WHERE DID CRISPY PATA ORIGANATE?

Crispy pata, which is similar to the German Schweinshaxe, has a short history in the Philippines. It was “invented” in the 1950s by Rodolfo Ongpauco, whose mother owned the restaurant Barrio Fiesta in Caloocan, north of Manila, after he decided to deep fry discarded pork legs. It’s now one of the most popular dishes in the Philippines and is, for better or worse, what Filipino food is most associated with, though there’s a lot more to the cuisine than deep-fried pork.

But where did this dish come from, and how did it become so popular? The history of Crispy Pata can be traced back to the Philippines' Spanish colonial period.