This month, Gastro Obscura is sharing the recipes and stories behind amazing holiday dishes and drinks from around the world in the ongoing series “Home-Cooked Holidays.” The Simbang Gabi is a devotional nine-day mass practiced by many Christians in the Philippines. Masses start before dawn (usually around 4:00 a.m.) and are held daily from December 16 through Christmas Eve. The tradition dates back to the early days of Spanish colonization in the 1600s, when the morning mass allowed farmers to attend church before working in the fields. When I was…
