Tamalis or Bobotu
This Kapampángan holiday dish is known by two names which reflect the intersection of two foreign influences on Kapampángan language, culture, and cuisine. One of its names is even associated with voting due to its similarity to the Kapampángan word for “vote”!
TAMÁLIS • (tuh-MAH-lis)
or
BÓBÓTU • (BOH-BOH-too)
a Kapampángan dish made of rice flour and coconut milk, topped with chicken and boiled egg, and wrapped with a banana leaf in the square form before steaming
Etymology
Tamális
from Mexican Spanish “tamales”, plural of “tamal”, which comes from Classical Nahuatl “tamalli”, a traditional Mesoamerican dish
Bóbótu
This word is most likely derived from Javanese bothok, a traditional Indonesian dish from Java which is bobotok in plural form. It is cognate of the Afrikaans “bobotie” (which is thought to be derived from the Javanese word), considered the national dish of South Africa.
This word is associated with the word bótu (“vote”) in folk etymology, as the dish is said to be inspired by the Filipino women who gathered during elections and cooked tamales while their men went out to vote.
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