A Titan’s Noche Buena

Among the memorable moments we had last year, who can forget Christmas? Aside from the Christmas break, Noche Buena was one of the anticipated Christmas traditions that students looked forward to.

Noche Buena is a staple Christmas celebration worldwide and is an important Filipino tradition. The Spanish word Noche Buena means “night of goodness or holy night” How is this celebrated? In the Philippines, families gather up together on Christmas eve. Some hold formal programs with fun and games, or some just let it be spontaneous, but one thing is sure, there’ll be food. Even with the ongoing pandemic, people celebrated Noche Buena. Some communities in the Philippines allowed limited gathering, and families took advantage of this while maintaining health protocols like physical distancing and wearing face masks. For some, they held virtual meetings together in their respective house celebrations. With COVID-19 present, some families had a hard time celebrating the Noche Buena. In the light of this challenge, charity groups like Gawad Kalinga and World Vision Philippines raised funds to support and gave the affected families something on their table to celebrate Christmas.

Christmas is the season of hope, giving, and love. In the Titan community, we asked them to share what their Noche Buena in 2021 looked and tasted like. We present the Titans Noche Buena Table to you, which consists of these dishes: sans rival, crema de fruta, spring rolls, liempo, steak, truffle pasta, crispy pata lechon, paella, spaghetti, salad, and fried chicken. Was your favorite Noche Buena dish part of this list? If not, let us know by commenting.!