it became my family's favorite. Now that i'm older i prefer the simplest and lightest pasta.

In many Asia cuisines, having opposing seasoning is a major method like sweet and sour, many of the most iconic dishes are seasoned using vinegar and sugar. It’s delicious.

Most differences in styles of cooking similar dishes simply come down to what that part of the world had readily available. These days it is much easier to get ingredients from around the world but after making something one way, for so long, it fits that area's palette.

Yeah, so here it is. When Aby said Filipinos will not enjoy authentic Italian spaghetti is very true. Filipinos love more stuff on everything, authentic Italian spaghetti looks really boring in the eyes of many Filipinos. Since authentic Italian spaghetti is so simple, we usually say "kulang sa sahog" which means - it lacks of/missing something in our taste buds.

your food, your rules.. hehehe! respect the authenticity, but love the diversity! :D

Hi Vincenzo! The reason why the Filipino spaghetti deviated so much from the simple traditional spaghetti is the price and availability of ingredients. Some ingredients like olive oil and pecorino are expensive compared to what a typical Filipino household uses, and some like the basil and cherry tomato are not easy to find because there are only a few dishes that use them which means few specialty shops sell them. Also, if I am not mistaken, Filipinos started using banana ketchup around 100 years ago when a Filipina scientist discovered a way to create ketchup with banana and there seem to be a shortage of tomato back then. The flavor of a banana ketchup is really different from a tomato one. While tomato ketchup has a tint of acidity, banana ketchup is a bit sweeter. I personally prefer tomato but growing up, banana ketchup is something I can testify about tasting good😊 Thank you for being open-minded about our take on Spaghetti. I have tasted ours and Italians' and they are both good in their own ways. I hope you can try Filipino spaghetti some time in the future maybe when you visit the Philippines. Great video! More power to you, Vincenzo🎉

I'm from the US. I always grew up with what amounts to a quick Bolognese sauce with my spaghetti. You see the lighter, more tomato forward sauces, too, but that's not what comes to my mind when I think "I want to have spaghetti." But it's good, when I'm in the mood for something light.

I was chatting with my mother about wha to took and I asked her to make some pasta…but I asked her to try the ‘Italian real way’ of doing them…any dish accepted….she said she will search for Vincenzo on RU-vid because she knows ‘ one Italian chef who really knows how to do it, so that I won’t complain ‘ hahhahaha it was so nice to know that she also watches you …we are now better friends ….cheers man ..lots of love from Romania ❤

Hello Vincenzo. I'm Filipino but i belong to the very tiny minority who don't particularly like the "happy birthday" spaghetti - sweet sauce with hotdogs. My personal favourites is the garlic and olive oil. Extremely simple but very tasty. The sweet spaghetti is so popular here that McDonald's and KFC have it in their menu.

Availability of the ingredients contribute to how people cook. We don't have the variety of cheeses and other produce that are widely available in europe or in different parts of the world. So we improvise and do it a lot in all kinds of dishes.

Despite the simplicity of the Italian spaghetti recipe, it is important to note that cherry tomatoes do not grow and are not readily available in the Philippines making them relatively expensive and we only started growing basil quite recently. Filipinos had to make use of whatever ingredient is available. :)

Hello Vincenzo, I am a Filipino. When I was young one day during Christmas season, we had an Italian (from Portofino) as guest in our house and he cooked spaghetti the original Italian way. It was the best spaghetti I ever had. Since then we always have cooked our spaghetti the way he (the Italian guest) did. Now I got older I still do cook it the same way and my children love the way I do it.

Filipinos like all ABI'S spaghetti.... yummy. ❤❤❤ Filipinos spaghetti os really like that way. We love it so much.

6:00 fun fact in poland we are making pasta with strawberries or sour cream (mainly "lane kluski" but sometimes tagliatale)

I am a white American. We have a lot of Filipino nurses who work in our hospital. From them, I have learnt a few things such as their country is very poor. I think it is a third world country. Countries like the Philippines eat hotdogs and Spam as a source of protein (I predicted they would eat Spam. I googled it to confirm my prediction). So even though it may seem unusual to the Italians (and even Americans), it is part of their culture and part of their recipes. It is not a childhood type of food that she hasn't grown out of. Just have to accept different people belong to different cultures.

I personally add a ton of Asian sauces in my tomato based pasta like soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, miso and just a hint of sugar to balance the salt in the sauce. Especially for just bolognese, the sauce almost comes out tasting like a ragu cooked with red wine but with just that added level of umami.

