Pulutan (n.) (literally “something that is picked“) is a term roughly analogous to the English term “finger food” or “appetizer”.  A snack accompanied with liquor of beer.

Pinoys have an appetite for the mundane of things.  Let me demonstrate…

The balut. An 18-day old chick resting innocently inside its shell.

The Isaw. Chicken intestines grilled to fecal perfection!

Yep… perhaps we are already familiar with these two.  Such delicacies made Pinoys famous in the gastronomic world.  But have you seen this one coming?

Megamouth shark. The world's rarest and most elusive specie of shark.

A Megamouth shark was captured by fishermen off the coast of Bicol while fishing for some mackerel.  Instead of letting it go, well,  the poor shark became a perfect pulutan sauteed in coconut milk.  Click here for the complete story.

Wow! That’s another first for the Filipino people!

Sorry if I am making a mockery out of this but I find butchering that poor giant fish  the top of the long sad list of stupid things Filipinos had done.  My gahd!!!  Are we that poor to include a megamouth as pulutan?!

What is most ironic and bizarre about our love for dear Mother Nature  is that the Philippines was hailed first in town and city participation out of the 88 countries among 25 different time zones in the recent Earth Hour.

Sadly, hanggang pakitang tao lang tayo!  I guess for us Pinoys, turning off the light switch is way much easier than sparing that megamouth as pulutan.  That  mouth-watering morsel that comes ever so often!

We can’t blame Filipinos – turning off our light switch is way easier than passing a concrete bill to protect our forests and oceans (which is in dire straits as with our poor fish) or segregating our wastes. We can’t even decently throw a candy wrapper in a trash bin for crying out loud

Top participant in Earth Hour? Nah…

Turning off our light switches for 60 minutes is one thing – being sensitive to what Nature really asks of us is another.

Tagay pa!