In Belgium "spagetti Bolognese" is basically ratatouille with ground beef. It is generally also served with the sauce and the pasta separate. RIP spagetti

The brown sugar at the end is to balance out the fish sauce.

The ones from the video are actually the elegant, refined versions of spaghetti that you'll find in a typical Filipino home. Usually, the ones served at parties are cooked en masse, so it would be the mushiest pasta you're ever going to eat as al dente is non-existent in our vocabulary. Most would boil the noodles first, and leave them for hours before even cooking the sauce. There are even homes that do not put tomato sauce, so all you get is sweet mushy noodles that could taste gross for the uninitiated. Filipino spaghetti from upper middle class households would probably taste better as they are influenced from American-style "bolognese". Maybe it's better you make your own following some recipe, at least you would be using high quality pasta as well as other ingredients

I love the last one. Growing up, I used to eat sweet spaghetti. But now, I enjoy the Italian spaghetti and I really love to cook the Italian way of pasta.

As a Filipino we love sweet twists taste on our food, and i think we do have better taste buds that we can blend ingredients to create comforting dishes .. you should visit the Philippines and experience varieties of flavors .. 👌👌🇸🇦🇵🇭

Oh man, the editing is hilarious! Love you, Vincenzo!

So wholesome vincenzo! nice reaction video

Fish sauce is amazing! It doesn't taste fishy, but rather salty and umami. You can use it in place of salt, much like anchovies. There's also oyster sauce, which is much thicker and more intense, and I sometimes use it in my own tomato sauces and soups!

Condonsed milk in spaghetti? That’s cute! In my country we put shrimp paste as the sauce in spaghetti.

filipino sweet spaghetti is like our mac&cheese. it's not gourmet, but it's comfort food. it's a staple in children's birthday parties. =) bone apple tito!

Fish sauce can replace or add more saltiness in liquid form instead of powder or granulated form.

Vincenzo, they invented in the Philipines a type of ketchup made with bananas instead of tomatoes. They came up with the idea during a time when they didn't have enough tomatoes and liked it so much they still make banana ketchup nowadays. I learned this in a video from Marion's Kitchen when she made Filipino spaghetti with hot dogs and she also used banana ketchup.

Im Filipino, i prepared vicenzo spaghetti its very simple and super healthy😊

Ninong Ry's recipe is a filipino fusion hence the fish sauce... order of ingredients(We love garlic and like our onions a little under and not caramelized and yes many regions prefer fish sauce over salt and soy sauce)... its bolognese but with filipino twists and it does taste amazing. The filipino style spaghetti sauce is different and condensed milk is not always used but yes its still sweet. Edit: Its not Banana with ketchup but Ketchup made from banana.

I'm a Filipino, I worked as a chef in one of the top Italian restaurant in the Philippines. I'm in love with the Italian food, truly "simplicity in its finest". Simple fresh ingredients = amazing taste! You're right Vincenzos! Now, that I have my 1 year old daughter I already exposed her to Italian taste.❤️

Hi Vincenzo! Filipino spaghetti is mainly influenced by our taste and economic status being most filipinos are not that rich and we love strong tastes. This is mainly our version of cheap spaghetti that's easy to make anytime since the ingredients are easy to find locally. For us authentic Italian spaghetti is a luxury not many can enjoy. But if the budget allows for it, we can make it every once in a while. Enjoy more good food Vincenzo!

I'm Filipino but has never added condensed milk to "spaghetti bolognese". We just add enough sugar to counter the acidity coz after all, the kids won't eat it if it's sour. I find myself leaning towards the "sour" versions these days. My fave non-Pinoy style is putanesca coz it's sour and salty and the name is funny LOL. I get sent capers and anchovies and it's the only dish I know how to make out of those hehe. 😅

My wife is from the Philippines and she'll eat Western style spaghetti but she loves Filipino spaghetti. The used to be many different types of ketchup, not just tomato ketchup. I don't like Filipino spaghetti, but banana ketchup is great for bbq

i’m a filipino, but our family hates the sweet pinoy style or any sweet tomato based sauces. our home recipe is using a lil’ bit of minced beef and passata. ratio is 250g of minced beef to 1kg of pasta and 1kg of passata. no hotdogs or any other sweet or dairy shit. note that the minced beef is just to flavor the sauce since we do not have time for a 2-4 hr ragu similar to napoli or bologna and hence it’s still a tomato based sauce. we use spaghetti for the pasta, since it is the most common type here. and as we eat it, the minced beef isn’t left off the plate due to its small amount.

Growing up in the Philippines, obviously I'm used to the Jollibee version with sweet tomato sauce and the streetfood version with banana ketchup. As I started working in my 20s, I got to try Italian spaghetti and hated it (so sour, I thought!). But as I moved to Europe, I got exposed to it more, not only in restaurants but when invited to Irish people's homes -- so I appreciated it more. My Filipino palette still prefers the sweet and spicy kind, but I also enjoy the acidity of Italian spaghetti. A funny story -- when my Irish boyfriend (a chef who specialises in Italian dishes) went with me to the Philippines and tried Jollibee spaghetti (I briefed him first what it would taste like). He said he liked it at first, until after a minute and he remembered/realised it's "spaghetti" and started comparing it to the Italian spaghetti he knows and then started not to like it. I think the way to do is compartmentalise them. We're comparing apples vs oranges here. So when eating Italian spaghetti (the OG), appreciate it as Italian food. When eating Filipino spaghetti, appreciate it as Filipino food. 😊

Hello Vincenzo! My parents raised me with the traditional Italian style pastas because of their health-conscious lifestyle, which is what I'm used to eating. However, I also grew up exposed to pinoy style spaghetti, which I wasn't initially a fan of, but later on, appreciated for the childhood nostalgia factor. Some pieces to note which you'll notice: instead of using salt, the filipino style sauces have fish sauce because of its ability to bring out the umami flavor. The fish sauce when mixed with meats help bring out a more complex flavor profile to the meat! Hope this helps contextualize :)

I just saw a lady chef with a michellin star in venice use Garum in her spaghetti. Garum is essentially patis.

some filipino love to eat spaghetti with much variety of ingredient, sometimes they cook spaghetti with mushrooms,hotdogs, bell pepper, ground beef or pork 😊, pinoy spaghetti is one of the famous in the phillipines our liives are not complete if there’s no spaghetti on the table in 😂😂😂

Love it sir Vincenzo! Also... the fish sauce.. It's a game changer. I tried it and it adds the funk that you would normally get from adding parmigiano. It tastes somehow very harmonious especially if you use a good quality fish sauce. But having said that, the Ninong Ry recipe is controversial. Looks more like a stew.

On Ninong Ry's recipe I think it was a choice of either he gets the maillard reaction on the meat or the veggies because if he did the veggies first the meat will not toast due to the moisture from the veggies. Since it was a one wok thing he chose the previous I guess. He could have also made the sofrito in another pan but it is what it is. Think of fish sauce as anchovies. He used it in lieu of salt as well. The sugar really is to lessen the acidity of the tomato products he used. Filipinos prefers it a bit on the sweeter side. The amount he added seems to be just enough to balance it.

As a Filipino, we grew up loving the filipino Style spaghetti, a sweet, creamy and cheesy spaghetti.

Filipino Spaghetti: A Sweet Departure from its Italian Roots Filipino spaghetti is a delicious and unique dish that embodies the creativity and ingenuity of Filipino cuisine. While it shares its name and basic form with the Italian classic, it boasts distinct characteristics that set it apart. Key Characteristics: Sweet tomato sauce: The most defining feature of Filipino spaghetti is its sweet tomato sauce. This sweetness typically comes from banana ketchup, a popular condiment in the Philippines made from bananas, sugar, spices, and vinegar. Some recipes also use brown sugar or pineapple juice for added sweetness. Hotdogs and cheese: Unlike its Italian counterpart, Filipino spaghetti is typically topped with sliced hotdogs and grated cheese. This combination adds a playful and nostalgic element to the dish. Ground meat: While not always present, ground meat such as pork or beef is often used in Filipino spaghetti, adding a savory depth to the sweet sauce. Simple and comforting: Filipino spaghetti is known for its ease of preparation and its ability to bring comfort and joy to any occasion. It is a staple at birthday parties, potlucks, and family gatherings. Origins and Evolution: The exact origins of Filipino spaghetti are unclear, but it is believed to have emerged sometime in the early 20th century. It is speculated that the use of hotdogs and banana ketchup was a result of American influence during the American colonial period. Over time, Filipino spaghetti has evolved to incorporate local ingredients and flavors. The sweetness and richness of the sauce, the use of hotdogs, and the focus on simple ingredients are all hallmarks of Filipino cuisine. Cultural Significance: Filipino spaghetti is more than just a dish; it represents a cultural identity. It embodies the Filipinos' love for sweet and savory flavors, their resourcefulness in adapting foreign dishes to their own tastes, and their love for sharing meals with loved ones. Popularity and Variations: Filipino spaghetti is a beloved dish throughout the Philippines and enjoys immense popularity among Filipino communities around the world. It is readily available in restaurants, home-cooked by families, and even sold as instant noodles. While the core elements of the dish remain constant, there are numerous variations in Filipino spaghetti recipes. Some families have their own secret ingredients and cooking techniques passed down through generations. The dish is also constantly evolving, with new interpretations and twists emerging over time. Conclusion: Filipino spaghetti is a fascinating culinary fusion that showcases the unique flavors and traditions of Filipino cuisine. Its sweet, savory, and playful combination of ingredients has captured the hearts and stomachs of Filipinos everywhere. As it continues to evolve and adapt, Filipino spaghetti remains a beloved symbol of Filipino culture and comfort food.

Ninong Ry is the Philippines' walking cholesterol RU-vidr. He's the chef you don't really pay attention to if you want to live past 80 years old.

Fish sauce is a staple in a lot of Filipino, heck in a lot of Southeast and South Asia, the smell and taste of fishiness often is evaporated and you will left with umami and that savory taste. Sometimes I use it rather than salt. Banana ketchup is not like your usual tomato ketchup, its more on the sweet side, with a little bit of spicy kick.

This is why I stay away from making pasta because it feels sacrilege to Italian cuisine but I realized that Filipinos are just creative at extending food because for a myriad of reasons but mostly economic. A lot of our dishes have sauces and/or soups because we normally pair it with some carbs like pasta or rice or breads. The reason why we do this because as a country in the World War II, we adapted a lot of the Western cuisine to accommodate foreign people who were here as either refugees or as soldiers in bases. However, Filipino taste buds are different due to evolution. And we all know geography has a lot to do with how your diet will look like because as what lumpiaqueen said, it’s localized. If you live by the coast, chances are you like really salty food like cured/dried fish. This is why we add fish sauce to whatever because it’s an alternative way of adding umami and a different type of taste curated for the Filipino taste buds (Philippines is an archipelago and if I stand corrected, almost 90% of our regions are coastal and 10% only landlocked.) Additionally, banana ketchup was made to accommodate the american soldiers because tomatoes at that time were hard to find here (they weren’t cultivated here until it was in the 60s if I’m not mistaken) so since we have a surplus of banana, we adapted a recipe that included spices to kind of make our own version of ketchup. The Filipino spaghetti is sweet because you’re right, it is served in birthday parties growing up. We have a belief that for you to have long life, we serve spaghetti or noodles like pancit on birthdays. Reason for it being sweet is also because Filipinos are sweet by nature (one theory suggests). One more theory is the balance of flavors, strong flavors such as tomato and fish sauce can be “umay” (a filipino term used to describe a feeling of being fed up with one flavor profile). A theory suggest that the addition of sugar or condensed milk is mostly because of Chinese influences because they made food so balanced with the five different flavors that we try to mimic it. Why condensed milk? For economical reasons. More than 60% of our population is, if not within the poverty line. So because we have this weird idea that we put the Westerners on a pedestal (second-class citizenship stuff, that’s whole ‘nother topic) so we think that spaghetti is an occasion food. So we cook them in birthday parties. But of course we need to make more sauce so we add condensed milk because it’s cheaper-that store-bought filipino style spaghetti sauce isn’t cheap either. Whole point is, the controversy revolving around the Filipino spaghetti can be traced both from socio-cultural and economical aspects. Hope this helps you in understanding why we do all these things.

When Filipinos taste some unfamiliar flavor of spaghetti that's different from the sweet-flavored one, we, of course, react to it because we're not used to it just like the other foreigns who have the first-times seeing or tasting some unfamiliar dish from other culinary cuisines. But, we're always open to try every foreign dish all over the world.

Vincenzo - butter in the Bolognese at the end for mantecatura is an Italian technique, its not "strange" or wrong, many famous Italian chefs use this including Michelin starred chef Lorenzo Vecchia from Bologna.

Filipino's taste buds are strong. We love strong flavoured dishes. If it does't have strong flavor, it's not Filipino enough.

Since you were wondering, interestingly, Ketchups ancestor was in fact fish sauce in South East Asia. It got brought over to Europe and people enjoyed it, but they didn't know how to make it themselves. As a result they tried replicating it and there were many different kinds of Ketchup, they all shared ingredients like a little sugar, salt and vinegar and some base like Tomatos. So Banana Ketchup is quite literally just Ketchup but instead of Tomatos theres Bananas inside.

abby is right i love sweet spaghetti because im a FILIPINO. but when i grow older i realize simple is everything ❤ thanks for reacting for this video❤❤❤

Must try in your home sir your a chef right try now what if the taste,,try now

When are you gonna make one of the sweet ones?! I need to see you do it!

I really apreciate you sir being honest, transparent on this different style of making spaghetti..🥰🥰🥰

Filipinos loves sweet stuffs that's why we are sweet!!

I agree with you. Spaghetti for us Filipinos is mostly for the young ones unless one is a hardcore Filipino spaghetti fan. We serve it for kids birthdays.

❤❤❤❤i love it Banana ketchup and condense one of the secret ingredient of pasta cooking. I mean some pasta cooking

In Southern Italy they do use Culatura Di Alici ( GARUM ) FISH SAUCE in their Spaghetti Sauce but the problem is her techniques and procedure.

About adding olive oil vs butter. First of all olive oil is not native to the Philippines...so I remember that when my dad got olive oil it was expensive and he used it sparingly. But then I remember tasting it and it tasted bad to me...bitter and not at all appetizing so I often wonder why my dad liked it so much so I avoided using it when I started cooking. I liked butter instead. Then the first time I travelled to Rome...I had my taste of olive oil and I was so surprised...it tasted fruity and so good! Not bitter at all! That’s when I learned how Oilive olive will get stale quickly...how it should be in a dark bottle and away from sunlight and how much fake olive oil is out there in the market! So I think the bitter tasting olive oil I remember when I was a kid is probably because this was stale oil and my dad didnt realize it...he just thought that was the true flavour of olive oil! So now I do get the more expensive extra virgin olive oil and make sure I store it properly...thanks to my travels to Italy and Spain I know what olive oil should taste like and now cook Italian and Spanish dishes with them! Big difference in taste! What is banana ketchup...it’s ketchup made of banana...it’s sweet and spicy...

im surprised Visenzo does not have a heart attach about this lol

I'm Filipino, that looks like a normal amount of garlic to me :D

I have eaten Spaghetti in my whole 24 years of life, and I never encountered Spaghetti that had fish sauce. I am a Filipino btw. Also, we don't put banana sauce, only the sweet tomato sauce by Del Monte. We put condensed milk but not too much. We put processed cheese yes, because it's available in the market. We cannot afford to create pure cheese or real cheese because of how expensive our ingredients are, especially milk in the Philippines. We saute Garlic first because it's like our style of cooking like we want the aroma of garlic first. Believe me, we have a tolerance to garlic and still, we have good smell maybe because our body produce sweat and how we clean ourselves. But I believe, we are not using so much garlic as she (in the video) did. As a Filipino, I like the well blended one kind of Spaghetti.

Some people use condensed milk but I don't, I use all purposed cream also banana ketchup just a little to make more reddish color.

Im a Filipino but im living now here in Milan Italy, so love to eat the simple Italian spaghetti .

I used to love it before. Now, i just dig in if there is nothing else available and it was served.

Much love from Philippines❤

Fish sauce or anchovies when cooked low and slow accomplishes the same thing. As for red wine WGAF add it early so it cooks down and call it a day. You may think that it is wrong but it works just fine.

Not only that, we also put banana ketchup instead of tomato paste ✌️✌️✌️😂😂😂🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭

Its not banana with catsup but catsup made from banana. It happened in a time where canned tomatoes and fresh tomatoes was hard to find.

We love sweet style spaghetti.. It has condensed milk and banana ketchup.. We use local products

I'm a Filipino, but I like the the simple spaghetti from Vincenzo. When basil and cherry tomato are in abundant season it makes it simpler and I guess cheaper? There's no other unnecessary ingredients. The simpler the better and the healthier.

You would never know the mystery of fish sauce until you tried it.. adding fish would give unique flavor to all the foods you are cooking